Sparking Joy – Anyone know what day it is? ☺ There’s a Groundhog’s Day essence to every morning and I’m finding myself unable to remember what day last week I accomplished a certain task. So, on what I think are still weekends, I’ve begun some long-awaited Spring Cleaning and experimenting with the Marie Kondo Method. This is a mind/body/spirit approach to decluttering your space and life. In essence, it’s really about keeping only those items in your home or office that cause you to resonate with joy. If it doesn’t “spark joy” in your heart, then you thank it for its time with you and offer it a new life elsewhere (Goodwill, a friend in need, trash, etc.). Going through this exercise with objects made me wonder how it might be to use a bit of this quarantine time to consider all of the ways we hold on to things in our lives that no longer serve us. If you were to only entertain the ideas, situations, and people in your life that spark joy, how might that shift where you spend your energy? What might you alter, shift, release, renew, begin, or create if you focused more on Sparking Joy within? Marie Kondo
Weekly Intentions – Anyone know what day it is? ☺ There’s a Groundhog’s Day essence…..okay so in order to break up the monotony and offer yourself an opportunity to set positive intentions, we’d like to recommend setting weekly themes. This week, I chose a Writing theme and began an online writing class. I spend a few minutes each day writing whatever is bubbling up. If you choose a Fitness week, you could really dig in and commit to daily walks by putting them on your calendar or do something fun with the kids like Mountain Ranger Yoga. Or choose a Meditation theme and commit to a daily meditation practice – experiment and see if you feel different with just one week of meditation - Calm. Even something as seemingly silly as a Laughter week can serve to change your whole perspective. Laughter kicks off those happy, feel good chemicals in the brain like dopamine and serotonin which help us to be more open to possibility and opportunity. An added bonus is that laughter can increase the functioning of our immune system, not a bad idea for the times - Laughter as Medicine. Teams could choose a weekly theme and share photos and tell stories about the impacts. Try it and share with us what you discover about yourself and your team in just one week!
Consider Your Mission – It seems that we are entering into a new phase of this unprecedented time. Some people are nearing the end of their patience with the unknown and tiring of the new protocols for previously simple things like grocery shopping. Many have run out of their bucket of nice and are ready to get on with life as we knew it. This is a part of the cycle of change and yet can cause people to make frustrated decisions that are not in their, or others’, best interests. Astronaut Christina Koch knows all too well about isolation, ambiguity, and uncertainty. She traveled to the International Space Station on a six-month mission that she knew would be extended but didn’t know for how long. For weeks after being launched into space she did not know when she would return to earth – sound familiar? Koch has offered us some guidance on how to navigate these types of situations. The first is to consider your mission – what are you doing, or what can you do, that you are proud of? What gifts or talents do you have that you could share with others in a new way? Another is to let go of your need to know when it will end – adaptability is the key. If you can allow yourself to let go of the need to know and instead focus on the present moment, even if strange and peculiar, peace is accessible. Our previous tips and the ones above help to build this capacity within each of us.
Please let us know if you find any of these to be helpful and share how you put them into practice. Also, if you have a tip to offer, let us know and we will include it in a future email or video.
We wish for you to find your special ways to thrive through this unprecedented time.
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May You Be Well –
