Today’s Mandala
Unwind
“Give your stress wings
— Terri Guillemets
and let it fly away.”
“Work is not always required.
— George Macdonald
There is such a thing as
sacred idleness.”
“The time to relax
— Sydney J. Harris
is when you don’t have time for it.”
Today’s MotD encourages us to unwind, to take time outs, to stop “doing” on a regular basis…especially when we find ourselves the most wound up. Since most of the time we’re oblivious to our wind-ups (stress, anxiety) because it’s become our normal, it behooves (love that word) us to schedule our time outs…and to take them. Even if it’s just to have a timer go off every 30 minutes (or sooner) to take 3-5 deep breaths. At the very least it breaks us out of our trance-like stressful state and brings us back to the present moment, it centers us, and helps us to clear our heads. We may even find that we could do with a few more conscious breaths before we continue on with whatever it is we were doing…or help us see an alternative direction.
Our challenge becomes noticing sooner and sooner when we are in a frenzied, tense, stressful state, or better yet, starting to head into that state. It takes awareness and practice. We are encouraged to notice what it feels like during and after unwinding. What do our 5 senses tells us? What’s the state of our muscles? (hopefully soft and relaxed) What’s the state of our breathing? (hopefully fuller, slower, and steadier) What other clues become apparent after we unwind? (happier, calmer, etc) Become aware of all these clues that inform us of our unwinded-ness, let that be our benchmark, our new normal. Then it becomes easier and quicker to notice when we start moving away from that state, and thus can more readily stop it in its tracks, returning to our new normal state.
“Almost everything
— Anne Lamott
will work again
if you unplug it
for a few minutes…
Including you.”
Blessings,
Maureen
The Mandala Lady
btw…started with this and a shimmer view:
Mandala of the Day 