Three Things #43
Taking Measurements
Yesterday morning, I went to the park for a walk. I needed to get out of my head, which was filled with worry, some fear, and I was feeling stuck about how to share my work.
I decided I would do as many laps around the river as I needed to, to clear my head and feel calm in my body, and it took two this time. As I was rounding out my second lap and heading over the bridge again past the smaller falls, I noticed a lightness in my belly and felt my breath start to slow down as I shifted from stomping my way down the trail to strolling and taking in the scenery of a familiar favorite place.
Partway through my third lap I saw some graffiti, new artwork on the concrete wall that I hadn’t noticed on my first two laps, and it reminded me of how when we get stressed we just don’t see things.
We miss things and we miss beauty and we miss moments and we miss places where we could support people and we miss opportunities to ask for and receive help, and we miss people. And when my third lap was nearly over, I started to finally look up and let my gaze widen to get a more broad and wide perspective on the space that I was in. It was such an example of the power of nervous system regulation, of moving things through our body and getting into different environments, taking breaks from our regular places in spaces where we feel safe.
So on Tuesday, I measured the support my body needed in laps around a park. “2 laps to peace of mind and presence in my body”
Three Things to Measure
a: how many breaths before you land back in your body.
A dysregulated nervous system can lead to us disconnecting from our bodies, detached, and lacking connection to ourselves. I love the 4-7-8 breath pattern to help me recalibrate. Inhale for a count of 4, hold for a count of 7, exhale for a count of 8. That extended exhale is wonderful for helping your nervous system access a sense of safety.
2: how much water you drink each day.
I’ve had more than one client lately tell me that since starting their morning with lemon water prior to coffee, they find themselves naturally drinking less coffee during the day. I don’t want to take away anyone’s coffee, but I do like to help people be less dependent on things that they may be using to override hunger or tired signals.
One of the signals from our body that we’re dehydrated is fatigue, so being hydrated = needing less coffee makes sense in that regard!
A good aim for many people is to drink around 1/2 your body weight in ounces per day, up to 100 ounces. Start your day with it as an experiment and see what happens!
d: this quote
“in any given moment on any given day, I can measure my wellness by this question:
Is my attention on loving or is my attention on who isn’t loving me?” -Andrea Gibson.
Andrea was recently on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast and it took me several days to listen because it’s so heart-wrenching.
Lastly, this:
oh wait, PS
big love,
Melissa