If you get reversed king Midas touch

What do we do when we feel that we're not living up to expectations?
I have to admit that I little while ago found myself back in the bottomless pit of unreasonably high expectations. It is a place where you might think high expectations would result in perfection. Alas, I find that it is much more like a reversed King Midas touch. No gold. Just crap. It is a place of little or no logic.

 

How do we make sense of it? Well first of all when we find ourselves there we must know that we usually are going about things all wrong. Take a step back and ask yourself:

• In the best of worlds what would I have done? What would the ultimate version of you have done? Then do that next time, or at least take a step in that general direction. 
• How can I make things easier? It is easy to get into negative self talk when experiencing that things aren't going as planned. When you find that happening stop it immediately. And don't blame yourself. Remind yourself as often as you can to be kind until it comes naturally. 
• Will this matter tomorrow? Next week? Next month? Next year? In ten years? Whatever it was it is surely not the end of the world. Honestly it does not serve anyone to worry. It might be helpful to put a restraint to either "ok I will think about this for 5 minutes" or I have thought about this three times, that is enough.
• "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" Our body and mind needs care. When we're stressed and feel we have much to do we might put or needs aside for this oh so important thing. That's a warning sign. Here we must practise restraint, responsibility and above all respect for ourselves. And if you find that warning is coming up often then maybe you need to reevaluate what you're juggling or re-plan your routines.
• Get your mind to a positive place by guided meditation or inspirational talks. It doesn't have to be for a long time. Even a few minutes or a moment can do the trick sometimes.

You can do anything you want.

But you cannot do everything at once.

The worldwide multi-tasking efficiency illusion madness must come to an end. 

And where does change begin?

You know it.

The good with the bad (dreams)

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night from a horrible dream that suddenly got you to worry your heart out? 

I had a terrible dream the other night, one that is reoccurring and always seems to come in times of stress. I was wide awake in horror BUT THEN remembered that YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF YOUR MIND (not the other way around). So there was this sudden burst of energy and I started writing... a sort of poem if you will:

I guess bad dreams 

are just efficient ways of showing us that we care 

or to make us aware that we are human and have fears

To remind us

that there are things we can't control 

in other ways than how we handle it

To bring awareness

to our subconscious mind

To test us

To prepare us

To make us stronger

To have faith

in the world to continue those pirouettes

and darkness to break into day

To know

that the universe got our backs (even literally)

To prove to us

of the impact 

of images and imagination

To remind us of the intelligent thought sorting system that is 

the state of sleep and dream

To train our ability to interpret

or let go

A bad dream always ends

and where do you go then?

Back to your life

which you actually to a large extent can control

There's a brand new day ahead of you

and that's real

That's something to wake up to

The challenge of the ZZZs

So if you're like me and go into energy save during the winter... well you can avoid total hibernation!
Here's a few good tricks to keep your energy up and help you stay on track:

Join challenges
No matter what your practise is it's always good to join a challenge and motivate yourself by keeping the day count and just sticking to it. I'm currently doing the Yoga Camp challenge with yoga with Adriene. A Hatha yoga experience, and this one has a bit more elements of mental wellness than her previous "30 days of yoga" challenge (which I also highly recommend!)

Get by with a little help from your friends

When it gets tough it might feel like a failure (IT IS NEVER) to ask your friends for help. Actually it is a very strong thing to do and when your friends know where you're at and what's going on it will be much easier for them to help you. We don't have to be so goddamned independent all the time! So ask for advice, ask for support, ask for a bit of cheerleading or gentle reminders. Or better yet... why not join a challenge together?

Seize the day

Carpe diem might sound like a massive cliché, yet as the days become shorter it becomes all the more important to get outside and gather as much sun as you can. Even when it's cloudy it's still brighter outside than indoors. Also the fresh air will do you good. In our family the outdoor minimum limit is at least 30 minutes per day, something I am grateful for today.

Recharge

During the wintertime it's easy to be *yawn* a chronic sleepy head. So one way to go about it is of course to sleep more. This however does not work for me, in fact it makes me more sleepy. A bunch of other options might be

Cold showers. Yep you heard me. A brilliant way to wake the body up and although it might not feel too inviting on cold days it actually gets your circulation up and you will be less cold afterwards. I've written a little more about hydrotherapy in a previous post.

Power naps. If you're feeling sleepy, set your alarm and give yourself a good powernap. I usually feel better and more alert if I'm surrendering to a couple of zzz rather than forcing myself to stay awake.

Keep doing what energises you! When winter comes (and it will, as Snow so eagerly points out) it might be tempting to cancel everything and stay under a blanket. I advice you not to. By keep going you will let your body (and brain) know who's the boss. And by doing what you set out to do you will get a kick of "YES I DID IT" and coming home afterwards to a cup of tea and the blanket will be all the more rewarding.

Play. Ok, I'm sure some of you are feeling a bit of resistance with thoughts of playing being just for kids but I assure you that getting your sillies and giggles up will boost you in so many ways. So invest time and energy in having fun, because it will give so much back.

- - - - - - - -

When it's evening, weekend or you just feel like watching something there's a brilliant korean film I saw yesterday. It was both visually and emotionally beautiful as well as fun and the right kind of weird (for me atleast.) 

Kimssi Pyoryugi (2009)

in english known as The castaway on the moon.

That's all I had for now, but I'm sure you will find your way to power up during the winter. 

Get out there. 

Do good. 

Reward yourself. 

And see you later!

The winner & perfect mindset.

To succeed one has to have the right set of mind. Just like the Swedish ord "lagom", which means "just right" your perfect mindset is something individual. There are a few things however that I find work for me and if you'd like you can try them and see if it works for you too.

- Staying truly positive. This also means no complaining, although constructive criticism is sometimes in order! Complaining brings your energy down, focusing on negative things and usually making others do it too.

- Eyes on the prize. All the little stupid or painful or hard things that happen throughout the day are just little obstacles or distractions. They're so small it's really nothing. Solve them if you can. Let them go, it's not worth your time or energy. Keep your eyes on the goal at all times!

- Tap into the infinity within. Ok, this one might sound like spiritual humbug to some, but I find that I can achieve and even stretch past my limits if I use an affirmation that "unlocks" my infinite resources. One of my favorite sentances to bring me into the moment and gain immediate strength is

I'm more than human, 

I'm an infinate being of power &

anything is possible.

- Make it a game.  This is the secret I wanted to share yesterday. It won't be a secret anymore, but it's too good to keep for myself. Be the change you want to see in the world, right Mahatma Gandhi?

So you have a challenging task before you. It could be anything from paying bills, to responding to emails or just something quite repetative which for a creative person like me... isn't that motivating. I found a way to love basically doing anything. Let me tell you about yesteday when I tried it out for real...

So as some of you might know I'm working as a "cleaning lady" at a hotel at the moment. It's a tough job because you have to make it look perfect. I can do perfect, I love it, but when time is limited... That's difficult for me. The two previous days of working 5am to 4pm I had been so tired after work I just thought I was going to die on the third, but on the third I decided I was going to win.

What, there's A CLEANING LADY GAME? Yes, in my head. The good thing about visualizing it as a game is that you're kind of stepping out of yourself, taking control, gaining distance towards the tasks and a good overview. I wasn't working. I was playing a game for 11 hours. 

I imagined it like this: This game is of course time based, you have to clean the rooms on a certain ammount of time, most important are the rooms which we are expecting arrival, then the rooms of the staying guests and lastly the departure rooms. Then there are some "bonus levels" which are the spa area, corridors and helping team players on their levels. You unlock the bonus levels by finishing your levels on time or beating your own high score. 

On the side of your screen there are three different bars which are energy, social and mood.

The energy is refilled when you drink water, get positive feedback and eat.

The social is when you interact with the collegues, the boss and the guests.

The mood is when things are going well.

There are more things to do than just clean the rooms. You have to make it look nice. This is when bed making technique, paper folding and arrangement comes in to the picture which allows you to earn style points. Style points are collected at the finish of each room and level when it is overviewed and valued in time, cleanliness and presentation. I always like to gather as much style points as possible, because I find they affect the energy bar as well as the mood. Then the boss comes and gives you a compliment on your speed or room presentation? Then that's more on the social and mood. Style points are also gained when all three bars are aligned at their fullest and when you smile out of joy and gratitude.

It's always a competition with yourself. Only you make the high score. If you want to play and win it's entirely up to you. Me? I'm a winner.
What's your challenge right now? What game would you be playing?

I managed to do more than I thought I could, more than my boss thought I could and beat the high score big time yesterday with two bonus levels.

Also, don't forget to reward yourself. No matter how it goes. It's actually especially important if it's not going so well. Give yourself a break from time to time. You deserve it.

Today is my day off. Ahhhh.... 

Monkey mind - mindfulness refill, please!

Worn out. Got up early and did a few yoga moves. Then tried to invent a bicycle meditation on the way to work. The attitude was there, the physical energy too, but the mind adrift as it tends to do when one is mentally exhausted. If there's a parallell universe I was surely there today. In this universe everything was going right and in the real one where everyone else seemed to be... not so much. Some days are like that, especially for us dreamers with the imagination intense enough to be confused with reality. This makes it easier to fall back into old patterns like the clumsy, monkey minded girl whose thoughts are "jumping from tree to tree with no destination"... It's like this too with unwanted thoughts while meditating. They're usually only distractions without any deeper meaning. Echoes of another time. Sometimes we fall back into old ways of thinking, one doesn't simply change habits over a night.
It takes practise. Stay calm.
Forgive yourself. You are still learning.

You need focus for meditation. The mind goes elswhere? Take note, but don't take it in. Let go. Bring yourself back to the moment. Welcome yourself and be happy that you noticed and returned back into your body. Be patient. Determined. Repeat it as long as it takes. After a while the mind will learn its place is here with you. The present moment. I imagine it's something like breaking in a wild horse. There are different ways of doing it. I prefer a gentle way.

To avoid monkey mind you need set up goals and work to reach them. If it's to perform on a occasion then it's important to be as prepared as possible and always see the best outcome. Really imagine it with all senses. See yourself where you want to be. Then when the moment comes. Be there.

Tomorrow is my first 5 o clock (YES IN THE MORNING!) shift of three in a row. Bingo?
Determined to do it and do it well!
How to prepare?
- Pack the day before
- Sleep well
- Cleansing lemon water and morning yoga
- Cold shower, bring breakfast to work (no biking while digesting)
- Bicycle meditation
- Be on time. Do your best. Always.
DO WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU DO IT

Already set up goals for work... and the yoga? Next time, Inspector Yogi... Next time.