This morning I was in my nightie, hair all a mess, listening to some kiddie music with my daughter and wondering how we were going to fill our morning since the sitter had the day off. Or so I thought. Right at 9 a.m., said sitter rang our doorbell, reporting for work. Can you say, miscommunication?
My first reaction was “Oh, sh*t!” (Something I’ve got to stop saying immediately before I hear that same phrase pop out of Lil’s mouth!) I had gotten my mind set for a morning in the park. And I was in no way ready to be seen by a non-family member.
Before I got up to answer the door, I sat right where I was and took one slow deep breath: inhaled all the way up to my collar bones and let all the air slowly seep out until my lungs felt empty. It took all of six seconds. Maybe seven. But that tiny little break helped me get out of my head, which was saying ‘No, no, no,’ and into my body, which was saying ‘This could all work out just perfectly.’
I ended up asking the sitter to work a half-day, so her commute this morning wouldn’t be totally for naught and I would get some extra time for myself that I wasn’t expecting and still have the afternoon to play in the park. I then used that time for a nice yoga practice, and now I’m writing to you at my leisure instead of trying to pack the writing, editing, and building of this email into Lil’s naptime. And voila, a communication mishap resulted in a lovely little accident.
I would now like to publicly thank you every teacher, writer and friend who has counseled me on the transformative power of breathing mindfully. My morning proves that taking even one deep breath really can help shift you in to a new perspective. The only difficult thing about it is remembering to do it in the first place and giving yourself permission to put everything else on hold while you do it. But c’mon, aren’t you worth six seconds of your own time?
Congrats to Amanda Guccione!
She wrote in with a great comment about what she was going to not do in order to create a little more downtime in her life. Go read it here. And she won the copy of The Green Year: 365 Small Things You Can to Do to Make a Big Difference—a great book about how to green your life without a lot of drama, effort or expense.
No giveaways this week, but I always love to read your comments!
Take care and keep breathing,
Kate
still loving your stuff, kate! so glad you continue to pursue it and thrive. i will try to keep your breathing advice foremost today–god knows i need it! lots of yoga and good advice in my life, but i let it slip away when i get busy and stressed. duh! plus i am a slow learner 😉 just got email from marian that she will come up here to rockygrass (b/g festival). been sooo long, very happy! love to you and your family, s (reposted by Kate)