Healthy Chicks

I value my time more than anything. While often times I feel like I don’t have enough time to do everything I want in a day, I feel I do a pretty good job balancing my time between my relationship, my friendships and my career. Have I perfected it? No. Have I gotten better? Yes.

Then there’s my “me time,” something I’m still working on every day to create more of. I’m beginning to realize that me time is perhaps the most meaningful, precious time of all because without me time, well, time sort of just tick-tocks on by.

Yesterday I had an extremely busy, action-packed day where I barely had a minute to stop & breathe. I was OK with it because I knew I had my 6:30 p.m. roofdeck yoga to look forward to. Some Rachel time on the mat on a beautiful roofdeck overseeing Boston. That right there got me through a somewhat stressful afternoon.

I left myself a fair amount of time to get to yoga as I always do, and skipped off with my mat and water bottle to catch the T. “Sweet, it’s early! I LOVE when that happens,” I thought to myself. And then it happened. About 30 seconds into my trip, the train just stopped…underground. As always, everyone looked around with confusion in silence, pretending to check their cell phones (even though we all know there’s no service). Heck, I did the same thing.

I prayed it was just a quick glitch and we’d be well on our way any second, and then the far too familiar sound came on from the speaker. “We’re experiencing delays & heavy traffic ahead. We should be moving shortly.” That’s when I started to get all panicky and irrational. WHY ME? WHY IS IT THAT EVERY TIME I HAVE SOMEWHERE TO GO THIS HAPPENS TO ME? I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN! Slowly but surely crazy, stressed-out Rachel started to come out.

When I finally got above ground, I sprinted to my final destination. Five minutes late. As I went to check-in for yoga, a woman nicely informed me that the class was full and they gave my reserved spot away since I was late. I won’t lie: I was angry, bummed, frustrated with myself and anxious. Of all days, today I needed yoga and not only did I not get my yoga, but I wasted an hour of my time crammed with a group of sweaty strangers rushing to a class that, well, didn’t exist anymore.

When I got home to The Boy, I tried to shake it off by cooking a nice meal and relaxing but try as I might I just couldn’t shake it off. I did some deep breathing, essential oils and took The Boy out to ice cream to lighten the mood, and then we went to bed.

The next morning, I felt greater clarity & calm. It became quite clear to me that the reason I lost control (and went a little crazy) was that my time (which I value so much) was interrupted and suddenly the situation was out of my control.  If I had created more me-time throughout the day yesterday, I may not have snapped or reacted the way that I did.

Instead of feeling guilty about my childish behavior I asked myself two questions this morning:

How can I gain control this very moment? What is my body asking for?

It told me to meditate. I took a bottle of “Prosperity” essential oil and inhaled 5 deep breaths. Then I sat there alone with my thoughts for 10 minutes just breathing and letting my mind wander. I wanted a sign. I wanted to gain clarity. I wanted to hear that voice that Heather Waxman and Gabrielle Bernstein so often talk about on their blogs.

And then it came to me: Get out your Kundalini Yoga DVD. A few months ago, Acacia sent me a Kundalini Yoga DVD with Maya Fiennes to detox and destress but it had been sitting on my bookshelf unopened. Suddenly it was calling my name!

After the 45 minutes of breathing exercises and movements, I felt like a brand new me. I was calm, relaxed and energized all in one. It was exactly what I needed all along. Post-yoga, I let my thoughts out in my journal for the next 30 minutes (something I aim to do daily) and set the intention to carry this energy with me throughout the day.

By shifting my perspective and listening to my body, I had taken back control of my thoughts. While you can’t change a situation, you do have the power to change the way you view things at any given point in the day. By shifting your perspective and choosing to look at things differently, you can regain control (before you lose control).

Think about how this shows up in your own life be it through balancing your time like me, coping with overeating and food guilt or recovering from a nasty fight with your significant other. Next time you feel out of control, think about how you can shift your perspective and see things in a different light.

How do you react when things don’t go your way? What do you do to shift your perspective in the moment?