Get Some Space in Your Life

A client came in this week for her regular monthly massage. She’s made a big, bold decision in her life and is excited about it. She commented that she’s been spending time by herself and just being – drawing, reading, listening to music – and that this quiet time with no input from outside has helped her enormously.

Why?

Why is that? And why should I – a massage therapist – go on about getting space?

Simply put, this is why: Spending time alone, quiet and with no outside input allows us to decompress. And that’s important because as we decompress we feel better, our mood improves, our energy rises and we feel better physically too.

As a massage therapist I work with bodies that are COMPRESSED, tight, tense and holding lots of tension. The clients’ minds and lives are also typically compressed – not enough time, not enough money, not enough energy, not enough daylight … the list goes on.

My Journey

My journey (read a fuller version here if you’re interested) involved a nervous breakdown from stress. In essence it’s just an overload – too much for too long and the system can’t cope and crashes. That’s what happened to me.

Part of my recovery – and this is common – was being alone. In my case this was sitting watching the garden, or laying on the sofa and reading, or sleeping, or working the garden. In other words, either no input at all, or input that I CHOSE for myself. This allowed me to decompress and begin to recover.

Nowadays I can tell when I’ve been too busy for too long and I make time to just be. I go for a walk, I read, I sit and look out of the window, I run. I make time to allow myself to recover.

What Can You Do?

I can honestly say that ALL of my clients’ lives are improved by them taking time out for themselves and this is something I constantly recommend.

So how do you do this?

First thing is make a commitment to you. This is not being selfish as some of you may already be thinking. If you are busy, if you have others who depend upon you – children, older parents, an injured or sick spouse – surely you can’t just take time out for yourself?

Actually you MUST, or eventually you too will crash and if THAT happens, you will be unable to cope for a much longer time …

So – commit to taking just 20 minutes a day off for yourself. Find somewhere you like to be – uninterrupted – and just go there and sit or lay and be quiet.

No phones, no laptop or iPad, no notebook to list the things you think of either!

And if you’re already thinking that you can’t be away from your phone for 20 minutes – wow, what does THAT say about how busy you are?

Just sit, breathe and relax for 20 minutes. Thoughts will crop up, you may feel restless, think of a dozen things you could be doing, but just be and breathe and watch all those busy thoughts drift by.

Don’t think of this as DOING NOTHING. Think of this as DOING RESTING!

This is allowing yourself to recover a little and will enable you to cope better with your day.

Oxygen Mask on Yourself First

When you fly, in the safety briefing they always say “in the event of an emergency, place the oxygen mask on yourself before attempting to help others”. This is simply because if you don’t, you’ll go unconscious and be no use at all to others. This is the same thing – looking after yourself isn’t selfish, it’s essential.

Go Do It

I invite you to try this for a week. Go on, just do it – 20 minutes a day, somewhere quiet and just sit and be.

Let me know how you make that time and what happens for you. Share on the Facebook page and let’s encourage each other.