Welcome To Focus

Between meditation, yoga, and practicing mindfulness, I like to think that I'm getting better at staying focused. I make an effort to notice everything I do and try to think about my actions before I make them. It doesn't always work, but I keep trying. After all practice makes prefect. So I better keep practicing right?

When I'm really focused on something I can block out everything. The whole world seems to melt away and it's just me and the task that I have set out to accomplish. More often than not, I have some epic music playing in the background that keeps me pumped (and make me feel more important than I actually am). I call it zoning (because I'm in the zone - yes it's a bad pun) and I get so focused on what I'm doing that other people have had to resort to some creative ways to get my attention. Loud noises are often involved.

I love it when I'm super focused. I don't notice time moving forward, I tend to be more relaxed, and I feel very productive.

Then there are the days that no matter what I do, I can't seem to focus on anything. It could be anything from something I love doing (like writing this blog) to something I find very boring (like reading an instruction manual). I know I need to focus on these tasks, but there's something far more interesting going on in my mind.

Those days are very frustrating. I honestly do want to get my task done. It's just that there's a whole world outside of that task that is begging me to explore it. Or maybe my mind is jumping from one thought to the next with no signs of slowing down. What do I do?

I should probably notice that I'm super distracted. This is a lot easier said than done. To work around this I try to plan out one or two major breaks where I can evaluate how I'm feeling physically and mentally. This is when I realize that I've been sitting too long and need to stretch my legs (and make a few notes about what movements to request at yoga this week).

Physical movement help a lot. When I'm thinking really hard about something I have a bad habit of pacing. As I get a lot of weird looks when I do this, I try not to pace at work. There aren't a lot of reasons for me to walk around while I'm at work (usually I'm getting up to get more coffee). I try to get some form of exercise at least three times a week. The exercise is helpful, but it isn't always enough.

My yoga teachers have been teaching us different breathing techniques. These are used to help us stay in our movements and not forget to breath when holding a position. These techniques are also really great ways to stay focused on my yoga practice.

If physical movement isn't enough to keep my mind on what I should be working, focusing on my breathing does. The breathing techniques I use are also how my yoga teachers start our classes. They are meant to be used to draw our awareness into ourselves and leave the outside world behind (which can be tough when people in the main gym drop heavy weights on the ground).

I love it when I can focus on what I am doing and accomplish it in the time frame I want to. Distractions are tiring and can really throw off the rest of my day. I need to accept the fact that when I'm distracted I can't force the issue. I need to take sometime to check in mentally and physically. Afterwards, I  can get back to work.

Now, I'm going to make some tea. I hope you guys had a great weekend and are ready to greet Monday morning. I know I'm not.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from me readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome To Making Important Decisions

Oh, April, you can't ever be a simple month. There are so many things that go on during the month of April that it's sometimes hard to keep it all straight.

It's not even like April was ever an easy month. When I was still in school, April meant the start of exam season. Sure, I was excited for summer break to start, but the amount of work I had to due to earn that time off was annoying at best and down right depressing at worst. Then for senior year, add in the stress of finding a job, well, I was going just a tiny bit bananas.

At this time last year, I was freaking out about my living situation. Now I am once again freaking out about my living situation. I have to either find a new roommate or a new place to live. If only everything (*cough rent *cough) weren't so expensive in this state. There's also my taxes I have to think about, making sure my car is state approved, etc, etc, etc. Being an adult is a never ending cycle of things that need to be done.

Important decisions are inevitable. There are a lot of times where I have no idea which option to choose or which path to take, but I have to do something. There's always the option to do nothing, but it's not as realistic as I like to pretend that it is.

Making decisions while stressed is a bad idea. At least for me. Some people thrive under stress. Now me, I question myself too much. I like to be calm when a make decisions. I know I've though things out and am ready for whatever comes next.

One of my yoga teachers recommends standing on one foot before making a major decision. She insists that it works. I'm not sure if it's a psychological calming technique or if it's a coincidence, but she swears by it. Do I personally think it works? Well I'm not going to say it doesn't work. I find that standing on one foot helps me focus, almost like meditating.

The other major factor in making a decision is my gut. I used to watch a lot of NCIS and the character Gibs always made a point of listening to his gut. He's totally right. Nothing is more important than gut intuition. A good or bad feeling can make all the difference.

So the next time I'm faced with a major decision here's what I'm going to do. Take a deep breath, lift one foot, focus on the moment and go with my gut. Hopefully I don't question myself too much after that.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome To The Art of Mindfulness

I was talking with someone about over thinking things and this person gave me a great quote. "Thinking about the past causes depression, thinking about the future brings anxiety, but being mindful of the present brings peace." This quote probably is oversimplifying the seriousness of anxiety and depression, but it did get me thinking about a couple of things.

When I am practicing yoga, my yoga teachers try to emphasize the concept of mindfulness. This means being in the present and being in control of my current actions. It allows me to acknowlede the thoughts I might be having, but not engaging them. It also means drawing my focus on my current actions rather than any past or future actions. When I am at yoga practice I should be focused on myself doing yoga, not what I am going to do after yoga nor what I was doing prior to arriving.

A big part of mindfulness is not beating myself up when I make a mistake (or gloating when I do something right). I notice that it happened, but I do not let draw me away from the next movement I have transitioned to.

It is something I had to learn to do and once I did, I found myself being able to relax and let go during my practice. My yoga teachers also talked about the importance of mindfulness outside of yoga. Instead of going through my morning routine on autopilot, I should focus on each task while I do it. I should take my time and notice what each hand is doing.

Taking mindfulness into my daily life is a challenge. There are a lot of distractions and emotions that can draw my mind away from the present. I also need to think of deadlines and any unexpected emergencies that might come up.

This past weekend I learned that mindfulness is very important for a lot of tasks. It can help manage different emotions and decrease the likelihood for me to do something unintelligent. It brings me to a single point in the exact moment that I am in.

I take a deep breath, let it part way out, and do my task. All the while I keep breathing and focusing on the moment.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Now on to learning from my missteps.

Welcome To The "What If Loop"

Or Why Being A "New" Adult Is Stressful

I like security and familiarity. It's probably why I have such a hard time getting rid of silly things like pictures or all of my books. I feel at home with them. Unfortunately this past year hasn't been the kindest to my sense of stability and familiarity.

Sure, I have a stable job and income, but I just moved several states away from all my friends and family. My roommate is great, but we've only known each other for a few months. Sure, I have my own room, but I sometimes still feel like I'm invading someone's space. It's a new experience that I don't have a reference point for. It makes me nervous and occasionally more paranoid than usual.

Then there is my questioning. Some days I worry that I'm going to wake up and find out I made this whole trip of to New Jersey up and that I don't actually work here. So far this fear hasn't become too irrational, but it's always in the back of my mind (variations of this include being fired, ending up in the emergency room for insert physical malady here, and insert horrible natural disaster here).

This leads to my "what if loop." What is a that? Basically it's how I think of my anxiety. When I'm really anxious, all I can think about it what if x, y, or z happens. Heck, sometimes I think in term of what if a, b, c or d didn't actually happen and instead I made them up (this happens a lot when I'm dating someone). 

These thought patterns used to not be that bad. They usually followed along the lines of "what if I don't pass this test" or "what if I forget my lunch at home." Sure it was hard to concentrate thinking like that and I tended to make them seem bigger than they really were, but they weren't all that life changing. Now, though, there's a lot more that can change. I don't feel that I have the same safety nets I did in college. These are the worse when I can't fall asleep or am so worked up that I can't stop talking in a loop.

Okay, yeah, everyone is a phone call/text message/ skype call/email away, but it isn't the same as seeing them in person. There are days where I wish I didn't worry all the time (then again, I sometimes wonder if I'd be happy if I didn't worry about something).

The trick is trying to stay calm and just go with what ever is happening. I have to remind myself that I can't control everything and that I need to calm down enough to make a critical decision.

How do I calm myself down? I think there's already a blog post about that (Welcome to Self Reflection should be it), but in a nut shell, Yoga, meditation and writing help out a lot. My focus doesn't even need to be on my problem while I'm doing any of those activities. I am able to let it all out and feel mentally prepared for my next step.

Which could always lead me right off a cliff if I'm not paying attention. It's a delicate balance.

Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off), please, like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me. Now to go figure out this life stuff.