Mental Space

I won't start by saying life lately has been crazy. Because honestly, some part of my life swings out to the hinterland just as soon as I manage to corral this little bit over here. Suffice to say, my life is in a perpetual state of "wait, what?"

I am someone that sets a high value on nights in. I prefer to watch down our DVR with my husband over heading out to a social event.

Clearly, I am an introvert.

I have begun to recognize how valuable the time I spend with friends is for my mental health. If I've had a chat or seen one of them for lunch, I always reflect that I had a good week.

I'm building this all up to say I've spend a lot of time recently in the company of others and, like a slightly ill-fitting shirt, I've been uncomfortable and tired of the adjusting.

And my attitude and tone of voice to those I most care about has not been gentle.

I'm feeling overwhelmed for both uplifting and distressing reasons and I haven't felt I've had the physical space to deal with the upheavals in my life.

So, I'm searching for the mental space.

And oddly, this teaching yoga thing has been helping. While I have anxiety about developing my teaching skills, the act of teaching has been a positive focus. The endorphins from the physical movement help. For that little space in the day, it's the only thing I can focus on.

I've been team teaching with my mentor the last few weeks and I taught by myself for the first time this past weekend. My confidence in myself for handling those classes has helped with my confidence handling the other situations in my life.

I'm planning to spend some time sewing and feeding that creative part of me. Sewing is another activity that requires my total concentration. If I loose focus, good 'ol Jack, my seam ripper, gets some action. I hate undoing work.

So I'm focusing on leaning into the activities that give true mental space.

What kinds of activities do you do for a little self mental care?

-Sue

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