Good morning :) A few years ago I released the word “busy” from my life. I embraced an intention of be-ing instead of the hamster wheel life. When I feel myself getting pulled into more reactive patterns, I pause. I reflect on what really matters and sometimes like gentle lightening I’m bolted into a mindful awareness of liberation and gratitude. The being aware is just the beginning of being free and loving well. And really, what else really matters? Being blessed with a life outside of culture including years of being creative in my building a life amidst chronic illness and sometimes overwhelming trauma responses to life events that were completely out of my control has been a ride and a gift! The more I practice what is instead of the expectation of being someone or somewhere I’m not, the calmer and more liberated I feel. And the tiny noticings of being true to my own heart and nature is everything. Thank you for all the reminders, Jonathan.
"The more I practice what is instead of the expectation of being someone or somewhere I’m not, the calmer and more liberated I feel." - so powerful and true.
Thank you for this list Jonathan. I've been reading Dr Nicole Le Pera and one of her key exercises for healing from childhood developmental trauma and re-wiring old patterns is about regular daily check-ins - scanning our physical body needs and our emotions at regular intervals and gaining more awareness of them. I can measure when I'm living more reactively than proactively by the amount of resistance, and resentment I feel and lower energy levels. As well as a meditation practice, planning the day/week more than I used to, has also helped me improve my chances of fitting in all the pro-active aligned things I want to do, including rest time. A coach taught me a simple tip about calendar colour blocking (it's comforting to see the yellow blocks of creative time and green blocks of nature time against the blue work tasks, and I can look forward to them!). I'm experimenting as of today with the regular 'check-in' alarms on my phone and building more regular body-conscious check-ins alongside daily meditation - excited to see how it goes... ! Thank you for all these tips and reminders, I'm also chuckling about the 'Not to do' list, brilliant idea
I have printed out The Unbusy Creed, this is so true and helpful I want to read it everyday. I haven't read the entire post because it is so rich, I'm going to read it slowly and mindfully. Thank you!
Thank you for a little gold mine of easily do-able reminders of how to choose presence. Mindfulness is at the heart of a more present, intentional life. It’s simple, not always easy, but thank you for these nuggets that can help guide us gently back to ourselves.
Love everything about this. So much of what I teach about Ayurveda and how to connect with the inner healer within— the first step is awareness. Living Ayurveda is living with consciousness and with awareness. Of why me make the choices we make and why we don’t make the choices we don’t make. Lots to think on and discuss here! Thank you.
Thanks for this, a lot of it resonates with me, I try to get up early to meditate every day etc. It's so challenging to be 'unbusy' as a mum though when you have never ending demands on you and little time and energy left to carve out what you 'want' to do. I couldn't even read this without being interrupted about 5 times 🙄 hey ho...
Completely understand. Being a parent changes the paradigm in so many ways. It's all about acknowledging the beautiful reality of kids and how they weave into your life, while doing whatever feels accessible to you along the way. And, wait...ONLY 5 times?! ;-)
I had that moment where I finally recognized that I had slipped into a reactive, busy life that was burning me out a year or so ago. Since then I've spent a lot of time figuring out what I want to be doing (not what I "should" be doing), setting my own pace where possible, and being more intentional in my life. I feel so much more peaceful now. I've just started incorporating meditation into my life, and I also spend a few minutes outside every morning just observing the goings on of nature. Both help me be more present and aware. Thanks for all the suggestions in this post.
I hear ya. I continue to slip in and out. I think it's just a part of life. But the more I built practices to wake me up a bit, the easier it is to get back to where I want to be.
I always love your stuff, Jonathan. I agree that these little things we do can add up to big differences in our fight against RLS. A few things I have learned to do: all my notifications are turned off. I look at my phone when I want to look at it, not when it tells me to; daily dog walks and yoga everyday (late afternoon yoga works for me as a transition into the evening time); seeking awe, often with nature or music; deep breaths as a check-in: a morning mantra which is: "I can imagine the life I want, and I can create that life with the choices I make" (always accompanied by a half sun salutation:)
For me the busy life has been very exciting and - at least in the beginning - an invigorating experience. Almost 25 years of fast paced business life, traveling the world, negotiating deals, finding solutions and exceeding targets.
It took quite some time for me to realize that this way of living changed me - constant competing, negotiating, arguing and problem solving re-wired my brain. In a way that is not conducive to your relationships…
And then I realized it actually numbed my heart. At that point I knew things have to change and I have been practicing yoga, breathing exercises, meditation and journaling since…
Good morning :) A few years ago I released the word “busy” from my life. I embraced an intention of be-ing instead of the hamster wheel life. When I feel myself getting pulled into more reactive patterns, I pause. I reflect on what really matters and sometimes like gentle lightening I’m bolted into a mindful awareness of liberation and gratitude. The being aware is just the beginning of being free and loving well. And really, what else really matters? Being blessed with a life outside of culture including years of being creative in my building a life amidst chronic illness and sometimes overwhelming trauma responses to life events that were completely out of my control has been a ride and a gift! The more I practice what is instead of the expectation of being someone or somewhere I’m not, the calmer and more liberated I feel. And the tiny noticings of being true to my own heart and nature is everything. Thank you for all the reminders, Jonathan.
"The more I practice what is instead of the expectation of being someone or somewhere I’m not, the calmer and more liberated I feel." - so powerful and true.
Thank you. 🙏🏽 🥰
Thank you for this list Jonathan. I've been reading Dr Nicole Le Pera and one of her key exercises for healing from childhood developmental trauma and re-wiring old patterns is about regular daily check-ins - scanning our physical body needs and our emotions at regular intervals and gaining more awareness of them. I can measure when I'm living more reactively than proactively by the amount of resistance, and resentment I feel and lower energy levels. As well as a meditation practice, planning the day/week more than I used to, has also helped me improve my chances of fitting in all the pro-active aligned things I want to do, including rest time. A coach taught me a simple tip about calendar colour blocking (it's comforting to see the yellow blocks of creative time and green blocks of nature time against the blue work tasks, and I can look forward to them!). I'm experimenting as of today with the regular 'check-in' alarms on my phone and building more regular body-conscious check-ins alongside daily meditation - excited to see how it goes... ! Thank you for all these tips and reminders, I'm also chuckling about the 'Not to do' list, brilliant idea
Oh thanks so much for sharing that practice, Nicola. And I do a similar thing, color-blocking my calendar.
Thanks also for creating the amazing Sparketype Jonathan, I found it so useful in my work/vocation journey and often share it with others
I have printed out The Unbusy Creed, this is so true and helpful I want to read it everyday. I haven't read the entire post because it is so rich, I'm going to read it slowly and mindfully. Thank you!
So glad the creed resonated!
Thank you for a little gold mine of easily do-able reminders of how to choose presence. Mindfulness is at the heart of a more present, intentional life. It’s simple, not always easy, but thank you for these nuggets that can help guide us gently back to ourselves.
Always fun to share easily doable practices, hope they help!
Love everything about this. So much of what I teach about Ayurveda and how to connect with the inner healer within— the first step is awareness. Living Ayurveda is living with consciousness and with awareness. Of why me make the choices we make and why we don’t make the choices we don’t make. Lots to think on and discuss here! Thank you.
Excited to dive into this more with you soon!
Thanks for this, a lot of it resonates with me, I try to get up early to meditate every day etc. It's so challenging to be 'unbusy' as a mum though when you have never ending demands on you and little time and energy left to carve out what you 'want' to do. I couldn't even read this without being interrupted about 5 times 🙄 hey ho...
Completely understand. Being a parent changes the paradigm in so many ways. It's all about acknowledging the beautiful reality of kids and how they weave into your life, while doing whatever feels accessible to you along the way. And, wait...ONLY 5 times?! ;-)
I had that moment where I finally recognized that I had slipped into a reactive, busy life that was burning me out a year or so ago. Since then I've spent a lot of time figuring out what I want to be doing (not what I "should" be doing), setting my own pace where possible, and being more intentional in my life. I feel so much more peaceful now. I've just started incorporating meditation into my life, and I also spend a few minutes outside every morning just observing the goings on of nature. Both help me be more present and aware. Thanks for all the suggestions in this post.
I hear ya. I continue to slip in and out. I think it's just a part of life. But the more I built practices to wake me up a bit, the easier it is to get back to where I want to be.
Thank you. A lot of meat on this bone. It's about living intentionally and strategically. It's about awe and action.
Awe and action. Love that!
Working on this too. Wrote a bit about my intentions for 2025 too. Would love to hear your thoughts. https://open.substack.com/pub/parttimebuddhist/p/preparing-for-2025?r=305qd1&utm_medium=ios
I always love your stuff, Jonathan. I agree that these little things we do can add up to big differences in our fight against RLS. A few things I have learned to do: all my notifications are turned off. I look at my phone when I want to look at it, not when it tells me to; daily dog walks and yoga everyday (late afternoon yoga works for me as a transition into the evening time); seeking awe, often with nature or music; deep breaths as a check-in: a morning mantra which is: "I can imagine the life I want, and I can create that life with the choices I make" (always accompanied by a half sun salutation:)
Too many to-dos.
Duty calls and tasks abound.
Be careful, my dear.
To please everyone.
To try to achieve it all.
It's a booby trap.
For me the busy life has been very exciting and - at least in the beginning - an invigorating experience. Almost 25 years of fast paced business life, traveling the world, negotiating deals, finding solutions and exceeding targets.
It took quite some time for me to realize that this way of living changed me - constant competing, negotiating, arguing and problem solving re-wired my brain. In a way that is not conducive to your relationships…
And then I realized it actually numbed my heart. At that point I knew things have to change and I have been practicing yoga, breathing exercises, meditation and journaling since…