The small med series
By Mary Magdalene
It’s morning and before getting out of bed I wonder “What will this day bring?”. So my instinct says in response “What do I want to get from this day?”, and that is how I align my thoughts along with my intention every morning before getting out of bed. Living in a fast paced world is tiring and such routines seem inevitable. But they are not.
Set your alarm 5 minutes earlier, and go to bed 5 minutes earlier. Reduce scrolling until you get intoxicated before sleep. You don’t really relax while scrolling on reels and memes before sleep, it's just an illusion. You wear out your brain when it is ready to biologically relax and calm down from the tension of the day. Then your sleep inevitably gets worn out, more and more, night by night. Until your sleep one day aligns completely with the daily burnout you experience performing your duties, family, work, time schedules, or whatever every person has in their daily routine.
So, you see small changes are not inevitable, neither a luxury, even for the most hard-working mum who runs a household, kids, work and personal training at the same day. When I was in the burnout mode I felt stress was ready to slip out of my nostrils. My body was tired all the time, even after a good 8 hours of sleep. I could not enjoy moments of relaxation in walks in nature or by the sea, things I cherish and love since forever. My stomach began to give out alarm signals, my bowel too. Then, I had random pains in my hands, my legs, my back, in various spots in my body, with no logical reason for all this. My body was shouting. My life was not listening. One day I decided I didn't have the courage to continue like this anymore. And I tried meditating. I was trying for years to meditate but my stressful response to quiet moments of concentration and no thinking was sabotaging every single attempt I made. And afterwards I felt the failure and disappointment, so I built a traumatic relationship with meditation. Until the very point I mentioned earlier, when my body was about to collapse from stress. So I meditated without waiting for it to be a success. I meditated waiting nothing. I just tried. And it worked. I remember back then I used a small, guided meditation of 20 mins. Afterwards, day by day I tried again and again. Now I am mediating without the need of a guidance app anymore. But this is not the important part. Even a small 2 mins or 5 or 15 a day of meditating can set the foundation for rewiring your brain's rythm. Eventually your body gets used to relaxing, taking a pause, taking a breath.
We’ve been trained that resting is laziness. No, it’s not. It’s important for our body, our souls to escape from this burnout, this stressful daily life. So, skip scrolling and give yourself a few moments of meditation. Ground yourself to your body. Ask yourself. How do I feel my heart beating right now? How do I feel these deep breaths going around in my body? How do I feel my stomach? My hands? My feet? How do I want to get through my day today?
And remember, every single day is yours to live, not someone else’s. It doesn’t matter at all if someone else gets through harder times and you don't. We are all different, we are all unique and comparing ourselves to others brings nothing but sorrow.
So remember to treat yourself today as someone you love and care for. No one else will do it for you, but you.
Have a blessed day.
Mary Magdalene