Maintaining balance during change
The last few weeks have been quite eventful. My brother and sis-in-law were visiting us, then we were at my brother-in-law's multi-day wedding celebration, and then, we have been working from home because of the virus.
I realized last week that I was feeling a bit meh, tired, and foggy brained. It didn't take much reflection to realize why - my routine had been disrupted. I hadn't been doing the many simple things that brought balance to my day, and helped maintain my mental and physical health.
Since I had been working from home, I wasn't doing many things that were a part of "getting ready and getting to work" like waking up early, taking my vitamins, walking to the train station, and reading or meditating on the train. Working from home itself shifted my day's patterns - I wasn't taking breaks during the day by walking around or chatting with people, but by checking twitter, youtube, or the news, which doesn't really help me relax. And because there wasn't a definite "end of work day", I was often working late, skipping gym, sleeping late, and skipping my reading and tea drinking ritual before bed time.
Going out of balance is a vicious cycle. As you stop doing things that balance you, you feel bad, which makes you stop doing more things.
Now that I have reflected and listened to my body and mind, I'm starting to reset to my routine (or replace with alternatives). I have found that small steps that seem easy and enjoyable are good ways to trigger the reset. For me, those were taking more walks outside, spending more time with friends, and reading more books. I'm already feeling way better and getting back to my regular balance.
There's always going to be change in all our lives because we travel, fall sick, have changes in our families etc. My lesson for the future is to try and maintain my balance and routine during change, and to pay attention to how I'm feeling so that I can course correct quickly.
I realized last week that I was feeling a bit meh, tired, and foggy brained. It didn't take much reflection to realize why - my routine had been disrupted. I hadn't been doing the many simple things that brought balance to my day, and helped maintain my mental and physical health.
Since I had been working from home, I wasn't doing many things that were a part of "getting ready and getting to work" like waking up early, taking my vitamins, walking to the train station, and reading or meditating on the train. Working from home itself shifted my day's patterns - I wasn't taking breaks during the day by walking around or chatting with people, but by checking twitter, youtube, or the news, which doesn't really help me relax. And because there wasn't a definite "end of work day", I was often working late, skipping gym, sleeping late, and skipping my reading and tea drinking ritual before bed time.
Going out of balance is a vicious cycle. As you stop doing things that balance you, you feel bad, which makes you stop doing more things.
Now that I have reflected and listened to my body and mind, I'm starting to reset to my routine (or replace with alternatives). I have found that small steps that seem easy and enjoyable are good ways to trigger the reset. For me, those were taking more walks outside, spending more time with friends, and reading more books. I'm already feeling way better and getting back to my regular balance.
There's always going to be change in all our lives because we travel, fall sick, have changes in our families etc. My lesson for the future is to try and maintain my balance and routine during change, and to pay attention to how I'm feeling so that I can course correct quickly.