Motivation Week!

Motivation Week

Those who know me, know I've suffered with anxiety for the past 6 years. In this time I have read multiple self-help and mindfulness books in order to keep control of it. And I want to share with you several of the ones I feel are best..

The Mindfulness Journal by Corinne Sweet.
The Little Book of Mindfulness by Dr Patrizia Collard.
Walking on Sunshine by Rachel Kelly.

Calm by Michael Acton Smith.

I feel I've read these books and not properly "read" them, so for your benefit and mine, every week I'll be posting weekly objects from these four books to live your life, and mine, by for the following week.

This weeks tips go as followed..

1. The Sky is Low; Take note of Emily Dickinson's poem about the Winter period.

"The sky is low, the clouds are mean,

A travelling flake of snow

Across a barn or through a rut

Debates if it will go.

A narrow wind complains all day

How some one treated him;

Nature, like us, is sometimes caught

Without her diadem".

This poem express the close relationship between our internal weather and the weather outside. It helps us realise that even in the worst of times, there are often opportunities to laugh and lighten the mood when we bother to find them.

TIP 1- Find something to laugh and smile about, whatever you face this week.

2. Look Around you and Live Longer; Focus on every aspect of life, increase your perception of the world around you instead of focusing on the difficulties in your life. It will broaden your mind and act as a form of meditation through a difficult period.

"With a sense of adventure and curiosity, we can learn and experience more, moment by moment"

TIP 2 - Realise the world around you, not just the world inside your head.

3. Start the day RIGHT; Many people are usually in such a rush in the mornings, they forget to slow down and take a second to think. And this moment of thinking and reflection, can create a sense of calm before you brace yourself for the day. Give yourself extra time to get ready, have a cool shower where you actually take notice of the water rather than the thoughts inside your head, eat breakfast without the TV or a phone, and appreciate the solidarity for the moment before your whirlwind of a day begins. Check you have everything you need before you leave the house and use the few minutes before hand to breathe and not rush.

TIP 3 - Don't rush, appreciate solidarity and calmness when you can find moments of it.

4. Spend time in nature; Take time out of your busy day this week to use those legs of yours and walk. Whether its through nature or through your city, walking is an instant reliever of stress when you have been couped up in an office environment or a busy environment. I think with our busy lives we all forget how important a simple walk away from our problems can affect us and create a sense of calmness for when we go back. It gives us the strength to carry on with our day.

TIP 4- Find your Arcadia. Walk away from your problems to create the strength in yourself to go back and deal with them.