Trying not to be Rip Van Winkle

I’M trying to be healthier. I’ve just hit my first year anniversary of being a CrossFitter, attending classes six times a week and building up my physical strength and flexibility whilst losing about 10 kilos. 

I’d like to lose more, but as I said, I’m trying to be healthier. I’ve also become a devotee of the new Ziva To Go in the Son Bugadelles industrial estate in Santa Ponsa which serves raw and vegan food to eat in and takeaway. 

I’m trying in so many ways to change my habits. Most of the time I am in control of what happens to me, but one of the biggest causes of illness is stress which I have to say I’m not so good at controlling. 

In the past six weeks a lot of things in my life have changed: leaving my post at Mood rapidly followed two days later by the death of my beloved dad has been quite something to cope with.  In the first instance, for the first month I slept, A LOT. Our family dog, Basil, glued himself to my side throughout, ready to curl up beside me and be there with me whenever I needed him.  

And now I’m emerging from the fog, and trying to remember where I put everything before I turned into Rip Van Winkle. I know I need to get my brain back in gear, and I’ve decided to give meditation a try. 

I’m going to start with something which I think I can manage, ‘Mindfulness Meditation.’  Experts say it can help lower stress levels, increase focus, protect against depression, improve sleep, and help you maintain a healthy weight. It’s paying attention to the here and now. No particular spiritual belief or special equipment is needed. All that’s required is a set of lungs to breathe and a mind to observe it, and the whirl of my thoughts, without judgement. Apparently it’s effective even if you only have a couple of minutes a day. There’s no need for flowing gowns and fluffy pillows to sit on. 

In fact, you can sneak in a stealthy moment of mindfulness by simply giving yourself a few seconds to consciously breathe before picking up the phone or by pausing to fully focus. So this is what I am going to do from now on. I’m going to drink my tea slower. And concentrate on it. I’m going to stop multitasking and start ‘Unitasking.’  

Rather than try to do five things at the same time, one of them often being driving from one place to another at top speed whilst drinking a cup of tea, I’m just going to drink the tea. Because as we all know, cups of tea have always made everything better.

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