Serenity Now!

Ok, so we know we want that elusive sense of calm in our lives. On to the good stuff!

10 steps to Stillness

1. Sleep

I don't know about you, but I am a zombie without sleep. I shuffle around, bumping into things, relatively mindless and muttering about caffeine. Which doesn't help even when I get some. It's hard to function if your mind and body aren't rested. And it's hard to remain calm when you're exhausted.

Get some zzzs.

2. Healthy Mind

Are you bored? B-O-R-E-D. If a significant portion of your life is lacking meaning or challenge, or just some positive human interaction, it can feel like you're sleepwalking through your life. Keep your mind fresh, stay out of the rut! Learn something new, or set little challenges to liven up the boring stuff: can you do that task faster, or more precisely, or do it to music, or do it with one hand literally behind your back?

Your neurons will thank you

3. Healthy Body

All those aches and pains, twinges and sprains, they are distracting. And annoying. And limiting. Your body needs to be able to not just endure, but to easily carry out the functional demands of your life. Look after it! It doesn't have to be the gym every day, or a marathon every week. Just a walk, and a stretch, and enough water, and the core strength to maintain a healthy posture.

Your brain is driving the only car it'll ever own: best to make it a good one, not a rusted hunk-a-junk!

4. Healthy Spirit

Keep your spark alive. That joy in life. What is it that you are passionate about: a long time hobby, or a new interest? Explore what motivates you and don't let fear of failure stop you from pursuing it.

More joy, less funk.

5. Let it go

Some days are just crazy. And your inner calm is nowhere to be found. This isn't failure, this is normal. This is life! There are many things out of our control, we need to let it go, not stew, fret, or knot ourselves up about it.

Channel your inner Elsa from Disney's Frozen and "Let it go!".

6. Make it count

Whatever you're doing, do it wholly. Don't do it with half your attention, while the other half is checking social media. Give it your all, notice the little things, the big things. Use all your senses. Let your body be truly alive and your mind wholly engaged.

Do not let life slip by while you're distracted.

7. Perspective

How urgent is it? No, really. How important is it? What happens if you don't do it today? What happens if you don't do it ... at all? Is that todo list item really that desperate? Give yourself some space to do the genuinely needful things properly. The little stuff will take care of itself.

Do the things that actually matter.

8. Breathing

It's automatic, right? Air goes in, air comes out. We don't even have to think about it. Except that we often breathe in about as far as our armpits. Our shoulders go up and down and no further. To really get things going, you want to feel like you're breathing down to your belly button... down to the soles of your boots! More oxygen for your body, more oxygen for your brain!

Air is life.

9. Gratitude

Part of being content with what you have now is being able to be aware of what you have, and realising how good it is that you have these things already. The intangibles (love, friendship, honesty) and the physical (health, wealth, safety, food).

Hooray, I'm me!

10. Flow

Sportsmen call it being "in the zone". Some psychologists refer to it as being in a state of Flow. Time passes without you really being aware of it. Whatever you're doing, you're operating at your peak. It induces a sense of quiet euphoria, because everything just works.

Get into the zone!

Short list, big concepts. You can bet I'll be looking into these further in coming weeks. If you have any specific questions, hit me up in the comments.