Mar 2- Organizing

Meditation: Calm, How to Meditate: Even Flow
Length: 10 minutes
Where: Home Office/Guest Room, Los Angeles
How It Felt: Peaceful

I’m cruising along today! I slept much later than anticipated, due to some restless legs and poorly timed cat throw up interrupting my early morning, but now that I’m up, I’m powering through that to-do list!

I am trying to work toward a “default” morning routine- meaning, a routine I do when there isn’t an early call time, audition, houseguest, etc that messes with the timing of my day. I want to stay flexible, but, generally, I would like to wake up and do the following things, in close to this order:

• Drink a big glass of water or hot lemon water
• Morning yoga
• Meditate
• Write my daily blog
• Practice a language
• Shower & start my day!

Realistically, all of this would only take 45-90 minutes, which isn’t much at all. To think that I could be awake maybe an hour and already have checked so many “must dos” off my list sounds amazing, especially since all these things are healthy habits for body and mind.

Then, I can use the rest of my day however I like. I can still do a proper workout, write more, etc, but everything after that point is bonus. I would have the basics done. It would free up my brain so much, since I spend a lot of my day, typically, putting off what needs to get done.

It’s not something I do on purpose! I am not a morning person, as I have mentioned before. I am a night person, however. If I stay up late, sleep in, and it takes a couple of hours to really get going, suddenly it’s mid (or late!) afternoon and I’m just stressed about fitting everything in to my day!

A proper morning routine could prevent that jammed up feeling I get around that time, which usually leads to anxiety and a sense that I’m already “behind” before I’ve even really started. I hate that feeling so much.

It’s already late in my day, but, in the spirit of the above ideas, I am using the first few hours of awake time to be as productive as possible. I did today’s yoga video (back to Yoga With Adriene for her monthly calendar of classes- LOVE her), I meditated, I made the three phone calls I had on my to do list (I hate phone calls!), I made myself a lovely omelette, and now I’m writing today’s blog! It may not seem like much, but I’ve struggled so mightily during this pandemic to stay motivated, it’s actually quite exciting for me!

Today’s meditation was about focusing on one thing at a time. Being fully present as a path to “flow.” Doing yoga as a “warm up” helps me so much, because my body has worked out the sleep kinks and doesn’t mind sitting still for ten minutes. (My meditation cushion helps too- can’t recommend these enough if you struggle to sit up straight or have tight hips!)

I definitely felt more present today, more open. I really tried to listen to every word and stay in the moment. Recently, Jeff Warren described concentration as a muscle that could be “worked out.” I like that idea so much! I’ve been telling myself that when my focus drifts, if I bring myself back to the moment, it isn’t a failure- it’s just a “rep.” It’s one step closer to where I want to be.

Time to keep sprinting through this day! I’m still in the middle of the Great Kitchen Organization Project I started almost two weeks ago, since the product I ordered to contain everything is slowly trickling in. So close, though! Can’t wait to have all my food back in place and feel fresh and clean again.

That’s how I feel about my life a little, lately. Like I’ve taken everything out for inspection, discarded what feels unnecessary, and now I’m putting it back into place, in the proper order. I have to leave space for when life comes back to normal, but, if I put the important bits where they should be, then I can continue to properly prioritize going forward without getting overwhelmed!

That’s the hope, anyway. Wish me luck!