relaxation

“There is only the now,” says Edwin Riley, M.Ed., who runs a stress clinic.

“Keep your mind focused on the present. You can’t change the past. The future hasn’t happened yet, so why worry about it? If you stay in the moment, you’ll feel more relaxed and energized.”

In order to remain focused on what you need to do right here and now, try these exercises:

> Take several short, deep breaths.

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There is one really simple, silly thing I wish I had done before becoming a mom. I have been thinking about this a lot lately....especially on my husband's days off. I wish I had enjoyed weekend mornings off in bed, drinking coffe and reading the paper. I know it sounds totally mundane, but I think I would have really relished that.

I think the next chance hubby & I will get to do that will be when the kids are 18 and off to college.

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I had some stuff to do today, which is no surprise. I always have stuff to do. But today I needed to do some writing, clean the car, watch a movie with the kids, grocery shop, measure the store at my building, and other such chores.

No such luck. I told my husband that I was sleeping in today, and he agreed. He got up at 8am, but not before he talked with me enough that I was awake without a chance at going back to sleep. I don't fall asleep easily, and I love talking with him- except when I'm trying to sleep. lol

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With all the time at the hospital, it's nice to have a weekend at home. My mom is doing a lot better, so we invoked our "I have my own home I need to take care of also" priviledge. And it's true. My cat is getting exceptionally lonely, and she's going stir-crazy in the house by herself. My kids are getting crazy on all the junk food at grandma's house, and my very expensive week of grocery shopping is slowly going to waste because there isn't freezer space at her house. And, because I am feuding with my sister, it's especially draining. Yes mom. I know you aren't promised one more day and that life is too short for that crap. I also know life is too short to be sucked into the black hole that is her life, and it's too short to walk around on eggshells because she feels like being deranged that day. Or week.

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I keep telling myself that I'll only stay on the computer for an hour MAX after I put my son to bed, but inevitably I end up staying on for hours on end. My son goes to bed at
7:30pm......and it will be past midnight and I am still up reading all of your posts, writing my own, answering comments, looking for random stuff on ebay.

You can't imagine how many books I have piled up and gathering dust that I have been meaning to read and how many TV shows that I just never remember to watch because I am so caught up in my computer lifestyle.

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I had the whole weekend off! I got some writing done (4 articles for associatedcontent.com). I watched some movies with friends (Fun with Dick and Jane, which was an awesome movie...and the newest Harry Potter movie, which I got bored with). Lastnight I watched Sopranos with one of my other friends. It was a good episode.

This Friday I have an interview with a Counseling center. If I get the position, it will be my first job in psychology. woot! :) I'm also looking forward to having the same schedule each week...this rotating schedule gets confusing.

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Embrace your high blood pressure as a symbol of the lifestyle you have chosen to sustain. Wear your elevated systolic and diastolic numbers like a badge of honor, saying to all that you are proud and happy with the lifestyle you have achieved, and will not let some silly thing like hypertension stop you.

Minimal exercise allows you to avoid sweat, sore muscles, enhanced circulation, and the effort of engaging the body.

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Have you ever watched an infant? Not necessarily the most exciting thing to do unless, of course, you are the parents of the infant. Parent or not, an infant can teach adults some pretty amazing things. Take breathing, for example.

When sleeping or in an otherwise hypnogogic state, you will see that the little one breathes slowly and deeply. A rhythmic, non-forced weaving of inhales and exhales. This state is disrupted by the crises of hunger, pain, fear, and fecal discharge. At these points, our little infant becomes disturbed, starts to wriggle about, perhaps cry, and begin to BREATH IN A MORE SHALLOW AND FAST-PACED manner. This is CRISIS BREATH. It lasts as long as the ‘crisis’ persists, and breathing returns to steady state upon restoration of the non-crisis way of being.

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