Good Morning Yogis Big & Small

Good Morning Yogis Big & Small

This kids book gives children and parents a sweet way to talk about morning routines. Mornings can be stressful! Rhymes, beautiful illustrations and handy checklists walk the reader through body habits in a fun and engaging story. Bedtime, drinking water to poop, family hugs and sitting quietly in meditation are all part of the daily routine.

What I love best? The book’s pages alternate between engaging and warm pictures that show the child what to do- and a facing page where the “how” and “why” is explained in more detail for mom and dad.

If you are keen to introduce your children to healthy body habits this one is for you.  

Body Thrive – Ebook & Audiobook

Body Thrive Audio Book and Body Thrive E-Book

Body Thrive is a top-selling paperback- and now you can find it in ebook and audio form.  

My health coaching clients love this read. Cate Stillman shares her top tips for the 10 daily habits of Ayurveda– and modern habit science tips to help you find ways to make them part of your daily routine.  Each habit chapter clearly outlines what to do, why you want to do it, and how to start. Real-life stories and examples help us to understand how much of a gain we can make when we begin to make small, consistent changes.

One of my favorite Body Thrive chapters is all about creating a mindful kitchen. Planning and organizing food preparation practices in a way that makes your kitchen functional and your food intentional is made easy with the Body Thrive approach.

Pick up an ebook so you can have it with you wherever you go. Or load up an audiobook so you can listen in from home, your car or out on your walk.

7 Audio Lessons to Uplevel Your Wellness Career

7 Audio Lessons to Uplevel Your Wellness Career

This is the perfect way to give yourself the boost you need to uplevel your wellness career.  In this 84-minute downloadable audio Cate Stillman shares her big learnings with you so you can get a head start on your own career evolution. Cate’s insiders scoop into how she has transformed her career helps us understand how we can grow our income and how we can learn to work with time so we can expand our systems, grow our teams, and make a bigger impact in the world.

In 7 lessons Cate talks about everything from lead generation to hiring a virtual assistant and tribe growth.  A lifelong learner, she translates her business training and practical experience growing Yogahealer into an inspiring and easy to listen to offering.

Listen time again to this offering.  Get inspired to find the perfect client, build your tribe, and lead your people through a dynamic transformation in a group setting.

But the other day she caught me by surprise. Because what she said to me went to the very heart of what I have been teaching my own clients.

“Last time he were here you said you thought you never be able to run again. Where did that catastrophic thinking come from?”

Boom! Identity evolution 101. Handed to me in a brilliantly crafted question that both shocked me AND gave me hope. It was a brilliant lesson in my own journey with shift, change, and personal evolution.

Identity Evolution: Our Tool for Change

Identify evolution is one of the key tools we use as yoga health coaches- the ability to look forward and see our potential for becoming a different version of ourselves. As we encourage our clients to look forward to a horizon of wide possibility, we help them narrow down both their future vision for who they want to be in the world, and the day to day habits and actions that will move them forward in the direction of who they want to become. Underlying our ability to change are beliefs and patterns of behaviour that we learn how to name, deconstruct, and shift in support of our personal goals for growth and evolution.

How do we effectively help our clients see their potential? What can we learn from our own journeys with identity evolution?

Here is my take on the 3 ways we need to explore our own identity evolution before we can effectively help others see their potential for change.

Our Identity Evolution Success Story

What story can we share that gives a clear example of how we have personally evolved our identity? What did it take to make that evolution happen? What kind of challenges did we experience? What did we learn about our potential for change? How did commitment, consistency, vision and imagination play into the process?

One story I love to share is how I became a triathlete. As a non-athletic teen with no coordination I believed in every cell of my body that I was not an athlete. By consistently executing the habits of a triathlete I not only was able to do a triathlon- I was able to race, place and even complete the famed Ironman. I became a triathlete- a clear example of taking on a new identity.

Our Current Evolution in Progress

Helping our clients understand that change is an ongoing process is another part of our story. Knowing that we have successfully made an identity shift is one thing. Helping them to see our current dreams, hopes and challenges in the context of current identity evolution is another. Knowing that we have had success- AND that we are an ongoing work in progress- can help our clients relax into the idea that there is no finish line- there is just the beautiful potential for ongoing creation of new ways of being.

Our Identity Evolution Blind Spot

Celebrating successful transitions and transitions ‘in progress’ is inspiring for our clients. But it is also important for them to know that everyone has blind spots- and that having others help us see them is sometimes the fastest track to change.

There is immense potential available to us when we have someone call us on our “catastrophic thinking”- our hidden beliefs that something is not malleable and changeable. My physiotherapists comments hit me hard and fast. They woke me up, inspired me, and gave me the opportunity to question what I believe, how I communicate it, and how that might be blocking me from seeing my own potential.

if you are a health coach, a health coaching client, or someone who is just starting to explore your next steps in your own evolution, here is the big question:

Who is holding the bar of potential high for you? Are they willing to point out the tough stuff? And when they do, do YOU have the support you need to move forward in shifting the base.

Sometimes when we are coaching we can get very focussed on our PAST stories of evolution, and our current path of change. But the willingness to be open to help to see our blind spots- in the way that my physio helped me- is a part of the process that some of us miss.

So what are your past, present and future stories of identity evolution? What stories do you need to explore? Who are your people who will help you see your own blind spots? Comment and let us know what insights you’ve had.

As for me… I am now on a walk program. Marathon training it’s not. But every step that I run connects me to my future self- a healthy recreational runner who loves to hike and backcountry camp.

When we’re turning out passion into our career, we sometimes realize we need help, but we’re hesitant to ask for it. As Yoga Health Coaches, we sometimes have to shift our identity and lean into growing edges to mine our resources to get the help we need.

When asking for help from someone with whom you have a prior connection, lead with your heart rather than succumbing to fear. Knowing what their needs are and where they are coming from will help guide the conversation. Practice the deep listening skills we learn in YHC so that you can keep an open ear and an open mind to ideas they might have that might not have occurred to you. And while it’s easy to get caught up in conversation, in the end, we need to be really clear about what’s going to happen, what the next steps are, and what the timeline is.

We all have resources, connections in our communities; we have people who believe in us. We shouldn’t be afraid to step forward and ask for help in the interest of reciprocity and interdependence. It’s part of our identity evolution.

What you’ll get out of tuning in:

• The three questions you need to ask yourself as you try to grow your coaching business.
• How to approach potential resources.
• How to “close” a conversation with a resource.

Links Mentioned in Episode:

• Marcia’s facebook page
• Marcia’s website
• Tania’s facebook page
• YHC Have a conversation
• Watch the Masterclass NOW

Show Highlights:

• 0:00 – When we’re turning out passion into our career, we sometimes realize we need help, but we’re hesitant to ask for it. Sometimes it’s because we don’t want to “bother” others. Sometimes it’s because we’re not really sure who to ask or what to ask for. But we all of resources, people we’re connected to in some way, who believe in what we’re doing.4:00 – For Yoga Health Coaches, we sometimes have to shift our identity and lean into growing edges to mine our resources to get the help we need. Marcia has experience working with non-profit organizations, and it occurred to her recently that she needed to approach her health coaching business much the same way she would a non-profit: by mapping out a plan to get the word out about what she’s doing.

  10:55 – When asking for help from someone with whom you have a prior connection, it’s important to lead with your heart rather than succumb to fear. Knowing what their needs are and where they are coming from will help guide the conversation. Getting clear about the future state we believe is possible is also very important.

  15:00 – When meeting with our resources, it’s important to practice the deep listening skills we learn in YHC so that we can keep an open ear and an open mind to ideas they might have that might not have occurred to us.

  17:30 – While it’s easy to get caught up in conversation with like-minded resources, in the end, we need to be really clear about what’s going to happen, what the next steps are, and what the timeline is.

  18:48 – We all have resources, connections in our communities; we have people who believe in us. We shouldn’t be afraid to step forward and ask for help in the interest of reciprocity and interdependence. It’s part of our identity evolution.

Favorite Quotes:

• “If we don’t take the actions, and we’re not actually doing the work to make these things happen, they’re just not going to happen.” — Marcia Wilson
• “I love being in conversation, so if I get the tiniest little tidbit that helps me organically evolve what I’m working on, then I’m happy.” — Marcia Wilson

My training in the conversation of health began when I started practicing as an occupational therapist in the traditional medical system. Over time, my work with clients with chronic disease and my own health challenges shifted my perspective- I began to look at health management and disease prevention through a broader lens.  

But it was my most recent studies in Yoga Health Coaching where my ideas on health care took an even bigger turn as I started to learn and experience the massive benefits of implementing a daily routine that is repeatable and simple. Now, as I teach my clients the benefits of eating an earlier dinner, going to bed earlier, and waking earlier to meditate and move, the significant change I am seeing in their physical and mental well being is telling me that there is an untold story of health that needs to be shared.

A Simple Lesson in Prioritizing

So let’s backtrack.

One of the things I’ve always admired about my friend is that she has a strong capacity to handle a large amount of challenge with grace and ease. This is something I have struggled with- for much of my adult life I have slept too little and worked too much. When I don’t get enough sleep or the right type of sleep I’m not able to show up effectively in my relationships, my work is sub par, and everything suffers.

Studying dinacharya- the Ayurvedic recommendations for daily habits and routines- I learned that my ideas of “self care” were heavily informed by the media and traditional models of medical care .

But recently I remembered that one of the greatest teachings I received about self-care was from this friend. And it dovetails beautifully with the Yoga Health Coaching approach that I now use. This is what she told me:

Sleep first – it is the most important priority.  If you have slept enough you can make better decisions. THEN focus on food choices and eating in a way that is nourishing. From this solid base of rest and nutrition you are set- exercise becomes more accessible and you can start to build a healthier body.

What my friend offered me was a clear hierarchy of how to care for myself.  I remember that it made sense- and that I unsuccessfully tried to make some changes in my routine. I realize now that this was my first experience of experimenting with creating self care habits for myself.

So here’s the thing – if family physicians knows that sleep and eating and movement are critical for health, we can then ask how  health professionals effectively help their clients start to make these critical shifts? How can we help people pro-actively choose to go to bed earlier when work, laundry, relationships, and even down time are all calling us to stay up to midnight?

Introducing Three Key Habits and the World of Habit Change Science

We know that there is significant research that shows us self-care is critical for managing chronic illness like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

We also know that most of us don’t know how to get started or how to create these new self care habits.  That’s why my friend’s “Sleep First” advice – as much as it resonated with my view of self care- was not accessible for me.  I didn’t know how to create a routine from an idea.

In his book “Getting Things Done” David Allen tells us when are goals are too big-  when we have not identified a small enough “next action” to get started- we can become paralyzed. For me buying new tires for my car is like this:  if my to-do list says “buy new summer tires” I can’t get started. What next action will mobilize me? If I take this to-do and make it into the tiniest action what I write down instead is “ask my brother what tires he recommends.”  

A similar approach can work for our clients.  Start with the most critical habits. Start with one at a time. And most importantly use of the concept of kaizen to help them get started.

Kaizen- Good Change

Kaizen means “good change.” A concept that evolved from wartime, it’s about small continuous change- small improvements that add up to bigger change over time. Everytime we look to create new habits in self care, a kaizen approach can help us to create the kind of small next actions that will give us success and prevent paralysis.

So what does this look like when we are talking about self care habits and the world of Ayurveda?  When we look at the Ayurvedic daily routine we can see that three key habits form the basis for good health- Earlier Lighter Dinner, Early to Bed, and Start the Day Right.  These habits follow the natural rhythm of the Ayurvedic clock and the corresponding circadian rhythm. And each one of them can be approached using kaizen as a tool.

Three Key Habits

Habit one is all about eating an Earlier Lighter Dinner. When we eat earlier- ideally by 6pm- we are able to digest our food more effectively before we go to sleep, and the physiological processes of recovery and growth that happen on a biochemical level are more effective and more available to us. Through the lens of kaizen and earlier later dinner could look like eating off a smaller plate so less food is consumed, replacing beef with tofu in a stir fry, or dialling dinner back from 7pm to 6:30pm. Encouraging our clients to eat their largest meal in the middle of the day gives them a greater chance of letting go of the “big dinner” mentality that often comes with a busy lifestyle.

Habit two is Early to Bed. Going to bed before 10 PM is critical as it helps us avoid the second wind that many people experience with a rise of energy that naturally occurs after 10 PM. How do we change our bed time?  The kaizen is approach here could include rolling bedtime back by 15 minutes at a time, adding in a habit like a sleep inducing foot massage before bed, or moving your daily shower to bed time instead of the morning so that work and other alerting activities are less accessible and less desirable.

Habit three is called Start to the Day Right. This habit teaches us that getting up before six, drinking warm water to encourage a bowel movement, and doing some type of movement, are critical to ensure we wake up feeling light and alert rather than heavy and groggy. People who wake up later often struggle with getting out of bed.  Although a cold turkey approach to getting up earlier can be effective with some people, changing the alarm by just 15 minutes a week can be an effective way to become a morning person. Movement can be as simple as doing 15 jumping jacks or dancing to a song. Drinking warm water? A sip or two can be a start and over time shift into a full intake of a liter.

It’s At Our Fingertips

I think back with gratitude to the framework that my friend introduced me to. She encouraged me to give my need for sleep more attention and introduced me to the idea that I have the ability to make change by taking responsibility for my own routine and habits.

But looking back on my lack of success with changing my own sleep habits makes me realize that creating new health habits is a science- and most of us haven’t learned the basics of how to successfully make this kind of change.

So how can we best help our patients? By educating them about these simple habits of health care, and linking them to a coaching program where they can get help with making the habits real.  Truth is, to make new habits stick we need to learn habit change science AND we need to learn why the habits have value.  Both are needed to make the habits stick.

Wondering who you can refer to? See if there is someone in your community who specializes in habit change and health. Or consider taking the plunge and adding Yoga Health Coaching to your repertoire of skills or as a primary care program offered within your health clinic. Bridging the gap between the idea of self-care and making a change on a personal level is where we can really start to make a difference.

So here’s the thing. One of my clients recently made it abundantly clear why she was having a hard time moving forward with changes in her habits. No matter what her doctor said – no matter how much she wanted to make the change – there were three things that were impacting her ability to shift.

One. She didn’t have the support she needed.

Two. She didn’t know what to do – the huge range of choices available to her was overwhelming.

And three. She didn’t know how to how to get started, how to sustain the behavior, and how to make sure that it was lasting change.

She just didn’t have the skills needed to create the new habits and behaviors that were going to help make the change she wanted.

Change in Health Habits = Change in Identity

I began my career working in the traditional medical system as an occupational therapist. A member of the rehabilitation team, my role was to help people with injuries, disease and illness be as functional as possible in the roles that they held in their life – as parents, employees, husbands, wives and community members. Much of my work was with people with multiple sclerosis. I worked in hospitals, outpatient clinics, community health centers, and in care facilities. And one of the things I learned is that it is really hard to help patients make changes in their daily habits.

Why? Because lifestyle change means taking on a new identity. Using a wheelchair instead of walking. Cutting back on work. Taking midday rests. For someone with multiple sclerosis these all signify a new way of being – often an identity shift that they do not want to take.

Similarly, changing health habits can mean a massive shift in identity. From a smoker to a walker, a daily drinker to a meditation fan, or a couch potato to a gym rat. Each of these changes ripples out to impact family, friends, children and coworkers. Social circles change. Friendships are lost and found. Simple things like shopping for groceries becomes complicated as stores that sell beer and wine are avoided and the bulk bags at Costco become taboo.

Making lifestyle changes means more than eating something different at dinner. It means a life overhaul that requires planning and support to make the new habits stick.

Changing Perspective- Coaching + Group Work

When I shifted away from working in a traditional medical system I was able to see a big gap that exists in the absence of a diagnosable condition like diabetes or heart disease. It can be hard to find organized support for broad lifestyle change. Weight loss and addictions programs serve a segment of the population, but for many of us there is a massive gap in access to simple and effective programs that teach us how to care for ourselves.

Through studies in yoga, I was introduced to the eastern health system of Ayurveda, and its teachings on healthy daily habits and routines. As someone who has always struggled with workaholic tendencies and inflammatory conditions like asthma, these teachings were a gift: a map of self care habits that were low cost, relatively simple, and very accessible.
My studies shifted in this direction and I began to teach people self care habits based on the concepts of Ayurveda.  Taught through the lens of habit change science, with a long view to outcomes, my clients are now exploring self care in a facilitated group setting in a program called Thriving As You.

Getting Started

My client’s call for support on her health journey was powerful because she was able to so clearly identify what she needed to move forward: support, a framework to work within, and education about how to build habits for life. As she steps into my group coaching program each of her three needs is addressed.

Support

How much change have you been able to successfully implement and sustain without the help of others? Have you ever had someone who loved you not support your healthy habits because of the impact of the changes on their life?

In Yoga Health Coaching we teach in a group setting where clients with similar desire for change and identity evolution get a chance to learn together and support each other on their journeys. We also teach people how to be in conversation with their existing family and friends, and how to recognize and create supportive relationships outside of our health coaching group.

Choices

How do we successfully navigate the sheer volume of information available to us on the internet and in books and magazines? Food choices alone are completely overwhelming. High fat, low fat, keto, paleo, vegetarian, high-protein, low-carb.  What to choose?

Yoga Health Coaching is based on time-tested self care practices that focus on simple activities like going to bed before 10pm, waking before 6am and eating the largest meal of the day at midday.  

 Habit Change

How do we actually create new habits and make change stick? Writers like Charles Duhigg of “the Power of Habit” and blogger James Clear – both experts in habit change, show us that there are specific tools and techniques we can use to help boost our chance of success. In the absence of this type of knowledge it can be nearly impossible to add self care habits into our days in a way creates successful change.

In Yoga Health Coaching we work with modern habit science techniques to find a way to make our new habits accessible and repeatable. Learning these skills sets our clients up for life-long success in creating change.

Reality Check: Invite Your Patients Into a Deeper Relationship with Self Care

So think about this the next time a patient with pre-diabetes arrives at your clinic and you are tempted to hand her a pamphlet on food choices.

What is her chance of successfully changing the way she eats given what is says in the pamphlet? What will your perception of her be if she is not successful at making the changes?  Are there other tools you can give her access to? Is there anyone with a long view on health and habit change who you can refer her to?

If you are curious about a different way of supporting your patients and would like to link them into programs that will give them access to support habit change education, and a simple healthy living framework, seek out a Certified Yoga Health Coach in your area.   

Really curious?  Consider adding these programs to your practice offerings, either by becoming a Certified Yoga Health Coach or by partnering with someone who is. In the end, both you and your patients may benefit from their new way of stepping into the process of change.

The migraines eased when I was 10.  But year after year my asthma worsened. Characterized by an overactive immune system and inflammation of the airways, asthma can be experienced as restricted breathing, coughing and wheezing.  It can be triggered by infections, allergies, strong emotions, and exercise. 

My triggers?  All of the above. As an adult, I became so sensitive to cat dander that my office was off limits to co-workers. My regime of medications included three inhalers, antihistamines, and other oral medications.  A cold? Five days on prednisone. Thrush from the prednisone? Try an antifungal. I became a medication expert. And I began to wonder what would happen if I contracted something like H1N1. Would I be admitted to a hospital? Would prednisone, a drug with serious side effects, become a daily go-to?  

Experimenting with Alternate Options

Faced with the challenge of frequent flare ups, I began to experiment with alternative and complementary health care. I dabbled in supplements and spent money on tinctures and acupuncture. Progress was slow.

Then I hit a turning point:  my doctor recommended I try a new medication- a designer drug used to treat severe allergic asthma. I’d receive injections every three weeks- and be at risk of anaphylactic shock after each treatment. I was dumbfounded. Designer drugs? Me?  

This wake up call invited me into a deeper question – how could I stop the cycle of inflammation and illness?  How could I bolster my health so that exposure to allergens and viruses did not trigger such a massive response from my body?  I realized I needed to look at the heart of what was making me sick. I had to start taking full responsibility for my health.

Self Care + Daily Routines of Ayurveda

My journey began to shift more fully once I was introduced to Ayurveda, an Eastern model of medicine from India. I had looked to yoga as a way to manage stress, and Ayurveda was a key teaching in the first training I attended. Ayurveda can include consultations with trained physicians and treatments like massage, oiling, enemas and dietary changes. But my curiosity was most peaked by a book I found which depicted the daily routine recommended by Ayurveda. 

Based on the Ayurvedic clock and the doshas, energies that dominate different times of the day and seasons of the year, Ayurveda recommends specific times of day to eat, sleep, and do other types of self care. Awake before sunrise. Early morning meditation. Eat your biggest meal at midday. It was the first time I had seen self care mapped out as a routine – one that looked nothing like my current day.

Stress, Asthma + Disease

From the perspective of Ayurveda, disease has three causes: making negligent choices, disrespecting your senses, and living out of rhythm.   I needed to understand how my constitution was leading me on a path towards lung issues, and how to line up my lifestyle with the natural world around me. I had to give myself a chance to create physical and mental resilience by eliminating key sources of stress.

These three key areas became my transition points:

1. Food Stress – Hot Versus Cold

The first shift I made? Eating in a way that honours the 4 season climate I live in. Hot water therapy became a habit that I still use daily: I carry a thermos of hot water everywhere I go and sip from it throughout the day. Cold air conditioned offices warrant hot water therapy in the same way that cold winter days do. I never drink ice water, and only switch to room temperature water when it really heats up. 

Lemon is too drying for me – so I quickly became used to plain water.

This pattern is also mimicked in my food choices. I eat warm foods like soups and stews in cooler times and limit my intake of raw cold foods like salads and raw veggies to the hotter months. I learned to protect my ability to digest, my digestive fire, by not dampening it with cold food or drink during the coolest seasons.

2. Sleep Stress – Chronic Deprivation

Learning to let go of my night owl tendencies was another change that shifted my health. When I began to experiment with an earlier bed-time I realized that I had been living in a state of chronic sleep deprivation. I was able to see that fatigue was triggering stress in my personal relationships and at work, and that going to bed early was one of the most impactful ways I could create more ease. 

Ayurveda recommends we go to bed before 10pm and rise before 6am.  Embracing this schedule has made it easier for me to work, be in relationship with friends + family, and find ease in challenges. More ease means less stress and fewer flare ups.

3. Body Stress – Learning to Breathe with Ease

My final big learning came about when I noticed how often I carried worry and stress in my body.  Learning how to develop a soft and sweet relationship with my breath was new for me. I was used to pushing myself hard and breathing hard. Learning to use a mantra was one way I created a more friendly relationship with my breath.  Practicing ujjayi or ocean breath was another. I began to recognize how often I was tightening my torso in a way that stopped me from inhaling deeply. 

Learning how to deepen each in a breath and slow the release of each out breath helped me create a baseline of groundedness that I could access anywhere. Breathing became my go to way to recognize when I was stressed and the main tool I used to re-establish myself in a space of ease. 

Freedom in breath is the exact opposite of the experience of asthma. Working with this technique gave me the ability to stay calmer and more relaxed when I was sick. This means less constriction, less medication, and less uncertainty.

Daily Ease in Breath + Body

I’d love to say that my asthma has disappeared and I no longer need my inhalers. While this is not true, I have significantly shifted my lung health.

Freedom from daily medication use is a significant gain for me, as is the ability to breathe freely and to worry little about exposure to allergens. I rarely need prednisone. My entire system is less inflamed and less at risk for a flare up.  Living in line with nature, making discerning choices, honoring who I am – this is how I love my lungs.

“Breathing in, I calm my body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment.”

― Thich Nhat Hanh– from Being Peace

When I was 25 my dad died from pancreatic cancer. His death, just 4 months after diagnosis, left me questioning what it meant to live a full life and how we can most effectively navigate these very human challenges. My search for answers unfolded into studies in Buddhism, Yoga, and eventually Ayurveda. Some of the first writings I was introduced to were the simple and effective teachings of Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh. One of my favorite writings of Thich Nhat Hanh was a mantra from his book, Being Peace: “Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment, I know this is the only moment.”  This phrase was taught to me in an abbreviated form: “calm, smile, present, wonderful.” I began to use it during hot and sweaty Bikram yoga classes, during the stress of marital separation and as a tool to share with my yoga students. Over 20 years later this mantra is still my favorite go-to.

Mantra = Mind Protecting

Mantra- the use of sounds or words as objects of concentration- means “mind protecting. ” By allowing our awareness to settle on the sounds we repeat aloud or silently we “protect” ourselves from thoughts or emotional responses triggered by our daily lives. Staying focused on the mantra protects us from negative thoughts, monkey mind and replaying conversations in our head. It keeps us in the moment. Mantra comes in many forms. Some mantras, called “seed” mantras, are sounds that do not have a particular meaning in English. Full phrases in both Sanskrit, “om shanti shanti shanti,” and English (“breath in goes deep, breath out goes slow”) are used commonly. Mantras can be used with other practices like yoga or as a stand alone meditation practice.

Train Your Nervous System to Be Calm and Steady

A key teaching from the world of Ayurveda is the value of mindfulness or meditation practice as part of a daily rhythm of self care called “dinya charya”.  One of my teachers- the Abbot of a Theravada Buddhist Monastery, helped me understand that practice is just that, practice. The time we spend meditating – whether we follow the breath or use a mantra- gives our nervous system and subconscious a chance to develop a familiarity with the technique.  The goal? When we face a challenge in real life – when we need to be calm and steady and hold space for ourselves – the mantra and our breath are right there with us. Our practice gives us ability to access calm and peace even when it seems elusive.

Anxiety + Overwhelm: Using Mantra to Navigate Life

As much as I had used the mantra “calm, smile” both in practice and in troubled times, it was this winter, over 20 years after first learning it – that I had the chance to see the full benefit of mantra in action.

My History of Anxiety

Part of my history is one of anxiety and overwhelm. I notice that this tendency is worsening as I age. Ayurveda views anxiety through the lens of what is called a Vata overdominance imbalance. As we age, we tend to become even more Vata dominant in our bodies, minds, and hearts which means that managing anxiety is made easier by self care practices like keeping things simple, following a routine, oil massage, and using practices like yoga and meditation.  Although I follow Vata pacifying self care practices, my life recently has been one of travel, living in temporary accommodations and spending endless hours working on the computer. These are all lifestyle factors that increase Vata and make me more vulnerable to the panic attacks I can experience on planes and buses when I feel confined.

How I Stopped My Panic Attack

I am sitting in an aisle seat in a plane. I fly a lot and love travelling in spite of the fact that as soon as the beverage cart rolls up beside me and the flight attendant looks down at me, I get triggered. Something about this scenario makes me unbelievably claustrophobic, which I compensate for first by taking off shoes and sweaters. I start clearing away anything that might be blocking me or even touching me. I ask my family to move as far into their seat as they can. The stronger my panic attack the more I need to take action, I ask the flight attendant to move the cart, and I often stand up and try to walking in the aisle. In the past, I have never been able to calm myself without asking others to help by moving and giving me space.  On my recent flight to Mexico, I had a surprise. I began to feel myself getting triggered, a panic attack looked inevitable, I looked down, dug deep, and began repeating “breathing in, I calm my body, breathing out, I smile.” I blocked out everything else and repeated until the beverage cart moved on. And to my surprise, I averted my panic attack.

Trust The Practice

I lie on the floor in Bikram yoga with eyes wide open, breath ragged and “calm, smile, present, wonderful” on endless repeat. Walking and breathing to the rhythm of mantra. Meditation. Following my breath, as I drive, sit to work and in-between activities.I have learned that practice comes in many forms and that when my real-life anxiety meets years of experience with a favorite mantra, my ability to calm and regroup is right there, waiting for me. Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile. I got this.

So what happens when our decision doesn’t feel right? When in spite of the data we know we should be doing X, not Y, or turning left and not right?

Gut instinct is a sense of knowing what we need to do in spite of the visible information we have to the contrary.  Paying attention to body signals and our inner voice happens when we leave ourselves time and space to hear and feel, and when we operate from a place of non-stress and equanimity.  What I have learned is that when I come into a rhythm of self care, my nervous system is able to relax and I can both look at data AND listen my inner voice. With this comes better decisions.

How Self Care Makes a Difference

My self care includes both traditional ways that people nourish themselves- an essential oil foot massage before bed or a swim after work- and non traditional ways of looking after me – like meeting myself every morning so I can get clear on what matters most and how I will make it happen each day. My morning meeting keeps the rest of my self care on track. My daily routines- from the world of Ayurveda- keep me grounded, calm and clear. They connect me to how I want to feel every day, and what can happen when I am not taking care of myself.

So here is what I have learned. When I am rested and nourished I am more discerning.  I can look at challenges from all angles, and be creative rather than pre-patterned in how I respond.  I can listen more effectively which makes me a better leader and entrepreneur. Most importantly, I am able to hear my own inner voice as it attempts to guide me in my decision- making.

Making Choices

I recently made a challenging business decision. Knowing it would impact my income, my momentum, and the clients who had committed to my program, I decided to delay the next launch of my 12 week self-care coaching group.

On paper everything lined up- every coaching session and meet-up fit nicely into my calendar, and my clients were on board. I had mapped out the year and the time I needed to interview new clients, prepare content and run my sessions. From a technical perspective the program looked doable. But something just didn’t feel right.

In the past, many of my choices were driven by passion, inspiration and even a desire to create cash flow. Not wanting to disappoint others or myself, I would push forward with projects and plans that were both exciting and challenging. I have learned, however, that I when I operate from a place of strong drive and a pushing approach I put myself at risk for burnout. Having a regular self care practice has created space for myself that allows me to hear my inner voice more clearly. I would have ignored this in the past and pushed forward to the point of burnout. Self care has made my decision making far more sustainable for the long term.

Timing is Everything

When I paused and began to listen to myself I realized although my program plans looked good on paper, I knew I was not going to be honouring my own needs or the needs of my clients if I moved ahead with the program.

One of my challenges would be the sheer volume of personal and professional projects I had committed to, including being out of the country twice to teach and lead a retreat, and moving into a new home. On another layer my self care practices helped me remember that I am an an introvert, and that I need time daily to replenish and nourish myself. And finally, at the heart of it, my self care practice has taught me that there is more to showing up and delivering a program than having content and a website and pressing go.  To deliver a strong program I need to be in integrity which means that I need to be practicing my own self care. I need to be rested, nourished, and moving my body daily.  When I take care of myself I can show up clear and focussed, I can listen better, and my clients reap much bigger benefits from the program I deliver. Good for me and for them.

Self care- the pause that allows me to listen more effectively. By saying no to launching my program and yes to committing to self care and executing my existing projects I can show up in integrity when I do launch my program next quarter.  And that is a smart business decision.

“Show me your schedule and I’ll show you what your priorities are.”  

Robin Sharma – the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari – makes it pretty clear. When we use calendars to actively schedule our work, family and self care activities we are making a statement: how we allocate our energy reflects our priorities and values.

Take a look at your calendar. What’s the first thing you see? For many of us it is commitments we have made to others- business meetings, client follow up, places we need to be with our kids and aging parents. Often the only personal commitments reflected on our calendars are for health and medical issues and taking care of the mundane- car, house and finance.
What does it mean when we don’t see ourselves reflected in our calendars? While it may mean that we don’t value self care, for many of us it simply means that we did not learn the value of taking time to plan for ALL of our needs . Giving ourselves permission to spend time scheduling our self care needs as well as the needs of others is a learned skill.

Getting Clear- What Do I Want to Create?

Scheduling time for ourselves into our calendars means we have to be clear on what matters and what we want to create.  In the absence of this big picture design, we are not able to make a map of the small daily actions that will get us there.

When I coach my body habits course “Thriving As You” we spend time painting a picture of the future version of ourselves that we desire.  Planning and goal setting approaches like the 12 Week Year and The Desire Map Planner  give us a “big picture” sense of what we desire both in the immediate and the near future. Taking time to imagine your future self can unlock your next actions as you begin to map out the daily habits that are needed to create the new version of yourself.

Me? I spend time visioning with each season change. I use imagination to create a full and vibrant picture of my next version of myself. I get excited about what I am going to do and what I am about to create. I map put my goals more specifically in a 12 week cycle. But I have learned one thing: in the absence of a morning check-in with myself I call My Meeting with Me the bigger picture gets lost and so do the daily habits that will get me there.

Meeting with Me- My Morning Planning Practice

Step One: Meeting Preparation

Each morning I meditate, practice yoga, drink warm water and use sesame oil to give myself a massage before I shower. These are the self care habits I teach in my “Thriving as You” program and which form the base of the 10 week “Body Thrive” course offered at Yogahealer. Practicing them each day creates a space of clarity that I can trust and a sense of self-worth that is a growing edge for me. From this space I am ready to plan my day.

Step Two:  Commit Time to Meeting with Me

Through trial and error, I have crafted my best approach to my morning journaling and planning practice.  Here is what I have learned.

• I work best with a combination of tools.  
  • My favorite essentials oils help set the tone for focus, reflection or inspiration depending on what I am needing that day.
  • My online calendar gives me a sense of time- I can sketch out my plan for the day or take a broader view for the week, month or quarter. Color coded time blocks for personal time, teaching, meetings and critical work give me a sense of the rhythm of the day. This calendar initially holds date- and time-specific events and time blocks for critical projects, and then in my weekly and daily planning sessions I fill with greater detail.
  • My Best Self Journal gives me a connection to what really matters to me.  The morning gratitude practice, a review of the previous day’s wins and lessons learned, and my clearly stated goal and daily targets- these ground me into the heart of the matter.  Sitting with the journal each morning, pen in hand, satisfies that part of me that is human and learning.
  • My white board summarizes it all and puts my plan for the day in view as I work.
• When I treat my journaling and planning sessions like meetings I amplify the benefit.
  • By sitting at my desk I take my needs more seriously. I am able to use my work-like approach to schedule in the essentials like time to eat, commuting time, and time for errands. I become a “business” that is worth managing rather than an afterthought.
• I do it daily.
  • Plans change.  Appointments get cancelled. Clients catch a cold. A snowstorm affects travel plans. By sitting down daily at my desk, opening my electronic calendar, and reconciling changes in plans, I am able to book in real time the self care activities (eating, exercise and errands) that I need to do. They do not get lost in the reality of my life.

Step Three: Reap the Benefits

There are three clear benefits to my morning meeting which are reflected in the quality of my day and in my ability to show up for others:

1. I Eat Better

One of my growing edges right now is my relationship with food. Sitting down each day to schedule in food shopping, meal preparation and time to eat means I eat at consistent times, consume less sugar, and I sit down to eat and am more present during meal time.

2. I Stay Focused

Social media is my primary way of communicating with clients, yoga + health coaching colleagues and people who inspire me.  But the perils of social media are well documented, and when I am tired or unfocused my tendency to drift to my facebook feed eats away precious time. Taking time to plan each morning means I stay off social media- except for essential visits to groups and sites that enhance my life and help me get my work done.

3. I Actively Create My Life

When I actively plan and reflect on each and every day I am able to become more of the person I want to be- someone who writes, moves with freedom, leads with a loving heart, connects deeply in relationship, and supports others in their growth through heartfelt and life changing programs. I continue to learn and grown. I get things done. I feel deeply satisfied. And I stay in a space of grounding and clarity.  

Practice Comes in Many Forms

I recently did an experiment- what happens when I drop my morning planning sessions?  How does my ability to execute my self care and my sense of focus and clarity change when I do not use my planning journal consistently each morning at my desk?  

My two week experiment was an interesting backslide into past habits.  A sense of overwhelm resurfaced. I was unfocused and my evolving self care habits began to slide. The benefits of my morning meeting slid away. The value of my newest self care practice was reinforced.

My best self journal. My google cal. My desk.  My white board. My essential oils. These tools make up my newest essential self care practice- meeting daily with me. I know where I am, I know what I need to do. And I step fully into caring for me AND for the things I have commited to.

Are you game to give it a try?

I have learned that getting enough sleep is one of my most critical self care habits.  If I don’t get to bed early enough, my day is one of overwhelm and ineffectiveness in all aspects of my life- at home, at work, and in my relationships.

In a recent chat with one of my yoga health coaching clients  our conversation centered on the idea of getting enough sleep- and the difference between getting into bed (which she is good at) and falling asleep (which she resists).  There are many reasons why we might resist falling asleep- the belief that we won’t be as fun if we have a 9pm bedtime. Or that we are missing out on something we could be doing to make our life more satisfying.

In her case, though, it was because there was a lot of mental chatter happening as she tried to juggle a massive shift in responsibilities in her personal life. Our conversation became one about a real and practical issue: sometimes our resistance to letting go of the day is because we have not effectively closed it off- we are still carrying ideas, thoughts and to-do’s with us as we hop into bed. This open loop prevents us from fully embracing our fatigue, surrendering into the sweetness of being rather than doing, and falling asleep.  

So I taught her a trick- how to do a “mind dump”.

The Mind Dump

Over 10 years I was introduced to the work of David Allen. Allen’s book- Getting Things Done– spoke to me so much that I spent a weekend in Seattle in one of his seminars.  One of my biggest learnings from my studies of his work was David’s version of the mind dump- what he calls a “brain dump.”  Allen says that one of the key ways we can reduce stress is by learning to capture “everything-little or big, personal or professional, urgent or not. Everything.”

My initial work with this tool was purely in the professional realm- I saw the benefits solely in the context of how they could improve my ability to manage my growing list of projects as an Executive Director of an expanding non-profit organization.

Now that most of my work is with clients in the realm of self care, wellness and health, I see that my “mind dump” nets me much bigger benefits. It is one of the key tools I use to close off my day and create the best-case-scenario for getting enough sleep. When I know everything is captured in one place I can step away from my day and rest easy for the night.  

So how do you get started?

Creating Your Mind Dump

1. Set a time each day to sit down and capture everything.  As David Allen says- “Get it all out of your head.” This might be at the end of your work day before you leave the office.  It might be after dinner- before you start to wind down for the night.  Or- if you need extra rest like my client or need to be clear before you move onto the next part of your day- it might be after lunch or before your next appointment.

The time of the day doesn’t matter, but scheduling it in DOES. Set up a trigger to instigate a new habit – an alarm on your iphone, a reserved spot on your google calendar, or a stop at a coffee shop on the way home from work that is reserved solely for this purpose. Give this habit some dedicated time each day and set up the structure so that you don’t miss the opportunity.

2. Create ONE place where you capture everything.  A spiral bound notebook dedicated to your mind dump. An online system in Evernote that syncs with your phone. A dedicated project in Basecamp or your favorite project management tool.  What is the most practical, accessible, useful tool for you?  

Me? I tend to be a paper girl- as much as I love my electronic tools, the fastest way for me to capture quickly is a notebook. A big capture might be 2-3 pages long.  A shorter one half a page.  I use Moleskin notebooks- their design makes me appreciate the importance of what I am capturing.

The one no-no: scraps of paper, post it notes and multiple capture tools.  You need to have everything in ONE place- a place you can reliably access both to capture and then to later process your mind dump.

Which brings us to the next tip…

3. Let go of the need to process what you are writing as you are capturing it.  How often have you sabotaged yourself by getting distracted by your to-do list?  In our effort to lessen our overwhelm, we often trick ourselves into dealing with the lowest hanging fruit in the belief that crossing things off our to-do list will net us the biggest benefit.  

If this is your deal then staying focused on capturing rather than processing will require effort AND potentially net you the biggest gain.  Why? Because if you fail to capture effectively, you will not effectively close off the day.  And closing off the day is one of the most underutilized techniques for getting better sleep.

So when do you process your mind dump? Creating dedicated time to process is key.  You have to create a system for emptying the bucket regularly. There are MANY different ways we can organize ourselves-  if these ideas have captured you check out David Allen’s book “Getting Things Done.” This website is a great resource for best practices. Finding a system that works for you takes time- but to start, the mind dump- capturing- is a good way to start clearing space for yourself.

The one tip I can offer?  This one again comes from David Allen:  when you DO take the time to process, if the task it will take you less than two minutes do it right then rather than transferring into an organizational system.

Getting to bed. Getting to sleep. Staying asleep. If more sleep is one of your keystone habits, and making it happen is a struggle, consider the benefits of a mind dump.  Every other sleep trick I can offer you- eating earlier, self massage, a walk after dinner, going to sleep before 10- will be amplified by this ONE trick- getting your thoughts, ideas and inspirations out of your head.