Author: manabunnow4zph

This week become attentive and might I say, mindful of all of the ways that you procrastinate. Permit me be clear however. When I say procrastinate I’m really referring to the little things, to the small stuff.  We all procrastinate on big decisions in our lives, decisions like

Should I marry this person or not?

Should I have a child or not?

Should I move to North Dakota or not?

Should I quit my job or keep my job?

These are big decisions that require thought and some intuitive instincts about what’s right for you that really need to incubate, evolve and take shape over time. With time the big decisions become clearer.

The procrastination that I’m referring to in this week’s challenge is procrastinating over the small things.  Now, we are certainly different people so I’m sure my list of how I procrastinate will differ from yours substantially.  However, let me provide a few examples by way of providing an insight into exactly what I’m talking about. There are a few of the ways that I procrastinate.

Do you procrastinate when the mail is received?  “Oh, I’ll just put that aside, I don’t really have time to shift through the mail right now.” 

Do you procrastinate when you receive an e-mail from a close friend that requires a response?  “Well, that’s not what I planned to do right now so I’m not going to respond to that e-mail at this very moment.” 

Do you procrastinate when you pay a bill that actually arrives in the mail?  “Oh, let me open up the bill, see what it is.  Oh wow, that’s a little more than I expected.  Let me just put that away in my little pocket of where I keep my bills.  I’ll attend to paying my bills at a later point this particular month.” 

Do you procrastinate over washing the dishes when the dishes are dirty? 

Do you procrastinate over buying a present for a relative whose birthday is coming up next week and you think today, “Today is the day I really should buy them a birthday present.  Today really is not too soon, but wait a minute, today was not the day that I planned on doing that so I’ll have to defer that activity until tomorrow.” 

Do you procrastinate when you think to yourself, “I really would like to talk to my son, my daughter, my mother, my father, my uncle, my aunt, my grandfather, my grandmother.”  You know, the kind of people that are important people in our lives.  Do you think, “Oh I really ought to call them today” and then the next thought is, “Oh no, no, no, I really don’t have time. That call will take some time and as I look through the day that I have planned there’s just not enough time.” 

Do you procrastinate when the phone rings and you hear a message on your phone answering machine and you say to yourself, “That’s important for me to attend to but I really don’t feel up to talking with that person right now so what I’m going to do is I’ll answer that call later today or well, maybe I’ll put it off until tomorrow.”

Do you procrastinate when you think to yourself, “During the day I need to go out and get all of the trash in the trash bin for the trash person to pick up who is coming tomorrow.  I need to do that right now because later on tonight it really might be too dark for me to see any of it and it may be that it will be raining. But it will probably not rain tonight so I will just wait until later” 

I obviously could go on and on with a list of the ways that I procrastinate. Are some of these ways that you procrastinate too? I will cut off my list of the many ways I procrastinate (which it would fill up a 400 page book if I continued).

For the next several days be mindful about all of the many ways that you set aside the little business that needs to be taken care of; those small tasks that all the sudden come up

• You know they need to be done.
• You know you want to do them.

You simply put the small tasks aside routinely for what seems to be good reasons.

How do you procrastinate?

1. Reflect.
2. Become aware.
3. Acknowledge when you procrastinate.
4. Track every little small act you put off.

 If you want to get really serious about this final week’s challenge, write down all of the different ways that you discover you actually procrastinate.

To clarify, put aside the big decisions. We are talking about the small stuff here. I’ll be back in touch in three days to say more about why this particular challenge, this final week of the Mindfulness exercises, has been so helpful to me personally.

Robert

© Parkinsons Recovery

The challenge and invitation this week is to become more mindful moment to moment of your posture.  Do you really have a truthful picture of what your posture is like?  We all see ourselves from the front. And, from the front, we do not look too terribly bad no matter how twisted our posture actually is.  What about from the side?  How do you really look from the side when someone else sees you from that angle?

Why not go to a mirror and in your natural way of standing, look at yourself from the side.  What does your posture look like when you actually look at yourself in a mirror from the side?

• Are you humped over?
• Is your belly sticking out quite a bit?
• Is your head lunged downward?

What do your family members and your friends say about your posture?  Ask them.

“Tell me about my posture.  Is it good or am I slouching a bit these days?”

Perhaps your response immediately is:

• I don’t need to look in the mirror.
  I don’t need to ask my family members.
  I know my posture stinks. 

What thoughts have been rattling through your mind as you have been reading  about this week’s challenge? Have you been thinking thoughts like:

“Oh, I can’t do anything about my posture.  I’m too old.  We all know as people get older their posture gets worse.” 

Challenge that thought form.  It’s not true.

“There’s no way I have strong enough muscles to do anything about my posture.  You know, I have neurological challenges.” 

This thought form in itself is perfectly designed to ensure that you will be a hunchback permanently as you age.

Challenge all such thought forms.  None of them are true.  Everyone can improve posture in the moment.

How is this accomplished? I don’t think by going to one particular training session and getting a trainer to help is the answer.  I believe posture is improved moment to moment.  As you sit, if you happen to watch the TV or if you happen to sit in front of your computer, be attentive. What is your posture like?

1. Is your back straight?  
2. Are your feet solidly planted onto the floor?  
3. Are you sitting on the edge of your seat where it is possible for your posture to be improved? 

If not, why not for this week at any rate, sit on the edge of your chair when you eat? Many people have a habit of slouching when they eat. Why not challenge yourself with sitting up right and bring that food proudly up to your mouth?

Notice when you walk what your posture is like.  Be attentive – how does your body feel?  Are you feeling strain in certain muscles?  Poke that chest out as you walk. Notice how your head will lurch not forward, but upward so that you walk proudly and confidently.  Chest forward as you walk.

When you stand notice moment by moment whether it feels as though more weight is on one leg than another. This places undue pressure on one particular hip joint.  Become attentive to your posture as you stand.  Even out the weight from the left and the right and guess what?  You’re never going to need any attention to your hip in the form of a hip replacement or supplements to repair damage to your hip joints. Healthy hip joints are a function of good posture and frequent movement.

The mindfulness challenge this week is become more attentive to your posture when

1. Sitting
2. Eating
3. Walking
4. Standing 

It is particularly useful to be attentive when you are standing and simply waiting perhaps at a grocery store line waiting to check out.  How are you standing when you are waiting while your gas tank fills up? Are you slouched?  Shift the posture and see how you feel when you do so.

Become mindful moment to moment of your posture.  Of course it is not possible or practical to be mindful every single moment. That intensity of focus would not be very functional or useful. It would also likely be stressed which is precisely what we are working to reduce.

But – if you can at a minimum be mindful five or six different times during the day it will be possible to shift your posture for the better. Make it so. Your body thanks you.

Robert

© Parkinsons Recovery