Sometimes our lives feel crowded, don’t they? The funny (or not so funny) thing is that we make our lives this way. We’re crowding ourselves.
We can play the technology card—absolutely. We’re always on, plugged in, and this is becoming the norm rather than the exception.
For most of us, this is an occupational hazard. But if you’re a writer like yours truly, the screen time is that much worse. And when we’re glued to screens during our free time? By that point, screens have pretty much taken over our lives.
“We never really choose to live reactively. Instead, it just kind of happens. A little bit, every day. Until, one day, we wake up and realize, “my life is not my own.” Think about it. Did you choose, I will begin checking my email first thing before I get out of bed, and then respond to what everyone else says is important today?” – Jonathan Fields
Over the past two years, I started receiving strange compliments about my posture. Thanks to ballet and yoga, I tend to sit without resting my back against chairs so I’m straight as board.
Side story…my fabulous posture almost cost me my driver’s license test when I was sixteen, because the DMV guy thought I was terrified. He made me pull over, then gave me a pep talk to calm me down, or else he was going to fail me—yep, for my posture.
I explained to him that I did ballet, but he didn’t believe me. So I had to slouch uncomfortably for the remainder of the test, and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life. I’m not really sure how I passed my driving test like that, but I did.
Anyway, now good posture is this crazy awesome sight to people. Because sadly, we have become a hunchback society that’s missing the world around us.
I’m really no different. I do plenty of yoga, foam rolling, and massage to try and fight it, but I have the same complaints as any fellow sitting addict. Headaches, eye strain (I highly recommend eye palming!), neck and upper back knots for days.
In the end we’re certainly not being forced to live this way, but we are being encouraged to. So it’s absolutely up to us to make a commitment to ourselves. And one of the best ways to do that is fine-tuning how we start and end each day.
It wasn’t until about six months ago that I got pretty good at this. The twenty or so years before that when I was a stubborn night owl, I was doing it wrong—I hated mornings, slept as late as possible, and rushed into my day.
I was late and stressed until the afternoon, and then like clockwork, I felt sluggish. It was a vicious cycle, and I wasn’t living the best life I knew I could live.
As life got busier and busier, I realized there were two parts of each day that were mine and nobody else’s…morning and night. So, I stopped sleeping. (Kidding!)
But I did create a routine where I started and ended each day the same way. On my yoga mat.
Sometimes it’s only five minutes, sometimes it’s an hour. There are days I meditate or practice yoga, and others where I just lay on my yoga mat and stare at the ceiling, or do some gentle stretches to music.
If I feel especially overwhelmed or exhausted, I just take child’s pose, press my forehead to the ground, and thank myself for being alive.
There are the simple pleasures that get me too. I love the sound my mat makes as it rolls open and slaps the floor. I love the comforting feel of the squishy rubber beneath my tired feet. I love the way it reminds me of being a kid, when I used to pretend a towel or couch cushion was a magic carpet that whisked me away.
My yoga mat is the one place I can just be.
Because it’s early enough, my inbox doesn’t matter. And when it’s late enough, the online chatter and screen light finally die down.
How we start and end each day is pretty critical. If you strip it down, it’s the precious time that surrounds our sleep—morning sets the tone and night sings the lullaby.
If you’re feeling off-balance, like you need more down-time in your life, I recommend checking out how you’re starting and ending each day. It may look very different for you—maybe the magic carpet yoga mat story just didn’t do it for you. Whatever it is that grounds you, building this healthy habit can really change your outlook, like it did for me.
How do you start and end each day? Share your me-time habits, or how you want to improve them!
Britt Skrabanek 
I make 30 minutes of time mine in the morning before I head off to work and take another 30 minutes before going to bed. The BEST Hour I GIVE to Myself – love it 🙂 I love how your one cat does yoga with you – ha! Happy Day – Enjoy
That’s great, Renee! It doesn’t take much to feel really good about how we start and end each day. A half hour is perfect.
Yes…she’s quite the Yogi, that one. 😉
I love how reading your always take me back to the essentials. Energy, simpleness, mindfulness, slowing down, finding one’s way. I love how you ground me with just a few words and help me find my way out of my computer.
I think about you every time I unroll my yoga mat. I have 1-hour classes on my computer and follow them scrupulously because I feel I can’t do it on my own (that’s also why I took so many yoga classes at the studio). But now, you reminded me that while I was walking El Camino, I did some yoga stretching and moves every night after the hike, without my computer. 15 minutes, to ground me back and take care of my posture, of my muscles.
As I’m currently temporarily unemployed (until we move to the beach and open Raul’s bar on our favorite island, near Cancun, in his friend’s restaurant), my days are pretty much the same and spent a lot in front of the screen (selecting pictures for future albums about 2016, El Camino, Cuba…). But I try to wake up earlier now, practice 1hour of yoga and get on the screen a little later.
Your words about posture today also reminded me that I really need to create a real space to do so because I’m actually slouched on my bed and my back hurts like hell!
So thanks for reminding me always of the simple things and those beautiful things that’ll make my life more beautiful.
Have a lovely day, darling!
xoxoxox
Honey, you are the best and the sweetest. I am so happy you are practicing yoga more regularly. Amazing how much more time we have to take care of ourselves when we’re not grinding at work, right?
How exciting about Raul’s bar!!! We will definitely need to come visit and have a drink with a little umbrella in it. xo
Oh yes, that’d be fun to meet you on the beach! (No umbrella in our drinks, we make them zero waste 😉)
Great post! I love Child’s Pose, and love the photo of you in Child’s Pose with your cat sitting on your back. It is such good medicine – the pose, and the cat!
Child’s pose is totally medicinal, isn’t it? Yes, the panda is a natural Yogi. 😉
I love the picture of your cat looking out the window, wondering what kind of silly human tricks you’re doing. Yes, I’m guilty of the hunchback computer syndrome. I’ve been trying to stretch and exercise at the beginning of the day and after coming home from work, but I don’t always do it. Life gets in the way and I become more of a hunchback. 🙂 That’s a good way to think of the start and end of each day – as the time that surrounds our sleep – thank you for inspiring me to get up and exercise more often!
Yeah, Hazel the cat might have been hunting too. But it’s such a funny pic!
We are all guilty of the hunchback thing, believe me. The past year I have had so many problems with my neck and back. The more shoulder and chest openers we can do, the better. Standing is also key to our survival!
Awesome post! I know that I am in need of a new routine. My mornings are all about writing and the kid thing, hustling them off to school, but I am not refreshed when I wake up. I have to drag myself out of bed every morning, and that’s unusual for me. Nighttime I try to chill out with a book in bed, but lately my son has been having bad anxiety and cannot get to sleep on his own. It’s been a rough few months. Hoping it’s just a phase, and we’ll soon get past it and into a brighter, sweeter, happier phase!
Love your yoga suggestions and, of course, your kitty!!
Rushed mornings are so tough! I still sometimes fall into that habit, even though I’ve been working on it for a while. Mainly I get caught up with my laptop when I’m supposed to be on my way somewhere, then I get stressed because I’m late!
Hope your son feels better soon…and I hope you can bring more relaxation into your morning and night routine, sweetie!
Good to read right now because I just got stuck in a snowstorm on the drive home from NH. Was 90 minutes from home but they closed the interstate for the debate stretch I was on. Drove 35 miles in 5 and 1/2 hours. Finally found a motel I could stay at (but it’s scary!) so will try to drive the last hour tomorrow. But now my spine is all crunched up from clutching the wheel in stress for so long. If this hotel floor wasn’t so scary I’d do yoga now, just as you recommend. But it looks like it will have to wait until I get home!
Yikes! I know, we do so much sitting. But yucky floors are no good for yoga. You’ll be so tense while you’re stretching that it’s counterproductive.
I tried doing yoga in our Rome apartment on a towel on the tile. It was pretty much a lost cause with the slipping and hardness, and I ended up more stressed and out of whack than before!
I’m home now–phew!–and I’m about to do some yoga soon!
That was supposed to be the “stretch” I was on. Not sure where the word “debate” came from!
Haha, I was wondering a bit. Then, I thought you were onto a new fitness trend. 😉
What a great reminder! When I was pregnant (many, many years ago…) I practiced yoga every morning before I left for work. Now I have a morning writing routine that involves only paper and pen, with pauses to stare out the window. What a blessing. But you’ve inspired me to get out my yoga mat before bed!
Awesome! I’m all about writing in the morning, but it’s good to get the bod and brain moving first. Even 15-20 minutes is awesome!
That’s what caffeine is for 🙂 (I know, I know, movement and breath are the better approach!)
I hadn’t really thought about the start and end of my day until your post. But thinking about it, I do certain things, almost unconsciously,and they help me to keep in sync with myself and the day. So funny about your driving test.
Sounds like you have a solid routine already, doll! The syncing is important, because no matter what happens throughout the day, we can feel more grounded.
Yeah, that driving test situation was pretty epic.
Your driving test story is so funny (and sad at the same time). Your posts are always so thoughtful, and I loved reading everyone’s responses. Having a puppy, my mornings and evenings start with a walk in the garden regardless of the weather. It allows me to take stock of the smallest seasonal changes, to watch the little critters scurry around, to look at the sky.
Puppy walks! That sounds like a fantastic way to start and end each day. Throw in connecting with nature too, and you’re definitely on the right track! 😉
Ironically I start my day reading blogs and mail. And your post is about not doing this. I do exercise but after I lounge. Maybe I should reverse that…
LOL! Reading is good too. I do that after I’ve moved a bit. I just spend so much time on the screen…if I jump into that first thing, then It’s too much computer time. 😉
Nah, no routines like that. I’m pretty much glued to my screen full time, either for work or writing, blogging etc. But (1) I refuse to own a smart phone and (2) I zone out and recharge during my 4-5 weekly runs. No problem in relaxing and I’m lucky my posture’s fine.
When coaching running I do put a lot of emphasis on form, and the importance of staying tall – high hips, shoulders back etc. It’s one of the understated benefits of running as one drifts into middle and older age.
(I’d try the yoga thing but I don’t have a cat 😉 )
Haha, yoga without a cat is simply not yoga at all. So you’re better off, Roy!
Totally understand the zone out/recharge aspects of running. My mind will sometimes wander during yoga, but hardly ever when I’m running—especially on the trail when my full concentration is needed to avoid eating shit. 😉