Become an island of peace in the sea of chaos.
Let your presence be a refuge for others

Cory Muscara
Mindfulness teacher

Finding Peace in overwhelm

Here’s that time of year again when Christmas lights start to appear, the John Lewis ad makes an appearance, and children become just a little bit more excited. Like a homing pigeon that returns every year, it’s also the time when our felt responsibilities to work, family and friends, and our ‘to do’ lists start to mount up. I’ve certainly found that I’ve shifted from ‘I’m looking forward to Christmas’ to ‘is it really only just over 4 weeks to Christmas!’.

I’ve coached a number of leaders this last couple of weeks and they’re all sharing the same feelings with me. ‘My mind is cluttered, everyone wants a piece of me and I have nothing left, I’m carrying such a lot on my shoulders both at work and at home’ they say.

Do you resonate with any of this? I certainly do.

It’s at times like this when I am so grateful for my mindfulness practice.

Here’s why:

How Mindfulness can help.

Mindfulness practice helps us notice when we are fighting reality and wishing things to be other than they are whether it’s wishing for more time, fewer demands, or quieter days.

When we are in the grip of this, mindfulness helps us find micro moments of peace by letting go of wanting to change ourselves, others or the world around us.

This doesn’t mean we are shrugging our shoulders and giving up. Instead we practice finding a little spaciousness in the midst of clutter and demanding moments , so we are more able to move on to the next moment of our day with greater clarity of mind and a little more calm.

Here’s a practice that might help

I recently came across a lovely practice from Cory Muscara with the very apt title of ‘Finding Peace in Chaos’. I’ve practiced it early in the morning for the past week and it has made such a difference to me and the leaders I’ve shared it with. It means I am more able to start the morning feeling less over burdened by the demands of the diary.

Here it is, step by step. You can either work through each step or simply take just one of them and practise it any time during the day when you feel a bit stretched and overwhelmed in these next few weeks.

Be aware of breath and body
Sit - breathe - in through the nose out through the mouth
Let the breath settle into a steady rhythm
Scan the body - notice where you are holding tension
Using the out breath give the body permission to let go.

Bring your attention to the mind
When the mind pulls for your attention notice it 'hello thought'
On the out breath let the thought go 'goodbye thought'
Be gentle on yourself.

Ease up on yourself
Notice thoughts of 'to do', and emotions of 'not enough time' arising
Notice all the 'shoulds and musts' - let them come and go
The to do list will still be there, we dont deny it, but you may have a little more clarity of thought and perspective when you return to it
if the body tenses up, soften any tension on the out breath
Stay attentive to the rhythm of the breath and allow it to ground you

Enjoy this moment
In this micro moment give your self the gift of nothing to do - nowhere to go
Each breath an invitation to ease up
Each breath bringing you back to the 'now'
Each breath bringing you closer to presence