Moving houses, let alone cities, or countries does certainly provide its challenges. The same goes for relationships, jobs, friends. Changing anything discombobulates us. We get jarred, shaken. On one hand, we go into it knowing change is evolution, that shifts can only bring good. Then a little of what we might brand ‘bad’ happens, or we get overwhelmed and suddenly the whole thing comes into doubt.
For me, the move bought with it going back to drinking too much coffee. That extra glass of wine I knew I didn’t need or want. Tonnes of sugar. I skipped some meditations. I started reading the news and finding it depressing, and full of despair, my mood would match it. I stayed up late watching Netflix. There is NOTHING wrong with any of these things. A little of anything is fine. A lot of something to numb us or escape is not. When we do them because we are anxious, or worried, or overwhelmed, frequently it makes us more of that which we are trying to run away from. Obviously, this DOESN’T work! It just snowballs us into despair. I found I started complaining about stuff that doesn’t matter. I got frustrated by people, by society, and frustrated with myself. I would check the Instagram of people I think are phoney, just to torture myself.
The like attracts like phenomenon can grip us quickly, and in the wrong direction from creativity, expansion and kindness!
What DOES work, is that which is expansive. Doing that which gets us back into harmony. Finding our natural rhythms to get back into flow. For me it’s eating outdoors, so we started taking our meals into Hyde Park to eat barefoot. It’s waking up super early, to do my Zen tea ceremony, and then meditate. It was getting back into yoga, and actively finding a studio that supported what I was looking for (no ego, just personal practice). It is embracing more frequently Qi-Gong, and Tai Chi. It was reading my beautiful books that inspire me instead of checking on (insert a million terrifying news feeds here). It was not checking Instagram and instead taking beautiful photos. It was limiting my TV series (no murder series or scary sci-fi) and only then watching the things I absolutely loved that lit me up (Fleabag, I am obsessed). It was saying no to going out, and guilt-free spending a whole day at home. It was also saying a spontaneous yes to leaving my family and going to Paris with friends that I knew would be the intellectual, fun, creative experience I was craving with people I adore.
Whatever creates your flow, get into it. Deeply, openly and without judgement of why you got out of it in the first place. This, is an important piece of moving forward.
Sent with love,
Jac x