Explore your perception of pressure
Where do you see that relentless pressure in your days? Do you feel 90 mph of pressure on most days? Our perception of pressure can send us into the red zone. For some, stress, burnout and sleep deprivation have become a daily ritual.
Burnout is the disease of our civilization. – Pascal Chabot, Belgian philosopher
One of the key ways to keep from moving towards the red zone is self-care. It is important to understand the experience this role plays on your body. Ask yourself – What does self-care really mean to me? How does self-care really look like for me?
Self-care is heart-centered, not head-centered. It’s not a chore, and it’s not another thing on your to-do list. It is the foundation for a satisfying full life, and it comes in many different forms, from physical to emotional. When you take care of yourself, you have the energy to truly nurture your relationships and career.
When you’re feeling lost, indecisive, ungrounded and unsure of what direction to follow, start with self-care to get yourself balanced and centered.
We live in a world where we’ve forgotten the meaning of rest and downtime.
How do we get into the green zone more often?
The green zone is where we are present, where there is space for decision making, where we see things more logically and find our way through these areas with ease and calmness. The green zone supports our health, and the way we do this is to become honest with ourselves.
Ayurveda, developed in India thousands of years ago, continues to be one of the world’s most powerful health practices of natural healing. The main principle of Ayurveda is the mind-body connection where nothing has more power to heal and transform the body than the mind. It is a science of life designed to help people stay vibrant and healthy through awareness and restoring balance in the mind and body.
Do you feel you get a second wind around 11:00 pm that causes you to stay up even later? In Ayurveda time, this period will give you a surge of energy, especially around midnight. Going to bed between 10:00 – 10:30 pm helps prevent this surge. This allows the body to slow down naturally, and provides a deeper, more relaxing sleep which gives the body time to repair and generate new tissue. In addition, getting a full night’s sleep has been linked to longevity. Keep in mind that the hours before midnight are the most beneficial for your body. Getting enough quality sleep can improve performance, memory, immunity, digestion, appearance and mood. If you’re feeling run down, struggling to focus or feeling irritable for no clear reason, you may want to look into your sleep patterns.
Take the 14-day green zone challenge
If you doubt this connection to your body, I highly recommend trying this challenge. This 14-day self-discipline can be a true revelation in terms of how good you feel the next day. Some self-care measures may seem like a luxury, but they are actually essential to your health and well being. In your calendar, mark off 14 consecutive days. For each day, schedule some self-care time as if you are making an appointment with yourself. In addition, schedule your sleep time between 10:00 – 10:30 pm for each of the 14 nights. Anything that has to be done on that given day, ensure it is completed before 11:00 am, otherwise it will get pushed to the end of the day and keep you up well past 10:30 pm.
For this challenge, ask yourself:
Some examples of self-care can include:
For each day, take notice on how you feel in the morning, throughout the day and at bedtime. On day 14, observe how your body feels and compare it to how you felt before the challenge. If you want to continue the challenge, take it to 21 days. Schedule another week of self-care and bedtime. These changes will create new habits that will promote balance in your daily life.
