Spaces: Mindful Moments

When our lives are extremely busy, stressful, and demanding we may not be able to spend much time caring for ourselves. This leads to a decrease in our Window of Tolerance. When our Window of Tolerance shrinks, we can seem edgy, anxious, and irritable in one moment, and numbed out, disconnected, or depressed in another. Sometimes we can vacillate frequently between these extremes instead of having the gentler highs and lows of life. This is where meditation and mindfulness can become a great tool as part of an overall self-care strategy to restore balance. You don’t need a lot of time to do it, just the willingness to offer yourself something important, that will allow you to continue
to care for others too.

These meditations and mindfulness sessions are intended to help you find a few moments or "islands" of peace to recalibrate your system.

There are open-focused meditations and closed-focused ones. Using both styles is helpful to the brain, like cross-training is to the body.

The longer sessions of Conscious Rest are intended to help you relax the bodies’ nervous system and move it out of fight or flight response. Conscious Rest Meditation uses both open and closed meditation practice as well as guided imagery.

The longer Conscious Rest practice is a great substitute for a short nap. It is not a substitute for actual sleep but can be extremely helpful when you are pushing yourself to your limits. It is recommended to TRY to get in 20 minutes a day. Many people prefer to do this as spaced practice. For example, try doing a 6-minute session 2 times/day, and adding a short check in (1 minute) at the top of each hour of the day. This is a way to consistently check in with yourself without stopping to dedicate large amounts of your time that you may not have at this moment. If you cannot get in 20 minutes, try ANYTHING. It is better to start with 5 minutes per day and dedicate yourself to doing it every day than
to try to commit to more than you can do and feel defeated.

The analogy is of watering a tree. When it is new, it needs just a little water each day. As it grows, it will need more, and you will know how much time to give as you deepen your practice.