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Three things you might want to know, do, or try
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Trying new things

A couple years ago, I moved from a major city to a semi-rural island, for the chance to get closer to my physical world: the world around me, and the world within me. I wanted to be able to track the phases of the moon as part of my everyday experience. I wanted to plant flowers and vegetables in the ground, not in five-gallon plastic buckets on a synthetic rooftop. I wanted to be able to stand up and go outside and move my body. I wanted to get out of my head, and to have a full life experience beyond work and stress.

Through a series of experiments (some drastic, like the move, and others less so, like watching the moon, or making yogurt from scratch), I have been fiddling around with my life. And I've realized it's pretty easy to make big changes in my experience by doing small experiments.

Along the way, I've collected a whole bunch of information, a lot of which seems useful to more people than just me. I've found some interesting ways to get out of my head. And, on this semi-rural island, I've developed a need for more connection, more community, more communication. And facebook's algorithms just aren't cutting it.

And so: a newsletter, with some ways to engage beyond it. I intend to offer low-key, fun, and accessible life experiments, approximately every week, to help you get out of your head and out of your comfort zone, in small ways. Sometimes I'll supplement with something cool I just learned about, or an opportunity, in case it fits your needs. And I'll be offering some ways to connect about your experience with these offerings.

Come join me, as it feels right, getting in touch with your body and your whole life experience. Feel free to bring others along.

And with that....


Here are three things you might want to know, do, or try this week:

Know:
Time to take a nap? This nap wheel will calculate the perfect time for you to take one, based on the time you woke up in the morning. It's based on science (and written up in a book at that same link, which I haven't read, so no endorsement here, just a cool link).

Do:
For some quick relaxation right this minute, click here, then breathe in and out with the changing shapes.

Try:
When's the last time you squatted? Stood still, bent at your knees and hips, and got your butt close to (but not on) the ground, then stood back up?

In my house, there's kind of a squat craze going on. I was reintroduced to the universality of the squat about fifteen years ago in a capoeira class, and then it started showing up in my yoga classes. My husband started a regimen of Olympic lifting at the gym recently, and so he started working on his squat. Then he did a bunch of research and discovered what physical therapists, doctors, and midwives are all saying lately: squats are really good for you. (And yesterday, the daily recommendation from the Whole Life Challenge was a squat stretch. Zeitgeist, etc.)

Here's what I know: squatting increases (and then maintains) your leg and core flexibility. It also allows you to relax your pelvic floor (an often ignored, highly important set of muscles), and it increases the efficiency of all kinds of fluids traveling through your body, by opening up places we usually hold tight. And for me, it's a way to have a child-like experience, to un-do the physical AND metaphorical postures I take on as a professional in the world, at the computer, in my head.

above: Squatting Child

If this adorable girl makes you get up to try it (and I encourage you to do so), you may find it's not easy to do today. But know this: crouching down in a squat gets easier the more you do it. And that easiness comes quickly. It's one of the more gratifying exercises I've learned, because the gains are so clear and come so soon.

If you want to try it a little at a time, here are some ways to make it more accessible:

  • Use some support under your heels (a rolled-up towel or blanket works great, or a pair of platform heels—seriously. that's what weightlifters wear, they're just styled differently)
  • Put something down under your butt (a yoga block has three heights, and you can lower it when you progress into a deeper squat)
  • Try an upside-down squat (this is "happy baby" pose in a yoga class—I linked it because, frankly, that pose may be NSFW where you are)

See what you can do to fit in a squat or two in your day! Maybe while you watch TV at night, or as a break from a long computer session at work. Maybe try squatting down and hanging out there. Read a book, talk on the phone, or just notice what's up with your body.

It's all an experiment, right? Why not gather some data? Play around with it. See what you find. I'd love to hear whatever it is you come up with—please let me know if you try it out!


How'd It Go?

And speaking of letting me know: did you try last week's idea of giving yourself three compliments for each negative thought? I'd love to hear about your experience of it! Click here to let me know...

3 compliments per negative thought: How'd it go?

And here ends this edition! Thanks for joining me virtually today.

Love,
Julia
Copyright © 2016 Julia Lynton LLC, All rights reserved.


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