Happy Saturday! Time to chillax.
This is a shorty newsletter because I'm traveling.
It's been 5 weeks since I started my 2018 Year of Relaxation project. Already I'm realizing YIKES this is going to involve a lot of habit change.
Case in point: My focus for this month is on body tension. Specifically while doing the dishes and brushing my teeth.
What's great is that I'm constantly catching myself all stressed out in my face, jaw, shoulders and legs. What's annoying is that I'm constantly catching myself all stressed out in my face, jaw, shoulders and legs and don't feel like I'm making progress.
Change isn't the linear trajectory we want it to be
Last week I shared the = "unconcious incompetence" framework for learning. It emphasizes that awareness is the catalyst for starting to making change, and that effort is required to make a new habit second nature.
Because it's broken into 4 pieces, I like to imagine that change happens pretty linearly and kind of fast, like this:
What I've realized over time, however, is that it feels a lot more like this...much slower "progress" and a lot more hanging out in the annoying conscious incompetence zone. And yes, "off the charts" time and effort vs. what I had hoped for!
I share this with you because I need to remind myself of this sometimes. And that because when I lapse back into old habits, it's helpful for me to reframe that it's not starting over, it's just part of the process. And to remind myself that stuff ALWAYS seems to take at least 2x as long as I'd like.
Maybe that helps you, too! Or maybe you've got it all figured out :)
But for me, every time I'm catching myself with shoulders scrunched (aka 5 seconds ago, just now), I'm trying to see it as step forward on my chart. Woot woot!
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Okay! Have a wonderful week!
Here's a nice relaxing image to send you off with.
Thanks for reading! Email me anytime
xxx maria 🙋
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