HOW YOU DO ONE THING IS HOW YOU DO EVERYTHING

I have been observing in myself for a while, that I have a tendency to respond to things as if it is an emergency.

Text? Better pull over and answer right away!

Email? Stop what you are doing and press reply!

Going for a run? Better get dressed pronto!

Driving? Don’t need to get there fast, but getting annoyed with the car in front of me anyway!

Cleaning my teeth? Longest 2 minutes of my life!

Weeing? Speed that bad boy up!

And look- at times, my pronto response is my secret sauce- you want a poster designed, its already in ya inbox mate. I am a great person to work with as I do things without needing to be asked twice.

BUUUUUUUUUUUT…

The reason this is not great, is it is a hint that my nervous system is stuck in fight-or-flight.

My body does not know the difference between me cleaning my teeth, and me getting attacked by a tiger down the street.

The messages from my fast heart rate, my shallow breath, my speedy Gonzales attitude are making my brain flood my body with cortisol and adrenaline to prepare me to run away from the tiger…. And the text was probably just asking what I wanted for dinner…

How we do one thing is how we do anything

This is why it took me YEARS to do a yin class. Even longer to do a rest class, and a century to do a slow flow class because I used to get SOOOOOOO irritated by how slow it was! What a joker!

For me, this habit is not just about regulating my nervous system it is about teaching my nervous system that it is safe.

The text message is safe (and doesn’t not need to be responded to immediately)

The email is safe (and doesn’t not need to be responded to immediately)

My bladder is safe and even if I need a wee, it doesn’t need to be pushed out like its putting out a fire in the toilet bowl.

I am safe.

When my nervous system is stuck in fight-or-flight it is going to get exhausted. Imagine driving your car for 300 km’s with the foot to the floor. Not only are you going to run out of petrol, you is probs going to damage your engine. We are the car!

This is why I need to learn to reprogram my nervous system to go a little bit slower.

And I can start, by doing this on my mat.

Your yoga mat is a training ground. Its just you, your nervous system, and your breath- and it is a great place to start to learn about yourself.

How you show up to a class, is how you show up to everything.