What’s your time story?

An excuse is a story that you have consciously or unconsciously heard your mind repeating a thousand times. So, let me ask you, do you know what’s your story about time?

Many people stop, give up or procrastinate on something because they keep believing this little voice that says: “you don’t have time to  <INSERT HERE ANY ACTIVITY THAT YOU KNOW IS GOOD FOR YOU, YET YOU PUT OFF>”

I promise to you, I have been there, done that. I have believed this story over and over again. There is no judgment from my part because the truth is that we all struggle with procrastination sooner or later. I know that in most cases, an excuse never comes alone. Excuses have two big best friends: guilt and shame. Whenever we don’t do what we said we were going to do we feel guilty about it. A strong sense of remorse begins to grow and every time you procrastinate, you are inadvertently contributing to this emotion. Needless to say, these two besties block our ability to cultivate and sustain healthy habits in our lives. What could you do about this?

Not having time is a strong shared belief in our society. Everybody is busy, nobody truly has time. I know that many of us are overwhelmed by the number of tasks and responsibilities that we have on a daily basis. While I’m not here to argue whether you really have or not have time, I’m going to share with you a trick that has helped me maintaining a sustainable mindfulness practice (but that can also be applied to other activities).

The idea is the following: every time you catch your thinking mind saying: “I don’t have time” ask yourself this: “do I have a minute?” That’s it! Ponder this question, don’t rush through it: “Do I have a minute?” I mean, who doesn’t have a minute? Maybe one minute sounds ridiculous to you because it’s a miniscule amount of time. Is that the case? Then, ask yourself “Do I have 5 minutes?”

Once you consciously realise that you do have 1 or 5 minutes, decide when will you save that time for your practice. Maybe 1 minute is too little for a yoga practice, but 60 seconds are definitively great for a mindfulness one! Set the timer or find a mindfulness practice that lasts that time.

For those with a busy schedule or if you just want to practice for a short period today, let me ask you: do you have 5 minutes? Go ahead and try my 3-minute mindfulness snack of the week.

Virtual hugs,

Ana / Yoganasanas.