Creating space. These two words have been ringing in my mind since about the start of the new year.
I’m sorry, I’d love to have lunch for you, but I teach a class in the morning and run a meditation in the afternoon, and I need to create space for myself to ground and regroup between the two.
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I’ve had a very busy week, but I’m happy I was able to create space for myself to rest despite all the action.
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I really wanted to go to that show, but I also really need to create space for myself so I can be well and prepare for the week ahead.
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Creating space.
It’s a way of boundary setting; it’s a mindful pause. It’s a way to protect my energy. It’s how I prioritize activities.
Now that I’m five months in to working full-time, teaching fitness anywhere between one and three days per week, and also running other aspects of my wellness business like keeping up with social media, blogging (sometimes), advertising, and running meditations, I’m aware of just how much energy these things require of me, what things I need to walk away from, and what things I need to put on pause (like writing regular blog posts). I’m cautious about getting wrapped into the world of '“I’m SO busy,” and I most certainly do not want to wear busyness as a badge of honour.
I love that I’m not chasing a paycheque to pay off debts anymore, which means the things I choose to do with my time outside of work are intentional and meaningful. While I still spend far too much time using my screens and on social media, and less time outdoors, meditating, and yoga-ing than I would like, I am creating better boundaries around things that might drain my energy.
I love the feeling of creating space for myself. It means I don’t run anymore. I know what I have to do and get it done, but not at the sake of my own physical health or mental wellness. I don’t really rush for things. I’m no longer running from activity to activity on the weekend without a break, feeling more tired on a Monday than I did the Friday before. I carved in sweet self-care Sundays where I can get caught up on some things at home, or just veg out and take it easy.
Sometimes maintaining that space is hard. Not because I have troubles creating it, but because I become bored and/or return to my automatic habits, forgetting to be intentional within that created space. My biggest struggle is losing myself in a rabbit-hole of social media nonsense or dog videos, or captioning posts for my business and fitness class. I’m trying to be compassionate with myself and remind myself that the value of my business or myself as a business owner does not correlate with posts, likes or response times. The blurred lines between resting, checking-out for a minute of mindless scrolling, and losing myself completely in my online world make it hard for me to respect the creation of space for myself overall.
What I do realize is that life is a work in progress. Creating space is a practice just like mindfulness and minimalism. None of them have to be done perfectly. The journey is more important than the destination, as they say.
So here’s to creating space in real life and online, at work and home, with friends and ourselves.
If you need some help creating space, or working on your own self-compassion, contact me to see how we can work together.
Because together, we rise.