Life can be overwhelming. Sometimes circumstances cause us to feel stressed. But more often than not, we invite stress. I know I do it all the time. My question for this Monday (although it’s way past Monday) is : Do you create space for yourself?
The fact that a #MondayMusings post is coming out so late is evidence of me biting off more than I can chew. It also shows that I have a long way to go towards making life simple.
Just this morning, I was rushing our dog through her walk because I was trying to beat the clock. I wasn’t giving her time to stop and smell the roses the evidence of other dogs! What fun is a walk for her or me, if I keep rushing her through it?
It’s the same with life. What fun is it if we keep rushing through our days, not taking the time to enjoy them.
Do You Create Space For Yourself?
Space is something we must learn to create for ourselves. Reduce clutter both in our homes and in our minds. We must consciously make time in our day for ourselves. You might say that’s a difficult thing given the demands of work and family, but it’s really not. What if we took 10 minutes off watching television, or being on social media and spent them literally doing nothing. Just being.
I’m borrowing from a compassion practice to suggest a simple way of creating space for a few minutes every day.
Sit in a quiet place. Breath in deeply and release your breath gently.
Place a hand gently on your heart, cheek or stomach.
Acknowledge your feelings in that moment. For example, ‘I am feeling stressed by all I have to do today……’ or ‘I am upset with …………’
Connect yourself to the human experience. For example, ‘Everyone feels stressed. Everyone is under pressure….’
Extend yourself whatever compassion you need in this moment. For example, ‘May I be kind to myself in this moment.’ or ‘I give myself permission to relax’
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I have actually been doing that, Corinne. This past few months have been really stressful, emotionally and also physically. And on top of that, my sister falling sick has sort of hit me badly. Now that she is recovering, I am somehow crawling back to normal. But the normal is also too taxing and demanding. So, I take whatever time I get to just be. Even if it’s 5 minutes. I need these moments of silence to get back into the race and stay sane.
I do.. I do.. With my stressful job, I need to give some space to my mind. I just rely on my hobbies, now that kids are not so dependent on me. Lovely post and a thoughtful reminder.
I used to do that quite often earlier, and the time was always a refresher! But lately I’ve gotten caught up with smaller unimportant tasks rather than spending it on self contemplation. This serves as a reminder to me too, thanks for that Corinne !
I’ve taken up yoga recently and we do something similar where we focus on our breathing – letting out all negativity and breathing in fresh positivity. And I’ve come to like this part way more than the high energy stuff which used to once be my favourite.
I must say, I often don’t manage to make space for myself every day. Two kids just 18 months apart, the eldest of which is only 26 months, both are still waking in the night so even that time isn’t precious for me. It just goes to show that I should stop and take a moment when I can. Even a small one will help reset the batteries! #MG
I have such a hard time with this, but I’m determined that 2017 is going to be my best year yet. I want to be more mindful and now that I finally have my life back on track I’m finally able to make it happen.