Watching movies takes me out my body and into the character I’m watching whose life is edited and caricatured and doesn’t face actual problems or frustrations.
Not that I’m a pro at being in my body and feeling my emotions as it is. Thus why I take mindfulness courses. Speaking of, I really need to get that latest Deepak Chopra book.
School taught me a lot of things. One of which was to judge. Good grades are good. Bad grades are bad. Getting bad grades means I’m bad. I loved running races as a kid. But running away from failure—that was my real forte!
And so, my mind learned at an early age to judge, to fear, and to run away from scary things.
I wonder what would have happened if I grew up actually getting chased by a bear constantly?
Would I be this adept at living in sympathetic-nervous-system mode?
Breathing. Mindfulness. Being present. Self-acceptance.
Things I work on now.
And things I hope to be able to model for my child.
After all, if I wanted her to feel like she was being chased by a bear all the time, I could just send her to the circus.
Alas, the deadlines of life. The grades, the timeliness. They take on the form of bears—accelerate my heart rate, send more blood to my muscles, quicken my breathing.
Getting back into the swing of things after Winter Break, I am reminded of the importance of earlier wake up times and organized schedules—to at least reduce the frequency of bears chasing me, if not replace them all with adorable ferrets.
Mindful Nuggets 