LMAL: week 1 reflections

So, it's been about a week since I put these changes into practice to increase QUIET (mostly virtual) in my life. While I haven't been perfect at sticking to it-i checked my email before I got up this morning-i really like the changes in seeing in my attitude and my ability to be present. 

Some thoughts:

The social media free weekend was amazing. I did habitually go to check stuff or post something, but since I deleted the apps, I didn't break my fast. This is definitely going to continue. When I put them back on Monday, I found that I didn't need to photo dump or status flood or anything like that. Maybe some Mondays I will, but I'm pretty excited at the outcome of that. 

I've also just been posting less in general and checking less, partly because of the time limits I'm setting and keeping my phone not at hand, and that's been really good too. 

The anxiety triggers have definitely been fewer, and when I see a source, I'm quick to take action to hide or unfollow. I keep thinking "I'll say a prayer for you but I gotta protect my mind!"

I've been coloring! It sounds silly, but I get immense satisfaction and relaxation out of this-as long as I have a tv show or music or something else on to occupy my mind, because dang if the devil doesn't wanna use thenquietbto slip some nasty intrusive thoughts in. 

I won't be able to do this weekly, or even monthly, but yesterday Scott stayed home and gave me a full on rest day. Like, I literally hung out in bed all day long. I slept in till 9, I watched a movie, I colored, I did yoga (ok that part wasn't in bed), he and I snuggled and watched tv while the kids napped, it was glorious. It was like a day of really good postpartum recovery 1( months in-and if you know anything about how my postpartum with D was, it was much needed, even after all this time-because I didn't get it back then. 

Another thing that has come out of clearing some noise has been some clarity on pursuing some dreams and goals and making them more concrete. I wrote about this separately, but it's related-I'm going to pursue my RYT 200, and I'm really excited about it. I'm excited about the training, about setting a tangible thing to accomplish, and doing it, and I'm excited to make my yoga practice a priority again. Yoga is, for me, one of the best tools to quiet my mind and my heart, bring me into the moment, and show me the beauty and strength within myself as well as all around me. 

One new "rule" I've done better but not great at so far is keeping off my phone during time with Scott-it was a pager week so neither of us was perfectly present, but I'm going to do better. 

I'm going to keep these new practices going (and get better at them!) as I read and implement the next chapter of the experiment. This has already been so very good for me.