What you bring up about making relaxation just another thing *to do* is a great point. It’s not very relaxing to tell ourselves we have to relax. And yet the interesting part is that relaxing is a conscious choice. It doesn’t happen on its own.

This is cool because it means we’re empowered and can do something about it…

It’s also challenging because it means we’re empowered and can do something about it.

I’m always into starting small when we’re doing new things…

So even while we’re sitting at our computers we can notice if we’re tightening any part of our body and then relax it.

Sometimes my shoulders creep up toward my ears while I’m typing. I don’t even notice it happening. Totally unconscious. Then when I realize it, I consciously relax from the unconscious tightening and it feels so much better.

So any kind of relaxing can be good. Even if it’s just a 2-second realization that our shoulders are about to crawl into our ears.

Keep up the great work with your walking outside and using the lightbook!

So I am using my Litebook on mornings when I know I won’t be able to get outside and walk that day during daylight hours. This is a big help to me. I also stay off the computer after 8pm and really try to set a “lights out” time, since I tend to get a second wind at 9:30 or so. I get up early with my older daughter to get her to school before I start my workday, so getting to sleep at a reasonable hour really becomes key.

The relaxation piece I’m still working on. I tend not to allow myself to simply relax often enough. There of course can always be something “to do” – the trick is to notice when I can choose to relax now and do later.

Great post – I enjoyed it!

I’ve found that for Rest & Relaxation, it helps me to know ahead of times what kinds of things I find restful and relaxing. So I made a list a while back so that I couldn’t use it as excuse that I didn’t know what to do. Also, using a timer was great because then my mind could say, “It’s okay. We’re just going to relax for 10 min. with a cheesy magazine and then we can go back to work if we want.” The mind that wants to go back to work and those thoughts that say “We have to…” they need to be acknowledged, so that’s how I’ve come to work in harmony with them a little bit better. Know that the mind is saying we should work and then empathizing with it and saying, “Yeah, I know. We’ll get back to in just 10 min.”

Lately I’ve been working on sleep, exercise, and breathing. I realized that I breathe in… but don’t breathe out nearly as much as I realize I should. That leaves me feeling majorly stressed and high strung. Not so cool.
Nathalie Lussier´s last blog ..Mindful Monday: It’s a New Year Edition

I have a terrible time relaxing and just leaving things alone. I always feel like that time is one more thing I could be doing for my business, and that’s a hard instinct to fight.

I’ve gotten better this week, I think, at least consciously. I bought some fabulous vintage clothes that I’ve been looking at forever as a present to myself(good for the environment, to boot!), and I’m going out to dinner with a friend tomorrow. I’m even debating leaving the Blackberry at home, although I’m not sure my brain can handle that.
Holly´s last blog ..On Freelancing and Reality