Jordan Prosen 2022-05-15 Jordan Prosen 2022-05-15

5 Things to Do When You Get Out of Bed in the Morning (Even if you “hate” routine)

1.Take a Deep Breath.

It sounds simple, because it is. Breath deeply, and mindfullly. Notice the inhale and exhale. And note the place of calm and balance from which you are breathing. Set an intention to stay in that place throughout the place, and to always return to that place when anxiety, stress or other emotions start to throw you off balance.

2. Be Thankful.

Rhyme off three reasons you have to be grateful right now. Maybe its the amazing night’s sleep. Maybe its a delicious breakfast you will have before you start your day. Maybe its the simple fact you didn’t sleep through your alarm. Set your day off on a good note by searching for the positive. Even quantum physics has recently proven that the energy you put out into the world is the energy you will get back. Exude positive, happy thoughts, and you are more likely to encounter positive and happy events in return. Don’t believe me? It’s science.

3. Be Intentional.

Make a to do list— not a long one— of three things you want to accomplish today. Once you have those clear goals in your head, you can more easily direct your energy and actions towards those goals as the day goes on.

If you are so inclined, you can also go beyond a simple list and journal an intention for the day. Whether it is to be productive, be kind, or be calm, keep it simple. Make at a single phrase to capture an overall feeling that you can continue to come back to throughout the day.

4.Move your body.

That could be a leisurely morning walk, a heart pumping weight session, a meditative yoga flow, or even simply some gentle stretches before you even get out of bed. Whatever you do, it is enough. Find what works for you, what energizes you and puts you in a better mental and physical state for the rest of the day. Whether its 50 minutes or 5 minutes, that little bit of movement will bring you into your body before it hits the ground running.

5. Do something to clean your vessel.

As important as it is to move your body, it is also important to care for it in other ways, and paying individual attention to different aspects of your physical being. This could mean dry brushing your skin, moisturizing your face and body after you shower or before makeup, cleansing and exfoliating your face, oil rinsing your mouth, jade rolling, applying hand cream, doing a hair or face mask, or any other hygienic self-care act that you enjoy that might fit into your time frame here.

This kitty cat understands the joy of dry brushing

I know this might sound like something from a beauty magazine. But its the one morning habit that took me years to develop, but is now something that I find helps my sense of mental wellbeing just as much as anything else on this list. Taking the moment to do something that feels like a little bit of “extra” care for my body helps to remind me how to treat and talk to myself.

In the past, the only thing I would do on this list was the movement. And in that way movement became a form of punishment rather than care. Making myself deliberately build in a small act of care continues to shift my perspective of how I view my body from something I need to tame or force or control, to something to respect and appreciate.

I don’t manage to do all of these things every morning. Some days I only manage three, or two , and sometimes I barely manage one (I mean the breathing one is hard to avoid). But I find that having the intention of grounding myself first thing with these simple habits can really make a difference in how I feel going into the day.

As always, take what serves you, leave what doesn’t.

How do you start your mornings?

xoxo- J

Jordan Prosen 2022-02-08 Jordan Prosen 2022-02-08

Mental Flossing: My March Meditation Challenge (“it’s good for you!”)

I’ve been feeling a bit off-kilter lately. Bouncing back and forth and up and down in just about every aspect of my life I can envision at the moment. Everything feels like too much and not enough. I feel restless and completely drained simultaneously, my thoughts running one hundred miles a minute, my brain struggling to stay engaged and present long enough to see a single task through to completion.

Ever since I was a child, I’ve struggled with anxiety. Not the emotion that all of us experience in one way or another in spurts or short-lived situations, like the night leading up to a test or a first date. Mine is of the chronic, disordered kind. Often I don’t even recognize its overwhelming presence, as I am completely consumed in a tangle of thoughts from overthinking even the smallest of things.

What begins off as simply thinking ahead or “good planning” quickly becomes a rabbit hole of “what-ifs”, “but-then’s” and “even-so’s” and a endless spiral of no perfect solution to problems that in reality, are not really a problem.

An example, for just this week has been me trying to decide which night after school I should plan on going to a café after work to write this blog post.

How could someone possibly overthink the decision of buying a coffee? You might ask.

Well, welcome to the inner workings of my mind.

Today would be a good day to get coffee. I can stop at the Starbucks at the halfway point on my way home from school.

But I do have unopened almond milk in my fridge. Maybe I should go home and use that up first.

Then again tomorrow is Friday, and I have all weekend to get through it.

Or should I go to Starbucks to write over the weekend then.

But I also have coffee at home and a fancy brand new espresso maker so I probably wont want to leave the house to do that. Might as well save money that way anyways.

Maybe I should save money today though if I have that almond milk in my fridge.

Can I stretch the carton to three days?

If i can’t maybe I can go grocery shopping over the weekend for some.

How much money have I spent this month? Where should I buy it?

No frills is cheapest but its a bit of a hike. I could take the streetcar. But that’s three dollars. Almost as much as the almond milk.

A latte at Starbucks is almost twice that much with soy milk.

Why am I going to Starbucks anyways then?

Maybe I shouldn’t be. Its a waste of money.

But you write better there.

Oh yeah.

Unless your brain starts producing thoughts like this…

And. it. keeps. going.

I eventually DID decide to go to Starbucks and purchase a six dollar latte. And I DID get some writing done. Not much though, because even with nothing to do but sit or stand by a 2 foot wide table with my laptop my brain still got in the way.

I am getting fed up with these anxious cyclical thought patterns. I came across a Ted Talk video where a speaker in a very calm and melodic voice (irritatingly so) mentioned the benefits of meditation.

I got over my annoyance to let that sink in.

Mediation. Of course.

Meditation has been something I have always held with the utmost reverence and respect. But that doesn’t mean I am a regular practitioner of meditation.

For me, meditation is a lot like flossing. Something I know is so good for me, with both proven and reported health benefits from daily practice, and yet something I never do.

And both seem to take much more time in a day than they actually do.

When I was doing my Yoga Teacher training, I was (forced) into the habit of meditating every day, often multiple times throughout, and it soon became something I truly enjoyed.

In the daily ritual of carving out space and time to devote a few minutes (at least) to sitting in stillness, I did truly experience a significant shift in my overall state of mind.

But when my yoga training ended, work ramped up, and life got busy, little by little, my meditation practice became as rare as my flossing habit. And given that the floss currently in my bathroom I receiver from my dentist on a visit back when I was in high school, you may get an idea of how rare that is.

But in this new wave of anxiety and negative thought patterns, I am committing to getting back on the mediation wagon.

For the month of March (and the last couple weeks of february) I'm committed to meditating every single day, for no shorter than 5 minutes.

I say 5 minutes because if I tell myself I need to do it for longer than that I feel too daunted by it to actually do it.

But in reality, every day that I have sat so far I have surprised to find myself coming out of meditation and realizing I have done much more than 5 minutes, usually somewhere between 12 and 20 minutes.

Its only been about a week so far, but I have been pretty consistent. I’ve managed to do it everyday, except for one where I chose to go out for dinner and stay out late with friends, but hey, I’m human and I have no regrets for being social and connected.

On the weekends, I like meditating first thing in the morning, and then transitioning into some yoga and stretching or more active movement and its sets a nice tone for the rest of my day.

I would like to keep the same time during the workweek but I wake up so early and so exhausted, I’m 90 percent sure I would end up just falling back to sleep finding that sense of stillness.

So Monday to Friday, I have been choosing to meditate sometime after dinner. Its also a time of the day when I find my anxiety can peak, as often thoughts about what I’ve eaten or how much I’ve eaten start to creep in.

Actively choosing to witness and observe those thoughts, it becomes much easier to detach from them, and find a more level-headed and balanced place to deal with the anxiety that they bring up.

Again, its early days, but I am honestly amazed at how simple and yet powerful this daily practice of 5 minutes a day is for my mindset.

Have you ever had some kind of meditation practice? Interested in learning more what mine looks like? Perhaps I’ll shine a light on some of the prompts and images I use for myself in a later post.

As for now, wishing you all love and light and a beautiful week ahead,

Jordan xoxox

Jordan Prosen 2020-11-26 Jordan Prosen 2020-11-26

The 5 Minute Rule (A reflection on loss and perspective)

Grateful for this view in my back yard (almost).

I’ve been stressing out over a lot of things lately.

Some small, and some not so small. Many of which I do not feel ready to divulge yet here. Lately, its been causing me so much anxiety that I feel sick and restless, exhausted and heavy-limbed and yet unable to sleep.

I have been thinking circular thoughts, dwelling on problems that make them seem much larger than they need be, and overthinking bits of conversations and moments that have taken place in the day when they have probably long been forgotten by the others I was with.

I was in one of those moments, obsessing over something someone said in passing, anxious over the way my clothes have been fitting, and feeling overwhelmed by the thirty parent interviews I will be hosting for my kindergarten classroom this week, when I was abruptly met with a hard hit of reality.

It was learning a new friend of mine, a beautiful vibrant, compassionate soul of a person, does not have parents on this earth. My friend and I were discussing plans for Christmas. She listened sympathetically to me rant on about the stress and overwhelm of going home for christmas, and how full and busy the house is, laughing as I made reference to my mom’s thwarted efforts of an early Christmas dinner year after year. Then I asked about her plans. She confided that she might go to her sister’s might not do anything. I asked if her parents lived far away, or if she would see them.

And that’s when she told me both her parents had passed away. She didn’t offer why or when and I didn’t want to pry. I told her I was sorry to hear that, and followed her lead in changing the subject.

This time it was my turn to laugh at the stories she recounted from her day at work, offer ahhs, and ohs in all the right places. Meanwhile, every schema and internal perception of the world was being rewritten. The interviews this week felt meaningless. I felt ashamed and embarrassed for allowing negative body image to even be a thought in my mind. And I began to think back to every comment or mention of my parents or family to her, trying to remember exactly what I said, and gauge just how insensitive it might have been.

It’s a week later and I still cannot stop thinking about this.

Yes, I am in the middle of interviews, and working thirteen hour days to talk to parents.

No, I have not yet been able to book a covid test, and may not be able to go see my family over christmas.

And yes, we are in lockdown yet again, and that means I am no longer able to train at my pole studio which has been keeping me sane these past few months.

The truth is that none of this matters. All that does is that my family is still safe and healthy and together. I have never needed to survive a loss so close to me, although for many years of my life it was my greatest fear.

While I cannot even begin to understand how difficult it might be to experience losing my family, I know it is a devastation from which one never truly recovers. It is life changing.

And that’s the thing. All that which I am currently stressed and worried about is not in any way going to impact the trajectory of my life.

It feels wrong, and selfish, now for me to be stressed out by these problems which in perspective are really NOT problems.

I am trying to use this new knowledge to help me shift my perspective from worrying about these things that may or may not happen, many which are out of my control, to being grateful everyday for all I do have. Most importantly my health and well-being, and the health, happiness, and love of my family.

So if you’re finding yourself stressing over something today, getting caught up in feeling like you have too much to do, or worrying about something, take a second to zoom out. And then apply the five minute rule:

Think of your life five years from now. Is whatever you are stressing over in this moment going to make a big impact in your life in five years? If the answer is no, then it is not worth spending more than five minutes worrying about now.

And once you do that, think about my friend, and what she has lost, or the people in your life you know who have may also suffered true loss. Perhaps you yourself have suffered a great loss (in which case, all the love and compassion in the world to you). And then think about all you do have: the people that fill your life with love and happiness.

The healthy, functioning body that allows you to move and breathe and hug your loved ones.

The opportunities to try new things, go new places, and be whoever you want to be. The freedom to make mistakes, to fall and get back up again.

And the oft overlooked gift to feel all these things-- joy and sadness, pleasure and pain, thrill and fear, for how can you truly know the first without experiencing the latter?

A snapchat I am happy I saved several years ago.

The point of this post is NOT to say I will never feel stress or worry again. Even as I write this, it has flashed through my brain that I’ve been sitting too long, and perhaps I should take a break from writing this to do some kind of exercise.

There’s a good chance tomorrow or one day next week some curveball will come my way at work and begin to send me into a tailspin of “what-ifs” and “I can’ts” and “if onlys”. However, this story will help ground me, as it is now, quite literally, keeping me in this chair to finish this post, and quell the voices in the back of my head vying for my attention.

Five years from now, it won’t matter that I spent an entire night sitting at my desk instead of getting in some movement. However, in five years, I will likely be glad that I took the time to put this revelation into a post, and create a tangible reminder for myself and you that are now reading this of the importance of perspective, and being grateful, truly grateful, for all we do have that enriches our life with happiness and meaning.

Have you heard of this five minute rule before? How do you practice perspective taking in your life?

Love,

Jordan

Jordan Prosen 2020-05-18 Jordan Prosen 2020-05-18

5 Things To Do Everyday to stay Sane (and Balanced) During Isolation

As this period of isolation drags on, a lot of us are starting to feel some discomfort at being cooped up in our houses. The novelty of being able to wear your pajamas all day and binge netflix may be starting to wear off. Even the biggest introverts and homebodies may be finding themselves craving a change of scenery other than their own four walls. But the truth is, social distancing is far from over. And in order to make it through with our mental health intact, we need to do MORE than just cope.

Right now, I am still working as a teacher, but I have had to adapt from chasing five year olds around a classroom, to teaching online. Now my day involves sitting at my computer to create and upload assignments, record and edit videos, and communicate with students and families.

Between this work, the blog, and the online ABQ course I am currently in, I have found myself to be spending most of my waking hours on my computer-- something that I never did before. This is still taking some getting used to. I’m noticing the days that I spend the majority of it in front of the screen, the more “blah” I feel by the time evening comes around, regardless of how productive I have been.

Structured Days and Mental Transitions

Even those working from home who are doing similar desk work that they may have before have still felt a toll on their mental health and energy levels from the change in environment. Just the act of dressing in proper clothes, out of the house, and to the office where you are commune with your coworkers inserts very real frames and borders in our day that help us transition from home to work (and everywhere in between), so that we are more present and engaged in each environment.

Working from home, we are missing those physical aspects, from the coffee run on your way to work, to packing your lunch or your gym bag, or tapping your presto card as you fly into the subway, that cue a mental shift, transitioning us from whatever we were doing or thinking before, to the moment at hand.

A change in environment can really make all the difference to productivity

For myself, whenever I had a big chunk of writing or other work I needed to get done, I would head out to a coffee shop (remember those?). The price of a fancy soy matcha latte was always worth the couple hours of uninterrupted state of flow I would enter, and come out with a much greater quantity and quality of writing than I would ever be able to accomplish at home.

Simply the act of leaving my house with my backpack, and sitting down at a counter that was not the same one that I ate my breakfast at that morning, with no fridge or dog or random task to distract me, allowed me to fully immerse myself in my work— even if it took a few minutes to settle in.

Making the Most of Days at Home

To recreate some of that sense of structure, some people talk about waking up, putting on real clothes, maybe even doing some makeup before getting to work in their day. However, many of us can’t quite be bothered enough to do all that-- especially if they’re not working a regular job at the moment. That being said, I still think it is important to incorporate a few different things into your day that help keep you feeling sane, balanced, and in a state of flow, regardless of what you have on your schedule.

Here are five things that I do everyday, to keep my sanity and stay in flow:

1. Mindful Movement

Before this quarantine, I rarely meditated. I used to quite a bit during my YTT, but since then, I’ve largely fallen off the wagon. When I had thirty minutes in the morning before heading to work, I figured it was more productive to do an asana yoga practice. However, with few external limits on time, I decided to try taking up a seated meditation practice again. I’ve now been doing it every day for over a month, and I’m hooked.

Some mornings, I sit for five minutes, and sometimes, up to thirty, Usually, I last about 15 or 20 before rolling into some gentle, flowing movement to the soundtrack of my favourite yoga playlist. I’ll move however slowly or intensely as feels good that morning.

Sometimes it’s gentle side bends and lolling around on the floor, and other mornings, it’s sun salutations, warrior poses and a couple planks.

I do my best to keep it mindful, flowy and intuitive-- not counting reps, or holds, or anything taking me out of the breath and into a more traditional workout that spikes cortisol.

2. Journal

Every morning, I write in my journal. If I have lots of thoughts swarming my mind, or I am feeling a little meh and don’t quite know why, I just word vomit. No filter, I pour whatever is going through my mind onto my paper. I write until I feel my thoughts start to shift, which looks a little different each day, whether it's after a half page or three. While I don’t always write in such depth everyday, every single morning, I take the time to make a list of three goals or tasks I want to complete.

I’ve been using the 3 Journal that my brother gifted me for Christmas. I love its simplicity, and the space it has at the end of every week to reflect on what you have accomplished.

The first one is usually something for work, whether its creating lessons, or going through assignments.

The second is often something due for my online course, a blog post I want to write, or something else of productive nature.

The third is usually not so pressing, I could technically push it to the next day, but accomplishing it that day would be realistic, and rewarding. Perhaps it is going to the grocery store, cooking or baking something to feed you for a couple of meals, or even an act of self care such as reading a couple chapters of the novel that’s on your bed stand or doing a zoom class of some kind.

I could add lots more to this list, but I like to keep it at three, because it makes it feel very doable to check them all off, and forces me to prioritize as I write what to dedicate my time and energy to that day. And that way, if I get everything done, I can relax into doing whatever else it is I want to do without feeling like I am not being “productive.”

3. Get Outside

Regardless how much stuff on my computer I need to get done, I make it a priority to get outside everyday, whether it’s taking my dog to the park or a longer excursion that takes most of the afternoon. If it’s nice out, I will try to incorporate being outside with as much of my day as possible.

On warm sunny mornings, I find myself doing my meditation and yoga outside. If the glare isn’t bad, I will even set up my laptop or ipad in a sunny spot to do some writing. Or I will take my breakfast or lunch and eat it outside.

It sounds so little and so simple, but I feel immensely lighter after spending some time out in fresh air. If you have the time, go for a walk, however long you have, without rushing yourself (or run if that's what you prefer!).

In my little patch of the suburbs, it’s pretty amazing to see the little ways my community has made an effort to reach out and support each other: there are childrens’ art work in windows facing the street, signs and white ribbons tied around trees in support of front line workers, and motivational chalk drawings on driveways and sidewalks, spreading messages of hope and positivity.

And even while staying acceptably distanced, it really fosters a sense of community and connectedness to witness others out and about just like I am, whether its on a bike, with a wagon of kids, or a happy dog on a leash. It’s a comforting reminder that we are all in this together.

4. Connect (Do Something Social)

I try to chat with at least one friend or loved one everyday. Sometimes its over zoom or facetime, but mostly, I will hit two birds with one stone and have a long phone call while walking in the neighbourhood.

It’s so easy to go days without talking to anyone besides the people we are living with. Sometimes I feel like I have to push myself to commit to a phone date or group virtual meetup. However, I always always ALWAYS, hang up (or sign off) feeling happy and grateful for making the time to be social.

Also, I am trying to be better at keeping up with texting and group chat conversations. Admittedly, I definitely fall into the bad texter category, having every intention to respond to a message “in a bit” and letting it end up in the graveyard of unread and unopened messages in my inbox.

Before covid, it was a little easier to beg forgiveness, seeing many of these people in person, but now that in-person encounters are no longer the norm, I can’t use the rationale. So if I get a message, I try to respond right away… ideally. If you are my friend, reading this and rolling your eyes, I am sorry and I love you. Please get on my case!

Check out my post on how to fight loneliness during quarantine for some other ideas of how to stay connected.

5. Create (State of Flow)

for me, this usually comes in the form of writing. Oftentimes, my morning journaling becomes an act of creating all in itself. Creativity also seeps into my movement practice, whether its flowing intuitively to the music on my yoga-inspired playlist, or having a spontaneous dance party with a whole lot of drama and feeling in my basement.

Exercise your right-side brain through doing something creative each day.

It can also be painting, drawing, playing in a instrument, making a recipe, writing poetry or a story, taking pictures, posting on social media something of a little meaning, or anything else that moves you from a place of consumer to creator.

Instead of allowing life to just happen to you, make something of your own doing. In whatever form or outlet that takes for you, let go of expectations, allow yourself to fall into a state of flow, and let whatever comes up, come out and into the world.

Creativity is NOT a gift or talent that is reserved only for “artists.” Rather, creativity is a muscle, that can be strengthened and honed through regular practice. Making a commitment to exercising your creative muscle, tapping into the right hemisphere of your brain, may increase your resilience, your productivity, and your mental and emotional well-being.

Creative tasks allow us to enter a state of meditative focus and flow, and in turn allow us greater insight into our thoughts and internal feelings that we may have difficulty processing or expressing otherwise.

Putting These Things into Practice

How you go about tackling each of these aspects is up to you-- maybe you improvise a little, finding ways to incorporate each one as the day goes on, or maybe you pencil each in at different, specific times, if you think you may need a little more motivation. Whatever you choose, be realistic.

Still spending my days in my PJ’s doing “unproductve things” like lazing around with Jaeda

Think about how you usually feel at different times of the day. If you know you are ready for a nap by 4 PM, it may NOT be the hour to schedule in exercise. If you have been staying up late watching Modern Family every night, committing to meditate as the sun is coming up also might be stretching it.

For myself, I haven’t been holding myself to any firm schedule. When I wake up, I think of my day in terms of chunks, and then I think of what I need to do and in which “chunk” it might fit best.

For example, I do my lesson planning in the morning after breakfast, go for a walk and phone a friend when its the sunniest time of the afternoon, and spend a few hours before dinner writing and blogging.

This sounds quite productive, and many days I feel quite accomplished by the time I’m sitting in front of another Game of Thrones episode with my family.

However, there are still several hours of the day that I am doing whatever little tasks or less-productive activities catch my interest— from doing the laundry I’ve been putting off for weeks, watching netflix, doing handstands around the house, and more often than I care to admit, mindlessly scrolling social media.

But what can I say?

I am human, and this pandemic has shaken all of us out of our routines. We are all getting used to the new normal. And in light of that, we should be giving ourselves and each other the time and space to adjust and adapt to whatever that looks like for each of us.

What has happened to your daily routine during Covid-19?

What commitments have you made, or do you want to make, to help you adjust to this new normal?

Keep on keeping on,