“Slow down, and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you.” -John De Paola
If I only knew this a few years ago... Rushing around like a headless chicken, not looking after myself and calling that lifestyle healthy and active. I have trained more than three hours on most days and worked more than sixty hours on most weeks. Never allowed myself to just sit down by Canoe Lake and watch the swans, stop for a second and listen to the waves during my brisk walk by the sea or just take a long, deep breath. Didn't make enough time to stretch after a long cardio and resistance training, wasn't consistent at my meditation practice and I thought sleeping was for the dead. I ate my emotions in a form of chocolates, cakes or anything that gave me the emotions I was chasing.
And after all, I really couldn't put my finger on the cause of my anxiety.
I still feel anxious sometimes and I have some deamons to tame. The difference between now and then is that before it gets too much now, I don't run anymore, I don't fight it, hide, brush it under the carpet. I turn to my meditation or gratitude practice, I go for a calming walk, I savour my dark chocolate, I allow myself to sleep an extra hour if my body and mind absolutely need it and I train until I enjoy my training.
I was chasing happiness, I calmed down and it inevitably found me.
If you suffer from anxiety, please slow down and reconnect to your body and mind. Start with one deep breath, a short walk, think of one thing you can feel grateful for and stretch your painful body part for less than thirty seconds.
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