A Year to Clear
Page 20
You do the math. Less sleep means less cleanup of free radicals in the brain—which, according to research, increases the potential for serious degenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, osteoporosis, and cancer.
If you're someone who can survive on very little sleep, or you've found strategies to stay awake longer, sorry to burst your bubble. The good news is, it's not too late to change course.
What is something you can swap out of your daily routine to take a refreshing catnap or log a few extra Zzzs? Your body will thank you for it later.
Explore
Something I can swap out of my daily routine that I could replace with a catnap or downtime . . .
One thing I can do right now to get some rest that my body will thank me for later . . .
DAY 277
REDUCE SCREEN TIME BEFORE BEDTIME
I can only imagine what life was like in the olden days—before electricity, when people went to bed at sundown.
No late-night adrenaline-rush episodes of Homeland. No text messages to check every sixty seconds. No cortisol-inducing social media to scroll, click, like, pin, share . . . Is it any wonder that we can't get good-quality sleep anymore?
We may not be able to turn back the clock, but we can reduce screen time before bedtime. Instead of checking emails one last time before turning in, how about reading a book? Or taking a bath? Or meditating?
You don't need to go cold turkey. Follow the Rule of One (see Day 54): Unplug one minute earlier than usual. Increase by one-minute increments each day.
Explore
One thing I can substitute for screen time before bedtime . . . (Notice what the addiction feels like when you unplug.)
What I notice in my sleep patterns when I give myself one hour (one minute) to unplug . . .
DAY 278
STEPS TO A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP
If you are someone who conks out the minute your head hits the pillow—without medication—and you sleep soundly until the next morning, you are blessed!
My nighttime rituals have become a top priority after learning about the consequences of sleep deprivation. Here are the steps I take to increase my chances of a good night's sleep:
Take a hot shower before getting into bed. It helps to release the stringy buildup of the day, it's calming, and it makes it easier to get into bed when it's cold out. Adding the Salt and Soda Refresh (see Day 257) to your shower or bath routine can be particularly useful here.
Wear soft ear plugs. I don't start with them in. I wait and see if sleep can prevail before reaching for them. If I'm awake after a half hour—conscious of the clock, my husband's breathing, and/or monkey mind beginning to stir—in they go. They seem to have a powerful pacifier effect, beyond blotting out sound.
Meditate. If I wake up inexplicably in the middle of the night (which happens less now because of the previous steps), I do not get out of bed to read. Instead, I coax my wakeful self to surrender to present time. Even if it does not lead to instant sleep, it's refreshing, and helps to quiet the busy mind. Earplugs stay in.
Explore
What helps me get a good night's sleep . . .
When I can get a full night's sleep I feel . . .
DAY 279
YOUR RETREAT IS INSIDE
While we're on the subject this week of resting the body, here is a fitting quote from Marcus Aurelius:
People look for retreats for themselves, in the country, by the coast, or in the hills . . . There is nowhere that a person can find a more peaceful and trouble-free retreat than in his own mind . . . So constantly give yourself this retreat and renew yourself.
The problems we face are not “out there.” Whatever challenges you is not coming from some external source. If this concept feels farfetched and mystifying, would that be okay with you?
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I know that every challenge and solution begins and ends with me because . . .
One small thing I can do today to go renew myself could be . . .
DAY 280
CHECK IN—GETTING GOOD SLEEP
The focus this week was to shine light on the importance of sleep, which, in the context of clearing, means way more than zoning out every night. Good sleep is powerful medicine: It allows the body, mind, and spirit to rest, refresh, repair, and remember.
How have your sleep habits and screen habits changed this week? Are you feeling more rested? What have you done to improve the quality of your bed and your sleep?
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How my sleep and screen habits have changed this week . . .
What I have done to improve the quality of my bed and sleep . . .
What I can still do to improve the quality of my bed and sleep . . .
WEEK 41
TUNING IN TO GUIDANCE
You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can't get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you're doing, but what you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover will be yourself.
—Alan Alda
DAY 281
MAKE UP YOUR MIND
One Saturday, on the eve of my birthday, I had two wonderful offers: dinner with dear friends, and dinner with (other) dear friends.
How does one choose one fabulous opportunity over another?
On some level it was a no-brainer. One dinner had been planned in advance at a local restaurant we love and have been to a thousand times. The other was a last-minute invitation to the opening night of a brand-new restaurant in the city that specializes in scents. Yes, food and drinks that are designed to awaken all the senses, especially smell. How could I, with my highly developed schnoz, say no to such a wildly intriguing experience?
What to do? What to do? What to do?
Turns out, it wasn't that hard a decision when I was able to get out of my head and tune in to how I wanted to feel.
The thought of lights, glam, and lots of people was not a good match to the cozy intimacy and quiet conversation that my spirit needed most on that cold, rainy night. The choice became clear: Go with the original plan. Yes, even if it meant giving up on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Celebrating my pre-birthday with dear friends we hadn't seen in ages at a quiet restaurant was exactly what I needed. Once the decision was made, I was able to move on without the slightest pang of regret.
When you let your feelings run ahead of your thinking, it's amazing how everything sorts itself out. It's funny, too, how “making up your mind” has nothing to do with the mind.
For the next two weeks, we will be exploring various ways to tap the part of us that knows.
Explore
Next time I find myself at a crossroads of indecision, I want to feel . . .
One thing that will help me remember to reach for that feeling when I need it . . .
DAY 282
YOUR INNER KNOWING
Belleruth Naparstek's description of the human intuition is so elegant. In her very readable and practical book Your Sixth Sense, she says:
Because these occurrences seem to arrive unbidden and don't fit into our rationalist view of the world, we usually discount them or forget about them. But we're missing a big opportunity. Because with or without our conscious agreement, just below the surface of our lives, this boundless, abiding intelligence quietly sits and waits for us to recognize it.
We usually can't explain how we know, or measure how we know, or even prove how we know something. We just know.
The problem that usually arises, of course, is that we are too cluttered to know that we know!
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How I know that I know something . . .
What helps me make a difficult decision . . .
DAY 283
FOLLOW YOUR KNOWS
Here's a quick and easy tool that I like to use when I'm stuck in my head and I can't decide whether or not to do something. It allows me to tap into and act from the place that already knows:
If it feels right,
do it.
If it doesn't feel right, don't do it.
If you don't know, wait until you know.
When using this tool to make an assessment, I've found it helpful to click an imaginary “quit” button on my thinking self before opening the feeling function of my knowing self.
Is there something that doesn't feel right (deep in your bones) that you could give some space to today?
Explore
Something that doesn't feel right that I could give some space to today . . .
When I have clarity about something, I feel . . .
I know that I'm not in a clear space to decide something when . . .
DAY 284
WHEN IN DOUBT, WAIT IT OUT
It may feel counterintuitive, but there are times when it pays to wait out a dilemma.
For example, I once spent over an hour on the phone trying to sort out a fare impasse with an airline—getting bounced around in circles from agent to agent, from voicemail to voicemail. Finally, nearly ready to bag the trip altogether and erase all the progress I had made, I simply stopped trying. I hung up the phone and made dinner instead.
I decided not to decide.
In spite of the control freak part of me who can't stand leaving things unresolved for longer than two seconds, I did the unthinkable and walked away. You can imagine my surprise when I received a call the next day from a very friendly customer service representative confirming an even better fare and schedule! Recognizing that I didn't have the means to change the outcome at a particular moment in time resulted in my ultimate success.
It has taken me years to know when to back away. If nothing I do advances my efforts after a few tries, that is my sign to stop trying so hard and just wait.
How do you know when it's time to back away from a situation?
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How I know when to back away . . .
Something that is bothering me that I could wait out . . . (Allow yourself to feel the resistance, or breathe into the need to control the situation.)
DAY 285
LOOK FOR PATTERNS
Writing this book has been an interesting exercise in surrender. When I'm not sure what to say next or I hit a block, I'll stop and wait for my next cue. It could be a word, a phrase, a story, a quote that I'll see in my mind's eye. It helps a lot for me to be rested and in a quiet space (i.e., no interruptions, no distractions).
How do you get information and guidance that you consider clear and reliable? If you're a visual person like me, for example, it might come in the form of pictures. If you're auditory, you might receive guidance through sound. If you're kinesthetic, your signals might come through physical touch or movement.
Use today to sense when your higher self sends you a clear message and see if there is a pattern to it. Does getting a clear signal depend on you moving your body, feeling rested, taking breaks, letting go of attachment to a particular outcome?
Explore
Some of the ways I receive guidance that I can trust . . .
What helps me get a clear signal . . .
DAY 286
WHAT CLEARING IS (AND ISN'T)
If I could boil clearing down to one truth, it would be this:
We can only clear to the degree that we are in the present moment, have a clear intent, and have no attachment to the outcome.
If you're wondering why I've waited this long to state something so fundamental, it is because the truth of this statement would not have meant much in the early days of this journey. For it to sink in at a deeper, lasting level, this truth has to be practiced and lived.
Anytime you are focused on the past or the future, judge a situation as bad, and/or have an attachment to things being a certain way, you are not clearing. Nor making magic. When you find yourself in this situation, take a time-out and reach for the clearing mantra above. It is a space clearer's best friend: It cuts through a lot of internal red tape and lines you up to receiving guidance that is clear and reliable.
Explore
I am not in the present moment when . . .
One way to bring myself back to the present is . . .
I know when I have a clear intent because . . .
When I let go of attachment to an outcome, I feel . . .
DAY 287
CHECK IN—TUNING IN TO GUIDANCE
The focus this week was to adjust and tweak our internal antenna to help us connect with and receive guidance that is clear and reliable.
In what ways do you feel more aligned with the part of you that knows? How do you know when you're lined up?
Explore
Some of the signals that my body gives me to indicate that I'm on track are . . .
The best time of the day for me to tune in and trust my knowing is . . .
What I know for sure is . . . (and why I know it . . .)
WEEK 42
IN-QUIRING
It is always with excitement that I wake up in the morning, wondering what my intuition will toss up to me, like gifts from the sea. I work with it and rely on it. It's my partner.
—Jonas Salk
DAY 288
BE CLEAR ON WHAT YOU'RE ASKING
Should I eat now? Does my body need food now?
You could say that both questions are asking the same thing—just framed in slightly different ways.
Not so. If you look more closely at the two questions and tune in to their phrasing, you may notice subtle distinctions. The first is more general, and it feels like it stops the flow. The second, more precise, question opens up to further inquiry.
What's the big deal, you might ask. Eating is eating.
If clear guidance is what you're looking for, posing the right question can be a game changer in space clearing. You may get a yes to eat now (as opposed to later), but a no if you're asking if your body needs food.
Welcome to my world of dowsing, where the questions really matter!
When I ask a yes or no question that is precise and grounded in details—name, time, and place—I get answers that come from a more clear and grounded place; answers that I can readily trust. And resting in the truth of an answer makes it much easier for me to detach from the outcome.
For example, “Should I clear my home today?” might deliver a very different answer than if I asked, “Is it the best use of my time to clear the bookcase today?” “Would it serve my highest and best good to clear the bookcase right now?”
Play with asking questions today. Pose them first in a general way, then rephrase them with specifics, and ask your higher self to deliver a clear answer through your six senses. Notice if the answer changes from one question to another, and if your internal “receiver” picks up the answer more quickly when you add details.
This week we'll explore a variety of ways you can play with questions to tap inner guidance.
Explore
A general yes-or-no question I'd like to ask my higher self is . . .
My question made more specific could be . . . (and what that feels like . . .)
DAY 289
TURN YOUR DILEMMA INTO AN OPEN-ENDED QUERY
Yesterday we looked at the importance of phrasing a question to tap inner guidance. The creative mind is a fabulous problem solver. Give it something to chew on and it will take you to surprising places.
I find that asking my higher self to deliver guidance works much better if I turn my question into an open-ended query. The open format is a great way to tap inner wisdom and jiggle loose what gets in the way—especially when you're willing to wait for answers to reveal themselves.
If it's a query about how to best use your time, you might pose something like this: “One task that would help me feel most productive this morning is . . .” or “One quick thing I can do that would help me feel lighter (clearer, calmer) right now would be . . .”
If it's a bigger question about a life direction, for example, say, “One small step I can take today toward uncovering my life purpose is . . .” or “One small t
hing I can do that would help me gain some clarity in this situation is . . .”
If it helps move things along you can imagine your heart and mind opening up like a receiver. Invite the clearest information to flow into you in a way that you can understand and process.
The important thing with any question you pose is that you be receptive, and go for the feeling of an outcome as much as possible.
Explore
A question I would like to ask my higher self is . . .
How I want to feel when I've resolved this dilemma . . .
DAY 290
BURNING QUESTIONS
Burning questions are those time-sensitive queries that require an answer sooner rather than later. Should I say yes to the job offer? Who should I call to help me with my taxes? Should I see a doctor about this strange mole on my arm before I go on vacation?
What usually helps me to jiggle an answer loose is walking. There is a specific bend in the road of my usual walking path, about a block away from my house, where I often receive some clarity about an issue that has eluded me all day.