Decrease anxiety, develop focus, and learn to live with ease? Yes, please!

Do you have the Mondays? You know what I mean by that, right?

Back to work, back to deadlines, back to demands, and if you like me, worked all weekend, you are tired before the work week even starts.

Only this Monday is different for me. Read on to find out how I'm learning to live with ease.

So back story: I did a two day on-line retreat with the lovely Sylvia Boorstein (mindfulness fan-girl here) and Donald Rothberg (he's like a favorite uncle) at the end of December. It's the second year in a row I did a retreat at the end of the year, and this one was extra special and here's why. It was a two-day Lovingkindness retreat.

If you listened to my live meditation on Instagram last week on Thursday, I did a Lovingkindness meditation. You can listen to it on my insta @LisaNezneski in the videos section.  Lovingkindness is a mindfulness technique where you repeat phrases "May I be happy, healthy, safe, peaceful, and live with ease." The video is 22 minutes long and it explains further how to practice Lovingkindness.

As I sat in the retreat with Sylvia, I felt that intuitive hit of really understanding living with ease at the visceral level. It felt good inside my body to repeat those Lovingkindness phrases. And the one that I chose to continue working on for 2022 is living with ease. Could I really bring the retreat with me, IRL, into my day-to-day hectic life?

Can I really have the perpective, that no matter what happens, if I can respond with Lovingkindness?

So back to the Mondays. I start getting anxious on Sunday nights. You know the feeling, right? The weekend is over. I didn't get enough done. Or I did too much again, and now I'm stiff all over. Or I look around at all the stuff that I still need to do and think, man it's never ending. Then the thought of work pops into my head and I'm so exhausted at the end of the weekend, I start to feel the anxiety building.

But last night, I grabbed anxiety by the horns and did something different. I started getting ready for bed at 7pm. I'm officially old enough to go to bed early again. (Remember in high-school or college and how you stayed up so late? All. the. time.)

So here is what I did: I grabbed my bedside journal, adjusted my adjustable bed, and sat for a few minutes with the Seven Mindful Questions. "What am I doing this week? Why am I doing it and why do I care? (Aware, Because, Care) I took a Pause and I closed my eyes and Breathed for a few breaths. (Pause and Breathe) What else could  should I be doing? Which of these are essential? Choose. What can I do better? What is the best alternative (Choose a Better Alternative)."

Aware, Because, Care. *Pause and Breathe* Choose a Better Alternative.

And I swear to God, a tremendous calm came over me as the week's priorities snapped into focus. I use the Seven Mindful Questions all the time, but I never thought of using them on Sunday night before. And WOW, just WOW! 

I woke up this morning, with a clear direction for the week. I grabbed that Monday anxiety by the horns and said "Not today."

And just like that, and I swear last night it took less than a minute to get the clarity and focus that I needed--I had the peace of starting the week with ease. My intentions for this week are clear. I have a focus, and I am practicing what I preach by living with ease with the Seven Mindful Questions.

Free Masterclass! If you want to learn how to use the Seven Mindful Questions to decrease your anxiety, increase your focus and live with ease, I'm holding a free masterclass on Wednesday January 19th at 7pm. Register here or Tuesday January 25th at 7pm Register Tuesday 1/25.

In this masterclass, I will teach you how to use the Seven Mindful Questions to get clarity, focus, and live with ease.

Check out Sylvia Boorstein here, Yes I'm a fangirl. and Donald Rothberg here. Fave mindfulness teacher. Donald describes the retreat I attended on his website, if you are interested.

And of course you can get Seven Mindful Questions here

Now go tackle that week and live this week with ease! Sending you all the Lovingkindness that my heart can hold!