Schedule To Simplify

@pintrest

Lao-Tzu wrote in the Tao Te Ching, “Simplicity Is one of three of your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the Source of Being”.

As I have settled into a scheduled routine as October approaches (home from my two week dream vacation to Italy and the boys being back to school), I am craving simplicity and balance. Summer was chaotic with no schedule for the boys as they are older now and refuse to go to camps, or for myself as I was working around their lives making snacks and being their personal chauffeur. I have realized my nervous system desires ample time of alone-ness and quiet, yet if I don’t schedule my day, this can easily turn into laziness and nothing gets done.

Welcome the question here, “What does it mean to be simple? To live simply and within balance?”

I feel to simplify, you must begin with your schedule. You daily calendar and to-do list, holds more than just time. It consumes your mental space and therefore the energy you are generating. So much power is wound up and consumed by living indirectly: thinking one way and acting another, feeling guilt or shame from an action you did or didn’t take, forcing and projecting perceptions about the future, etc.

The Law of Duality states that everything has two opposite but complimentary sides creating a balance in the Universe. Therefore, within any sort of difficulty, whether it be a physical experience or a mental thought currency, there must also be simplicity. It is a choice to feel simplicity, despite the complication or burden. Through this fierce act, our vitality is conserved enabling more presence in Being with what is.

Returning to Lao-Tzu quote above, simple in action and thought refers to living without unnecessary complexity, shedding clutter and distraction and aligning with your true nature. For me, this is a conscious action of designing your day. Here are a few tips to simplify, that I myself will be practicing…

Look at your weekly calendar on Sunday

Sunday evening is the perfect time to really look at your entire week. Fill in the days with what is imperative (work/kid activities) and then schedule in the mundane (housework/groceries). Get clear on your perceptions regarding these tasks. Are you feeling drained or uplevelled? Simplifying does not necessarily mean cancelling or not-doing the task, but becoming intentional regarding it. A clear example of this in my household is homework. I tend to get angry and frazzled when my help becomes a conflict and battle. I get so wound up in my head and become emotional. Yet I have to remind myself I CHOSE TO HAVE CHILDREN. This is a task where I get to choose complication or simplicity. Before homework is done now I pause and remind myself of this. It instantly shifts the experience.

Schedule in time everyday with an activity that lights you up

Even if it is just 5 minutes, doing something everyday that generates within you joy is an opportunity to return to You. So often we are consumed by the roles we play at home or within our career that we forget our inner spark. When we take action to amplify our energy in this way, not only do we conserve our energy (like filling up a gas tank), but we are readily able to accept and allow reality to unfold as opposed to forcing against it. Our genuine happiness and enthusiasm tends to outweigh experiencing struggle.

Schedule in a morning routine and an evening routine

This is a non-negotiable. A daily routine of self-care, however that looks feels\ for you, is an intentional action to step into the highest version or yourself. When you choose the energy you wish to wake up to and go to bed with, you begin to feel empowered and present within all that you do. Get clear on your mornings and evenings. What actions generate rushing and numbing. For me, I wake up 1.5 hours before the boys for meditation, journal writing and reading quieting while I sip my coffee. This ensures I am awake for them, giving them ample time as well to be slow and not rushed for school. I also realized my evening routine needed to a shape up as I was spending too much time on social media and reality tv, which was not serving me as it was generating not-enoughness and envy. I choose to now consciously not have screens in the bedroom, enjoy a longer skin-care routine with dry brushing and gua sha, read my Kindle and fall asleep with affirmations. Remember there is no right or wrong when it comes to self-care and wellness. You get to choose what lights you up… consistency is key and make it uncomplicated.

Schedule time with friends each week

Laughing does wonders and ensure you spend time with individuals that uplift you. Get clear on the friendships that are mentally consuming and complicated. The ones that make you tired and irritated after spending time with them. You know exactly who they are… Simplify means exploring why. Why you choose to maintain a friendship? Why you allow yourself to be mentally consumed? Why you can not possibly set a boundary with them? Getting clear on your why may shape shift the relationship or not and may require you to distance.

Get good at saying “NO”

Saying no to situations that you know energetically drain you is transformational. Valuing your  self-worth, your honesty and your time is a bold choice, claiming your power. This is not an easy thing to do. Sometimes we rely on the busy-ness to stick our heads in the sand and not take responsibility for what is really going on internally. It is time to again explore why.

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated”, Confucious. Take responsibility and choose to design your day, both in action and in thought. And when you do experience difficulty, which you will, within the difficulty remember there is an aspect of it that is simple… it’s physics baby!

-E