We all need to make more time for ourselves. It is a modern fashion to be busy, to always have a to do list and to feel that every day should be about achieving. Maybe this is true but maybe we should be achieving experiences rather than things to do. With all the labour saving devices in the modern world should we not have more time for fun? Or is the modern world more about promoting hard work to earn the money to buy the labour saving devices to give us more time…it would seem to do more work?
We all know that children benefit more from quality time spent with parents rather than from gifts bought by parents. Are we not all children inside? Are we not all deserving of quality time rather than objects bought? For & by ourselves too. Do we need to strive less for a new car and more for a weekend camping in nature. Do we need to walk more and shop less? Spend more time with people and less with computers? Do we need to make more effort to schedule time for fun, for play and for pleasure into our diaries?
I have noticed so many changes in myself during my practice of yoga. Over recent years there has been a natural move towards quiet time, time in nature, time with people rather than being busy. I have re prioritized much of my life. Recent events have reminded me that it is still not enough…that there will always be regrets at time I spend doing things rather than experiencing life. That there always seems to be something that needs doing! A blog to write, a lesson to plan, research to do. Ironing piling up or dusty windowsills. This is why I schedule yoga classes & walks into my schedule so that I make time for them in my to do list.
I have learnt that unless I actually schedule time for me to relax, maybe a yoga class or a walk with a friend, into my diary then I am often seduced into doing ‘just a bit more’ of whatever I am working on. That’s the issue for me… the tendency to work a little harder rather than play more…and I see this tendency in so many other people too. There always seems to be something else we should have done before we feel able to truly relax. I find my morning practice makes not only that day better…but cumulatively improves my life. Making time to check in, to turn inward and to notice where and who i am in each day. I need this as well as times through the week where i get to recheck inward. Maybe the quiet time arriving onto my yoga mat in a yoga class, or a break between teaching when I wander up the riverbank admiring nature. I have learnt I need time to listen to my inner voice, to live in my inner world. I need to laugh often and to dance to cheesy music as well as working through my to do list and update my website!
Spending time in other cultures is also an eye opener for me as they often view time differently. They often have different priorities…family and relaxed time with friends. Maybe they make time for siesta, or appreciate mealtimes more. Maybe they just live life at a slower pace, enjoying the journey rather than rushing toward the destination! So my resolution is to appreciate my time. To pause and admire the view on all my journeys, to take more time to reflect on what matters to me. 
I plan this year to slow down, or at least pause in my rushing!! I plan to make time in every day to stop in the middle…maybe not for a siesta but at least for a walk outside or a break with a good book and a brew. I plan to spend less time at my desk or on social media…less time reading about living and more time doing it 🙂 I had a sad reminder this festive season that we don’t know how long we have alive and that when someone close to us passes our regrets are the things we prioritised above living a real life. So this year I plan to laugh, to live, to look and to listen.
Here are 4 ways to make time for you
1. Find a day a month where you do something just for fun…thats only 12 days a year we can all manage that! Maybe book a trip or visit a local park. Maybe explore a new hobby or just relax all day at home. Without guilt!
2. Schedule a yoga class into your diary. At least one, every week, no excuses! See here for our timetable!
3. Get up a little earlier…I know your bed seems even more attractive at this time of year but a little time just for you at the start of every day will make you happier, healthier and more effective in the rest of your life.
4. Unplug. From your phone, from social media, from the TV. Turn inward rather than always having input from technology
