Sweat & Smiles: Finding Yourself with Upward Spirals
By Melissa Romano on May 23, 2020 from Sweat & Smiles
Have you ever been really down? So down and unmotivated that your entire day felt like that weird drive to work where you don’t remember getting there, looking at a stop sign, making a turn signal…. It’s like someone switched autopilot on so you walk through the motions of the things you absolutely have to do and spend the rest of the time finding ways to tune out and numb.
You know you are eating because there are empty takeout containers and wrappers around your house that you’ve not had the energy to clean. And then something sparks you.
Maybe something you’ve been looking forward to pops up on the calendar, someone you’ve been fighting with is ready to make amends, or just the right song, smell, or conversation lights you up. All of a sudden you are filled with energy from the inside out. You get in the shower, clean up the takeout containers, and feel completely different. You didn’t all of a sudden change your eating habits, you didn’t all
of a sudden get better sleep. Your energy shifted from the inside out. You have that energy inside of you at all times, the difference is we sometimes block it. We block it by closing our minds, we block it by closing our hearts.
of a sudden get better sleep. Your energy shifted from the inside out. You have that energy inside of you at all times, the difference is we sometimes block it. We block it by closing our minds, we block it by closing our hearts.
It is true: food, sleep, and lifestyle factors are main characters in how you feel day-to-day and how vibrant you feel in your life. So what comes first the chicken or the egg? Do you wait until you can muster the energy to change your relationship with food, find a way to “fix” your sleeping patterns, “push through” other lifestyle factors in hopes of boosting energy? Do you buy a product promising to do it for you? Do you wait until this energy shift comes on a whim? Those are all viable options, though I don’t know how well they’ll work long term or how long you’ll have to wait for it to just happen. What I do know is there are things you are able to do to create that spark of energy from the inside out. There is a way to begin to unblock your mind and heart without having to work too hard or muster too much energy before beginning. The way: plan upward spirals.
In Rebecca Scritchfield’s book Body Kindness she introduces the concept of planning upward spirals; she uses the image of drawing curved lines in the shape of a funnel or tornado, with the smallest line at the bottom of the page. She suggests starting at the first line and writing down one body kindness decision that makes you feel good. Noting what you do and how you usually feel. So each line has a different activity and feeling; “When I [choice], it makes me feel [emotions]. When I practice this activity with clients we open the concept up to any activity that sparks joy, energy, calm, or any positive emotion that send us on an upward spiral. These are small choices, small acts of self-kindness. If I had to guess I’d venture to say that you may be underestimating how much power you have. How you reclaim that power is practicing harnessing it, by reminding yourself it’s there.
The first step is always acknowledging and honoring how you are feeling. It is okay, even good, to sometimes be angry/sad/jealous/insert-not-so-great-feeling-here. As humans we are meant to feel the broad spectrum of emotions. They are what make up our human experience, they help us relate to people, and are some of the keys to our peace. Upward spirals are used not to cover up those feelings but to make space for the ones that feel good too. Upward spirals are used to turn autopilot off so that we are able to actively engage and be present in our life. Upward spirals are used not in resistance to bad feelings but so we don’t keep dwelling there. The activities that go on your upward spiral list should be specific and special to you. These activities don’t have to mean anything to anyone else. Get creative. Get curious about the things that spark good energy in your life.
Music has always affected my energy. The fallacy in knowing this was that I used music to feel more of those feelings. When I was sad I played sad songs. When I was angry I played angry songs. While there is a time and place to feel all of those feelings and listen to all of that music I often used it to dwell much too long in those places. In fact, sometimes I would be feeling pretty neutral and play sad or angry music and start feeling sad and angry. That is why music has made its way on to my upward spiral list. I shared my pick-me-up-playlist a couple weeks ago. It’s something I always have with me (and always add music to). These are the kind of simple, yet meaningful, ways we are able to create an upward spiral. These are the ways we open our heart and mind and let the energy flow freely.
Take some time to come up with your upward spiral list. Give yourself 10 options. Keep them small, keep them simple, and you can even set time limits. Remember, these are the things we go to when we may not be feeling all that great so you don’t want to have a list full of things like “workout for an hour”, or things that will make you feel less than or resistant to actually use in the moment. Choose things that are meaningful to you like clicking play on a pick-me-up playlist. You could choose standing outside on the porch for three big breaths, making your favorite cup of tea, lighting a nice scented candle/incense, playing with your dog for 10 minutes, reading positive quotes for 10 minutes.
Choose 10 things that bring you back to yourself and keep that list with you. Keep a copy in your phone, have a copy where you can see it in your bedroom, in your bathroom, in the places you have a tendency to go when you are on autopilot. Allow the things you enjoy to bring you joy when you need it. Allow your own writing and your own words to serve as reminders that you do indeed have a path back towards yourself.
Happy upward spiraling,
Melissa
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