***Did You Experience the Tornado of 2009?

Did Your Whirlwind Life Turn into a Raging Tornado in 2009? Here’s What You Can Do for 2010.

In 2009 with the birth of my new children’s yoga book “ What I See, I Can Be: A Guided Yoga Flow for Children ” I felt like a new mother. Just like a new mother, my busy schedule left me feeling challenged, sleep deprived and at times completely overwhelmed. What was fascinating to me was how many other people, including accomplished and competent colleagues, clients, friends, and acquaintances were all reporting the same thing - how overwhelmed they felt.

I have searched to find out why so many people felt overwhelmed in 2009. It seems a lot of us felt the stress of looking for work, changing careers, launching new business initiatives, taking courses, moving houses, raising children or looking after ailing parents. Although these things can be stressful, it seemed that these items tipped people over the edge, into a feeling of being overwhelmed.The reason could be our busy lifestyles are unhealthy and unsustainable and any additional crisis puts us over the edge. It might also be that, we are picking up on the energy of the collective unconscious, regarding the uncertainty and fears that face a large number of Americans and others in the world.

5 Things You Can Do to Get 2010 on Track

And Live More Calmly in the Eye of the Tornado

The good news is that there is a lot of optimism being reported for the new year and the new 2010 decade. These are the 5 things you can do to live more calmly in the eye of the tornado:

1. Unplug from negatively focused news.
2. Give yourself permission to be ‘okay with living in the current chaos’ and set your intention for living in a more relaxed and joyful state in your near future.
3. Breathe deeply. Stressed out people breathe shallowly. Relaxed people breathe deeply and fully, which helps the body and mind stay relaxed.
4. Give yourself permission to take a 5 minute break during your day. This can be:
- Sitting down for 5 minutes and just deep breathing.
-Spending 5 minutes eating a healthy snack , like an apple or piece of fruit.
-Don’t have time for a workout. Do 5 minutes of stretching, squats and exercise.

5. Do you have Quantity of Life but missing the Quality of Life? Drop low priority items or energy draining activities from your schedule.