The Weekly Adventure originally started as an attempt at personal growth, through mindfulness.

Mindfulness has two contexts: Buddhism and clinical psychology.

The clinical psychology practise of mindfulness is how I first learned it. The way I interpret it, mindfulness is paying attention to how you are feeling, what you are thinking and what there is before you in this very moment, without judging it or yourself. It is an attempt at being kind to yourself, and honouring your emotions, without indulging the fears and irrational thoughts that can sometimes hurt you. Over the years, mindfulness has really changed the way I approach myself.

It is completely contradictory in nearly every way to how I was raised.

It is calm and gentle and incredibly non-judgemental.

Practising this new way has been both challenging and incredibly liberating. I feel so grateful that I’ve had a variety of mindfulness teachers over the years, and most grateful that they’ve all presented it to me in a way that was easy for me to understand.

Mindfulness has countless strategies that you can use to be aware what you’re currently feeling, but still be able to make rational decisions about what to do next. Weekly Adventure was an attempt at putting these strategies into action, around various areas of my life. What I found though was that my most meaningful adventures were not about setting off fireworks, but in finding it within myself to maintain a steady bonfire. Each Sunday, I’d reflect on the past week, and refocus my resolve to unlearn the things that were no longer working, and then figure out a way to actually bring those intentions into concrete action steps. Considering where I once was, this is a huge step for me.

Mindful Sunday is a moment at the end of the week when you, should you feel comfortable doing so, decide to shed habits that are holding you back from happiness, and adopt new habits (or even do new versions of old habits) that support who you would like to be. It’s a practical exploration in living better and being kind to yourself.

This week, my Mindful Sunday Action Plan (for myself, and for you, should you feel so inclined) is this:

1) Decide on a bedtime. (I have chosen 11pm.)

2) An hour before bedtime, begin the process of getting ready for bed. Create a transition period for yourself, in whatever way you find possible and necessary to begin easing out of work and preparing your mind and body for sleep. Shut down the computer, journal, make tomorrow’s to-do list clean  your room. Whatever you need to do to be calm enough to sleep within 15 minutes of turning out the lights, do those things.

I often find that once I get into bed, I’m still so wound up from the day that it takes about 30mins to fall asleep. I then sleep fitfully through the night, waking up at least once or twice to make notes about what needs to be done the next day. The next morning, I wake up tired and upset, which sets the tone for much of my day until I fight to shake off the haze of fatigue.

Or even worse, I am so wrapped up in my work that I don’t collapse into bed until around 2am, with un-brushed teeth and an un-washed face. Eww!

For me, a mindful nightly ritual is a way to form the habit of good, deep and restful sleep, because I am human and my body requires rest to work at its best. It also means making the time to take care of myself, because I am deserving of that kind of T.L.C.

It is a way to indulge myself with rich face creams and chamomile tea and reading great books that I don’t always have time for during the bustle of the day. Surrounding my sleep with calm is a gift to myself, a reward doing my absolute best all day long.

Try it, let me know what you think.

Much love,

A.Y. Daring