This morning I went swimming in a local pool at 7am. This might be the norm for some people but I have never done that before, apart from in the sea in summer time.
I joined everyone else swimming up and down the lanes for a good half an hour and then I broke free and swam around the lagoon area which is usually full of kids at weekends. I was the only one in this area and it was bliss. I could swim around on my back without fear of bumping into anyone and I could dive down to swim underwater in what ever direction I felt like. Something I have always loved to do since wanting to be a mermaid as a kid :-)
Meanwhile everyone was going up and down the lanes. It just made me think how regimented we can be and how fun it is to break away from the pack.
Usually I would be up practicing my Yoga at this time so I thought to myself, once I get home I will sit and do my meditation. But then as I was walking home along the beach, the sun was shining and the sea so calm I decided to do a walking meditation instead. Matching my foot steps to breathing in 4 breathing out 4, with my eyes closed.
Mixing up my usual routine has left me feeling inspired for the day ahead and it reminded me of a challenge I gave myself about 7 years ago. For a month I set an intention to do everything differently. That was to cook meals I had not made before, listen to different music, walk different routes, spend my fun time trying new things and so on. It was pretty exhausting having to think of a new way to do everything but it did unlock my creativity and gave me lots of new experiences.
Human beings are creatures of habit, most of what we do is habitual so we don't have to think about it all the time. Somethings are done as if on auto pilot. It has to be really as it would be very hard to always do things a different way, we need a certain element of certainty. But if everything is always the same we can get bored. We can feel stuck in a rut. We can loose our inspiration.
If you are feeling a little bit like this, if you are lacking that spark of inspiration and want to get it back again then my game for you is to do at least one thing differently each day for the next 3 weeks. It can be really small like trying something new in your yoga practice, doing a different kind of exercise to what you normally do, going to a different class, eating something you haven't tried before, making a phone call to a friend at night instead of watching TV, going out to a new pub you have not been to before....and so on.....
Give it a go and see how it feels!
Namaste
Louise x
