Consistency is key, but taking a break can do wonders...
Why we need to put things to the back of the Carousel
Back in January I told you that I was decluttering my commitments and invited you to do the same.
Today I returned to flamenco for the first time since December.
My weekly flamenco class was one of the things I’d put in the decluttering maybe pile.
I’d been going weekly since February 2022 and I was feeling meh about it.
One voice said ‘you can’t give up now, consistency is key.’
Another voice said ‘see what happens if you don’t go for a while.’
So I experimented: I put it to the back of the Carousel.
Interestingly, I didn’t miss it.
And then, three months later, I went to Seville on holiday and remembered why it was in my life.
The excitement and aliveness came back.
I went to a class; I saw a performance; I breathed in the music.
And today, I returned to class after 4 months. I thought I’d feel out of practise and clunky, but weirdly the opposite happened: I felt focused, the steps came more easily to me. It’s as if the break had actually HELPED rather than hindered.
The break had been integration time for my practice.
The break had given me a chance to actively choose it again.
The break had brought a fresh energy to it.
Consistency is so important. Keeping up habits. Not giving up just at the moment that things start to become a routine. Building up slowly etc.
Yes yes yes.
AND
Sometimes we need to put things at the back of the Carousel. Not force them. Give them some breathing space.
Think about very good friends and family members in your life who you love to bits, but even after some epic times together you need a breather.
Give the things on your Carousel some space.
Pause projects for a while.
If something is feeling a little meh, have some time away from it.
If all of life is feeling a little meh, have a break from all of it (if you can).
I was reminded today once again how important is it to go with the energies of aliveness with the Carousel model. Not force anything. Trust that the aliveness is always the one to trust. Even if the aliveness doesn’t feel very alive (like you want to just do nothing for a while - there is an aliveness in rest.)
There are a couple of other things that I may need to take a rain check on too.
My word of the month is Courage - and sometimes the courage is in stopping.
Sending you all love
Sarah x