Tuesday

Tuesday is my day to look at my social and emotional self, and make an effort to shift my perspectives around how I view and treat the people in my life.

We are in the Waxing Gibbous moon phase, when I can settle again into the yin of Beingness. I will contemplate the big picture of my life as I practice mindfulness, self-care and trust. Now is a time to reconsider my intentions and make adjustments. It's a time to review and refine, a time to practice Being, and trust in the ebb and flow of the universe.

Agenda: 

1. My anger journal

2. Read "How to Deal with Anger"

3. Refine my intentions

1. My anger journal:

I'm keeping an Anger Journal to record every time I feel miffed, uneasy, disappointed, tense, defensive, belittled, or angry. And I've also been paying attention to distraction and torpor, and how it affects my flow. Generally, I've been calm this week, but I've had a couple of periods of obsessive mental niggling over awkward interactions, and a whole lot of torpor.  

2. Read "How to Deal with Anger":

I'm reading this book by Isabel Clarke (2016) that I got at Powell's, because after my last explosion I decided I won't reach equanimity without managing my anger. Part 2 is Tackle: Get to grips with what you need to do to make a change.

Chapter 5 is Now You Have a Choice. This chapter points out two obstacles: First, do I even want to manage my anger? Or do I want to just get my way at any cost? Second, it just might be too hard to stop my anger reaction. 

The tool that is effective in this case is mindfulness: Gentle, compassionate curiosity, in-the-moment; noticing my body, my feet on the floor, my judging, something I can see, hear... Mindfulness helps to bring me into the present during an anger challenge so that I have the option to make a different choice.

The first step is to practice mindfulness 3 times every day, to make it a habit; the goal is to be able to MAKE A CHOICE.

3. Refine my intentions:

In the Waxing Gibbous moon phase, I pause to reconsider my intentions, my patterns and approaches, and make adjustments.

1. Observe and give attention to my state of being in and out of equanimity: My Anger and Calm journal is effective, and I've added memories of being mindful or distracted.
2. Focus on balance and flow, living with the awake and authentic Inner Me and my connection to Spirit: The Balance Journal didn't work - I need a new Flow Practice, like my "5 things" approach, to practice intentional time, balance Doing and Being, to remind myself to live in the flow of the day, with immediacy.
3. Give daily attention to the End of Summer garden: I love puttering in the garden, following my intuition about what to do. Two things that need better attention are my baby plants, and harvesting and preserving.
4. Daily attention to my art practices: Maybe I need to print out my weekly check list for tiny tasks.