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lifehack

Put Your Oxygen Mask On First

Habit
Put Your Oxygen Mask on First

Have you ever taken a trip on an airplane? If so, you’ve likely heard the schpeal that the steward gives just before take-off, advising parents to put their oxygen masks on BEFORE putting masks on their children.

Now imagine this scenario: There’s a bunch of turbulence, the plane is shuddering and everyone is in a panic. The oxygen masks drop down from the ceiling, and your children look at you with frightened faces. And you’re supposed to take care of yourself first.

This goes against our natural maternal instincts. Normally we moms care for our children, to the detriment of ourselves. We feed them first, let them go to the bathroom first, make sure they’re clean and dry and comfortable before cleaning up ourselves or any messes in our home. We put them first, as a natural, protective measure for our offspring. It’s a perfectly normal instinct that humans have cultivated in order to protect our progeny.

Back to that oxygen mask thing.

Since everyone’s body is different, these times may be off for your physiology by a few seconds. Generally speaking, the following happens when the human brain is deprived of oxygen:

  • Between 30 – 180 seconds you may lose consciousness
  • Cells begin dying after 1 minute
  • After three minutes, brain damage becomes likely as neurons begin to suffer severe damage
  • Death becomes imminent at five minutes without oxygen
  • If you are without oxygen for 10 minutes or more, a coma is certain, death is likely and irreversible brain damage is likely.
  • Survival is nearly impossible after 15 minutes

If you’re on a plane with your children and something like this happens, the reason you want to put your mask on first is so you’re actually able to put one on your kiddos. The longer you wait, the less likely you’ll be to make wise decisions. We start to get a little brain-foggy, and before too long, goofiness takes over, and the world starts ending around us without us even noticing. Take a look at the oh-so-cool Destin Sandlin from Smarter Everyday as he experiences oxygen deprivation to see this effect in action.

There’s a brilliant metaphor here. Have you recognized it?

What priority do you place on self-care?

I know that I often forgot self-care in order to provide for my family.  How about you? Do you forget to eat breakfast or lunch? Do you put off showering because it’s a challenge whilst caring for children? Do you get enough sleep? How about intimacy with your partner?

I’ve experienced the real, dark place we go when we limit our self-care. Things came to a head for me, and my world got very small, very quickly. I got sick, an ambulance was called to my home and even after a few months, I’m still reeling from the events. In the end, I discovered that I had some pretty severe food allergies, had been malnourishing myself for months and had allowed cortisol to rise to unhealthy levels. What I thought was a heart attack turned out to be “reverse panic attacks” – something that happens even when you don’t feel stress or overwhelmed, but your body DOES.

Our beautiful and miraculous bodies are constantly communicating with us, if we’d only listen. Our fast-paced lives are a deterrent from this natural communication. We must stop and listen to understand what our body is trying to tell us. We must take the time to reflect and mull over our circumstance. It’s the only way to discover that we just might be neglecting ourselves.

One way to enhance and understand our body’s natural communication is to utilize a form of meditation called “bodysensing”. I first learned about bodysensing reading Richard Millar’s Yoga Journal post on the subject. Your body is constantly giving you subtle clues as to its condition. When we miss out on these clues or don’t react to correct the behaviors causing them, our body “turns up the volume”. This is when we become ill, experience pain or dis-ease, encounter brain fog or fatigue, etc. As you learn to observe your body’s natural messages, you’ll find that your body no longer needs to “shout” out its neglect. If you can recognize the signs of stress, fatigue, dehydration, or malnourishment and respond to these cues with a mindful and healthy approach, your body will return the favor with vitality and strength, physically, mentally and emotionally.

I’m getting much better. I’ve altered and enhanced my diet and I’m conscious of my body’s need for nourishment. I’m taking more time for myself, closing my office door when I need a quiet space to focus, getting great sleep, quality time with my husband, Danger, and making my Miracle Morning a priority.

Put your Oxygen Mask on First

Now you tell me in the comments below – Where is your self-care falling short? What messages has your body been trying to tell you that you’ve been denying or not hearing? What are your plans for rejuvenation?

My best to your bod, Janeen.

5 Steps to Hack Your Mindset

Mindset

We are such impressionable creatures.

Before age 6, you’ve already formulated a great deal of your opinions regarding the world around you, and about yourself. You’ve decided if you’re pretty, creative or a hard worker. You have learned about money and if it’s easy or hard to obtain. You may have seen suffering and pain, and have determined what your reactions to various situations will be.

Most of these opinions you’ve learned by watching the people around you, and listening to the words they say. At such a young age, you have no way of determining if the source of your information is legitimate or valid, you simply accept it as truth. If the information comes from your parents, a teacher, or another adult you see as an authority, you take their words as immediate fact. If the source of the information is a peer, even more so.

Until these beliefs are challenged, they become part of your subconscious and you live as though these “truths” are irrefutable.  When you attempt to change your belief regarding body image, food, exercise, money, or some other concept that you may have a negative view of, your 3-year-old-self takes over from your subconscious and undermines the change. She pipes up and says something like “oh,  no…Uncle Charlie said that fat girls don’t get boyfriends.” And suddenly you start to feel unattractive and unworthy again. Or money gets tight and you try very hard to implement some of those techniques from The Secret so you can live a life of abundance, and your dad’s “Why does it always have to be so hard just to make ends meet?!” comment comes flooding into your brain at a hundred miles per hour.

We get stuck in those mindsets that don’t even belong to us! Well, I have a secret that can change all of that. One simple sentence guaranteed to change your life (if you let it). Ready?

You are YOUR OWN ARCHITECT.

Do not let the influencers of your 3-year-old-self dictate who you are or what you believe you’re capable of! Decide for yourself. Decide what or who  you want to be. Choose how you want to view money and how easy it is to obtain. Allow your own image of your beautiful body and how other’s perceive it to be your truth.

“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself-and you are the easiest person to fool.”
-Richard Feynman, Nobel Laureate in Physics
(He was so my hero when I was in college!)

There are five easy steps to hack your mindset. You can transform any thought about yourself and the world around you using these steps. I use them on an almost daily basis, even after years of implementation. I still discover lingering doubt, negative thoughts, and worries that need to be addressed. I know that I can design my existence using stories and positive statements, but sometimes I just really want to kick those negative thoughts to the curb fast! That’s what this 5-step process is for!

5 Steps to hack your mindset:

  1. Take some time to write down the negative viewpoints that you want to change. Catch them like Pokemon whenever they enter your mind!
  2. Say “Scratch that!” *This is extremely important – tell your subconscious that this is NOT how you really feel!
  3. Re-write the viewpoint with your OWN, positive thoughts on the issue. Design it to make your heart soar! Use words like “I am” or “Money is”, or “My body is”. Write them as if they are FACT.
  4. Repeat your new viewpoint at least twice to yourself.
  5. Act and feel AS IF it were already true, achieved, or proven.

Triggers

It’s also valuable to examine where those viewpoints may have come from. This is where journaling can come in quite handy! I write down feelings, memories and thoughts on why I may have a particular negative viewpoint. What “evidence” have I received up until this point, that has directed this way of thinking? Why do I feel it no longer represents who I am? Then I peacefully let the old viewpoint go, and begin to self-create my own paradigm.

If this process is at all painful, or brings up memories of frightening or uncomfortable things, you may want to speak with a counselor or psychologist to help you process them. It can really help to have a professional assist you with painful memories – especially when they have dictated a negative viewpoint about yourself that you wish to transform. You CAN hack your mindset, but there are times when a professional is needed to really make a transformation, especially in regards to trauma or PTSD.

Freebie Time!

Here’s a free step-by-step checklist that shows you the exact 5-step process I outline in this post.

Janeen

Affiliate link for an awesome product I actually use and love. This supports my coffee addiction so I can write more and provide you with the best possible content!