Ah yes, the breathing exercises aren't for everyone! The aim of whatever exercise you choose, is to stop new thoughts continually feeding the hamster wheel of speed. Then it will naturally slow down, because there's nothing keeping it moving. So you can use any form of meditation to slow you down, IF you focus on the meditation and let go of thoughts which aren't relevant. If traditional meditations feel overwhelming and too difficult for this, then some examples of alternatives would be a 5 minute walking meditation, or EFT (emotional freedom technique or tapping - I talk about this on day 5).
Re speeding up, you wouldn't go from a standing start to a sprint and expect to maintain it for any length of time. So give your brain time to warm up. Often we expect to be able to hit the ground running, and we think that running everywhere will enable that. But that just makes us knackered so we've got nothing left in the tank. Actually embracing the ups and downs in speed, and then gradually getting mentally fitter so you can make the changes more quickly, is what we're aiming for. One extra note here - there will be times when you need to speed up from a standing start, and that is possible. But then you need to allow time to rest AFTER, even if only briefly, rather than expecting to keep that speed going. Often we then try and maintain that super high speed, which is where the challenges come. Hope that makes sense!
I have found the podcast super helpful so far and have been telling my friends about it. I graduated from Bristol last year and have been in practice for 10 months now. I tried really hard today to focus on one thing at a time and still found little thoughts popping into my head of ohh have you done this or printed this or typed this. How do you deal with this? Do you write them down as they pop into your head to do at a later point in the day or ignore them and remember once you have completed the task at hand. I'm just worried I'll forget things.
From todays session:
I learnt that you are in control of your speed and that sometimes it's appropriate to act quickly eg in emergency situations but other times it's okay to take your time.
I feel like I am VERY slow sometimes and I want to take my time doing the best for each consult. I'm fortunate that in my practice I get 30 minutes but as a result I feel I fill that 30 minutes and still offer to do too much in one go. How do I speed up or is it a case of setting expectations to the client for what can be achieved in one appointment.
Hi Laura, so glad you're finding the podcast helpful and that you're recommending to other Bristol Grads - that's wonderful to hear.
Re worrying you'll forget things - we cover a MASSIVE component of this on Thursday, so have a listen to that episode and see what you think. Please be reassured that it's a really common worry and that there are strategies to deal with it!
And then as I read your thoughts on today's session - again, I think Thursday will be a big one for you. Yes you want to do the best for each consult, but it's about trusting yourself that you can do that even when you have less time, need to go more quickly or can't think about every single little option.
Again, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and I hope this helps (even though it's effectively saying "wait until Thursday!") x
1) you can change your speed (?!) And pick what's appropriate for the situation. Definitely have many days where I work at 100mph and then continue that through my evening and although I've done very little after work the evening goes and I'm not recovered from the day
2) consider what speed is needed, and try to identify when I'm going so fast it's to my detriment.
3)I feel like when I need to be able to recognise the above, and slow down, I'll either forget, or I will rush trying to meditate or get my brain to calm that it won't work. Any tips on this?
So glad it's resonating Hannah! And love your question - it IS hard to recognise when you need to slow down and so tomorrow's principle helps with that. There are strategies you can use to calm your brain down when you only have a minute (totally know that feeling of "ahhh I need to calm down quick and I can't!!") but that's another whole essay - prevention is often easier than cure, so have a listen to tomorrow and let me know if the ideas there help x
1. Why my brain finds things to think/worry about when it's time to relax.
2. When I recognise this is happening, do something like breathing exercises to slow my brain down
3. What alternatives there are to breathing exercises to slow your brain down. I sometimes find breathing exercises quite stressful :(
How to speed your brain up again when you need to. My go-to is caffeine but I'm hoping there are heathier alternatives
Ah yes, the breathing exercises aren't for everyone! The aim of whatever exercise you choose, is to stop new thoughts continually feeding the hamster wheel of speed. Then it will naturally slow down, because there's nothing keeping it moving. So you can use any form of meditation to slow you down, IF you focus on the meditation and let go of thoughts which aren't relevant. If traditional meditations feel overwhelming and too difficult for this, then some examples of alternatives would be a 5 minute walking meditation, or EFT (emotional freedom technique or tapping - I talk about this on day 5).
Re speeding up, you wouldn't go from a standing start to a sprint and expect to maintain it for any length of time. So give your brain time to warm up. Often we expect to be able to hit the ground running, and we think that running everywhere will enable that. But that just makes us knackered so we've got nothing left in the tank. Actually embracing the ups and downs in speed, and then gradually getting mentally fitter so you can make the changes more quickly, is what we're aiming for. One extra note here - there will be times when you need to speed up from a standing start, and that is possible. But then you need to allow time to rest AFTER, even if only briefly, rather than expecting to keep that speed going. Often we then try and maintain that super high speed, which is where the challenges come. Hope that makes sense!
I have found the podcast super helpful so far and have been telling my friends about it. I graduated from Bristol last year and have been in practice for 10 months now. I tried really hard today to focus on one thing at a time and still found little thoughts popping into my head of ohh have you done this or printed this or typed this. How do you deal with this? Do you write them down as they pop into your head to do at a later point in the day or ignore them and remember once you have completed the task at hand. I'm just worried I'll forget things.
From todays session:
I learnt that you are in control of your speed and that sometimes it's appropriate to act quickly eg in emergency situations but other times it's okay to take your time.
I feel like I am VERY slow sometimes and I want to take my time doing the best for each consult. I'm fortunate that in my practice I get 30 minutes but as a result I feel I fill that 30 minutes and still offer to do too much in one go. How do I speed up or is it a case of setting expectations to the client for what can be achieved in one appointment.
Looking forward to the next couple of podcasts.
Hi Laura, so glad you're finding the podcast helpful and that you're recommending to other Bristol Grads - that's wonderful to hear.
Re worrying you'll forget things - we cover a MASSIVE component of this on Thursday, so have a listen to that episode and see what you think. Please be reassured that it's a really common worry and that there are strategies to deal with it!
And then as I read your thoughts on today's session - again, I think Thursday will be a big one for you. Yes you want to do the best for each consult, but it's about trusting yourself that you can do that even when you have less time, need to go more quickly or can't think about every single little option.
Again, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and I hope this helps (even though it's effectively saying "wait until Thursday!") x
Another great episode!
1) you can change your speed (?!) And pick what's appropriate for the situation. Definitely have many days where I work at 100mph and then continue that through my evening and although I've done very little after work the evening goes and I'm not recovered from the day
2) consider what speed is needed, and try to identify when I'm going so fast it's to my detriment.
3)I feel like when I need to be able to recognise the above, and slow down, I'll either forget, or I will rush trying to meditate or get my brain to calm that it won't work. Any tips on this?
3)
So glad it's resonating Hannah! And love your question - it IS hard to recognise when you need to slow down and so tomorrow's principle helps with that. There are strategies you can use to calm your brain down when you only have a minute (totally know that feeling of "ahhh I need to calm down quick and I can't!!") but that's another whole essay - prevention is often easier than cure, so have a listen to tomorrow and let me know if the ideas there help x