Mind of Snaps - Positivity Podcast | Ep. 48 - "Creating Mindful Momentum"

Welcome to "Creating Mindful Momentum" - the 48th Episode of the Mind of Snaps Positivity Podcast!

This is a special podcast series that is separate from the regular Mind of Snaps Podcast, with a new release (typically) posted every Monday for Patreon supporters!

It is my goal to create as much positive & encouraging content as I can during these intense, uncertain times we're faced with. 2020 was so much more than anyone expected it to be, and nobody should have to take it on alone. The only way I can continue to do so, is with your help.

To help, you can: become a patron, subscribe to me on Twitch, you can send a tip which I'll turn into an investment... or you can simply share my content on social media. Every little bit helps me be able to continue to create the podcasts and other mindfulness & positivity based content in the future.

The format of these podcasts are forever evolving to reflect current events from personal to global, so I hope you are enjoying them. Please reach out to me if you have any suggestions!

Hang in there, friends... we're all in this together.

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You can find new Positivity Podcasts on Patreon every Monday; Patreon archive positivity podcast episodes are available free for the community every Thursday at 4pm on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, & Stitcher!

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Jessy (Mind Of Snaps / SheSnaps)

www.MindofSnaps.com

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Transcript

Unknown Speaker : 0:00

Good morning, my lovely friends. Happy Tuesday and happy new month, September 1, Holy fuck

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that happen. Wow.

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I hope you're all having a very nice start to your day and I hope that you have already drank a whole heck ton of water. If you have not, go get that water right now and drink it. Thanks as usual to everyone who has chosen to support via the Patreon this community continues to grow bit by bit every day. And the conversations we have are so wonderful, and the support that you all show to me and to each other is just fucking beautiful. I'm amped up today's there's gonna be a lot of F words. Okay? I'm just so glad to be existing in this life with the all around You're so great

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So great.

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Anyway, our last video chat session was really nice. So thanks to everyone who pushed themselves to show up. And those of you who took it a step further and also pushed yourselves to speak up and allow yourself to be vulnerable with us. Like, I know that's hard. But y'all are really doing great. And I'm just so grateful to be able to be in the presence of so many compassionate people that are working so hard to make a change for themselves.

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It's really beautiful.

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As you are likely realizing

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this podcast was supposed to go out yesterday. I typically write and record my positivity podcasts on Monday mornings, but it did not go out yesterday because I was exhausted. I woke up on time, but I just, I could not get my brain to focus on much of anything. And it had me feeling a little out. agitated and frustrated for a while, I decided to take yesterday off of streaming. And I figured at the time, this was what I was thinking, like, I'm gonna do my best to use this as an actual day off. Because typically, even on days when I don't stream, I'm usually working for a pretty good part of the day anyway, like I, I would be very comfortable saying I work seven days a week. Don't get me wrong, though. I do love, love, love what I do, which is why I feel good about working as much as I do. However, I can admit, I fall victim to my own desire to be a person who is constantly on the go, which is something I think a lot of folks can relate to. I mean, shit, society really does what they can to convince us that a lack of productivity means a lack of value, very easy to fall into that mindset. So yesterday, I was feeling pooped, decided to take the first random day off in a long time. I typically have Sundays off of streaming, but I don't always make use of that time to relax and recharge. And instead sometimes I turn into a big old couch blob and I just watch stupid TV, or I scroll on my phone endlessly. this past Sunday was definitely a great example of that. And I think it's partially why I was feeling so fucking drained on Monday morning. I know I talked about this often, but we really just do not pay enough attention to how much information we're taking in all day, every fucking day. If we don't give ourselves time to sit and process without trying to consume even more information, we can start to feel backed up a bit. Yes, backed up like constipation of the mind. You can't deny that a lot of the stuff you consume in terms of media conversations, TV, even music, sometimes everything like some of it is just straight up trash, you know, you've got to give your brain time to take that trash out. Or it's just gonna collect and collect and then leave you feeling like trash, which I don't think any of us enjoy feeling like things lately have been a bit hectic for me. And I'm trying my best to create new habits so I can get this book and YouTube series started. And I have been struggling. I know I'm capable of it, which is why I keep trying, but the act of creating these new habits can be an exhaustive one, especially when you pair that with what can feel like a very mentally and often physically demanding job at times. And then you add in you know, typical life stuff, family problems, keeping the house clean, trying to exercise enjoy time with my man take care of the dogs and the cat. stuff can be really tough to juggle. So, when Sunday came around, the smart thing, smart in quotes for me to do would probably have been to spend the day cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, reading and taking the dogs for walks or something. And granted, like we did start off strong, we woke up and we took the dogs to the dog park right away. But then after that the day basically disappeared. We got takeout from our favorite hot dog place. It's called short leash hot dogs. Fucking incredible. And they're only open on weekends right now due to COVID so you know, strangely enough though, the food was fucking delicious. Eating a big fatty hot dog with macaroni and cheese that chili on top didn't exactly provide me with a burst of let's get shit done energy. I wound up basically utilizing only the first hour or so of the day for something I was Totally present for

Unknown Speaker : 6:01

that was the dog park.

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It was dope being out on a beautiful day and seeing the puppies so happy. But then after that I ate and I became a blob. I binge watched some Legend of Korra is that the name that the second avatar thing, whatever. I've been watched a bunch of that, despite me previously, very consciously making the decision that I don't want to binge watch shows anymore. I scrolled for a long time on Twitter, on Reddit on Instagram. And really that was nearly it. Like I'm really glad that I managed to pull myself away from that for a short amount of time, so that I could make a little bread baby and put it in the fridge so it could sit and get all yummy and then we can bake it today. But aside from that, from my perspective, I would consider the day and ineffective use of my time at best. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say you don't deserve To watch shows or fuck around on social media, but when you stop and compare your desire to do those things, against your intentions of acting towards your goals, you'll likely find that the time spent taking care of yourself and moving towards your goals. feels better, like a lot better. Who says like after scrolling on social media for hours or just binge watching shows like oh, I feel great. I feel energized.

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Probably no one.

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Maybe you but you're pretty cool. So you know that you might be a one off. I didn't do yoga Sunday. I didn't meditate. I barely went outside after we took the dogs to the dog park. And as a result, when I woke up the next day, even after a quote unquote day off,

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I was tired as fuck.

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I decided to take a day off because I didn't want to do a morning stream all groggy and almost immediately after deciding to take the day off. I sat down In front of my laptop again, so that I can try to write the positivity podcast. I didn't want that to be something that I fell behind on even if I was taking a day off. I could feel myself forcing it though. And I became more and more irritable by the moment.

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Typically when I write these, I have to work to keep

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the word counting down. Because I have so much to say like, usually because my Sundays are pretty mindful. I spend a lot of the day kind of thinking about what I've learned that week, and then how we can translate that into something for these. It usually flows like really fucking flows. This time though. It was like pulling

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teeth.

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Oh, I

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knew I had other things I could be doing. And I even thought, maybe I'll treat this like an actual day off and I won't work at all. But that idea didn't really take hold. So I sat at my desk feeling frustrated at the long list of things I could be doing, but mad because the one thing I wanted to do felt Impossible. I decided I needed to get myself moving moving so I could capitalize on the momentum and know that that's huge in in staying active and moving its momentum. So I walked downstairs and I figured by the time I made it down there, I would have decided what to do next. And wouldn't you know it worked out. As soon as I hit the bottom stuff. The dogs got super excited and they started poking at their leashes hanging on a nearby wall, like Come on. Let's go. Let's go. So I said, Okay, fuck it. Let's go for a little walk. And I took the dogs outside. I was feeling so annoyed because the dogs are usually pretty good on leashes these days like they're, they're getting a lot of practice, but for whatever reason yesterday and it probably relates to my own mood, whatever, but they did not want to behave. So it was

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very frustrating. We walked

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around our neighborhood and as we passed the community pool I noticed it was empty on like a beautiful not even 100 degree day and in Phoenix that's a big deal. So like suddenly, what had felt like a book, nothing feels right. I don't even know what I want to do kind of day turned into an Ah ha,

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that's it

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moment. We've been living in Phoenix for three months now. And I have been to the pool exactly one time for quite literally only 10 minutes because Alex was worried I was gonna burn out in the sun. Like I take the dogs there in the mornings once in a while so they can run around but I don't sit out in the sun and I haven't been in the actual pool. Like even when I went the last time I just went like dip my feet and got a little sun and then came back after realizing that it was empty and thinking like, Oh, it's Monday people. People are probably working they have jobs, you know, like their school and stuff. pools empty. Holy fuck. I practically ran home with the dogs to put them back inside so that I can hit the pool. I put on my never worn swimsuit, I grabbed my water, my towel, my sunscreen and I went right to the pool. At first I thought it might be fun to sit and listen to an audio book or something. But something in me resisted when I reached for my headphones. I thought, you know what I said today was gonna be a day off. And while I think I might be fucking incapable of taking a full day off, I can at least take

Unknown Speaker : 11:34

this hour.

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So I set the stopwatch on my phone, not a timer this time because I wanted to give myself the freedom to go over if I wanted to. But I just set the stopwatch on my phone and said I was not going to be leaving the pool for at least an hour. And I wasn't going to read listen to music, listen to an audio book or anything that required much thought or inspired thought

Unknown Speaker : 11:59

instead I swam

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around. I laid out in the sun I sat on the pool steps just kicking my feet around. While listening to the sounds of the neighborhood and watching the palm trees sway gently in the beautiful breeze. Ah, during that time it hit me. This was what I needed. The actual fucking break I needed wasn't a no work break. It was a no intake break. What was missing the most from my routine that weekend was mindful practice. I hadn't taken out the trash in a while, you know, mentally and as I floated around at the pool, it took itself out for me. I was still doing something because technically, you know, I was at the pool and moving around. I even did a little bit of pool yoga. But I was doing what felt. I don't know organic. It felt natural. It didn't feel like something I had to think about too much. It was something I could just do. And enjoy the feeling of was very in my body. It was so nice. At one point I was sitting at the edge of the pool and I had my arms up like on the on the ledge behind me so my hands are kind of like dangling right above the water. And I was watching as water droplets falling from my fingertips would hit the rippling water below. I noticed something so beautiful. Every time a drop of water left my fingertips before it hit the pool water below. This brilliant reflection was made in the water. It looked like a tiny star twinkling and then exploding into nothingness, the droplets would fall I'd see that lovely Twinkle, and then the drop would hit the water and create this lovely little series of waves teeny tiny little waves, each of which displaying all of the colors of the rainbow as they peaked and then fall again. I'm telling you all this may sound silly. But it felt fucking magical. That was when it clicked for me. All this time, I felt like the main thing I needed to do was to just go move do. But I didn't realize that it made the most sense to be selective about this process. It's not just about taking action, but about taking mindful action. In my time at the pool, I basically wrote this podcast in my mind, and I also watched as my brain calmly and peacefully planned out the rest of the day's activities and the activities for the rest of the week. The end of last night was wonderful too. I hung out with my man we had a beer out on our balcony and just stared at the beautiful moon. got great rust and I woke up this morning feeling much different. I feel recharged and refreshed, unlike how I had felt yesterday morning after taking the quote Quote, day off to binge watch TV and fuck around on social media. So this week, I want you to remember when you're feeling stuck or you're feeling tired, and you know there are things you could be or should be doing. Work first on creating mindful momentum. Do something that's good for your body or your mind, but do it without all the extra shit. You don't need to be consuming information all day every day or even listening to music. Now, no, this part is going to gonna raise some eyebrows. It might get you a little sassy, but just bear with me. All right, like don't get me wrong. I love music too. But a lot of music tends to make us think, especially when there are lyrics involved. You might be listening to really sad music or to music that makes you think of times in your past or music that gets you pontificating about the future. Whatever, especially if there's lyrics involved, the music is very likely taking you on a little journey. So give your brain a break. Take a walk and just listen to the sounds of nature. Go draw or paint or color in a coloring book, clean or cook. But again, leave the intake of information out of it. Let yourself just be and do without feeling like you have to jam pack every second with more data. Be mindful. If you're struggling to think of where to start, think of shades. Is there something you can do to help prepare yourself for a better night's rest? Can you start things off by grabbing a fresh bottle of water and chugging it? Can you go for that little walk around the block or just go sit outside and breathe? Can you go and clean out your fridge or do some meal prep? What about

Unknown Speaker : 16:53

exercise?

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Maybe it's time for a bit of yoga. And finally

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what kind of stillness could you incorporate? It may be time for a meditation or free to practice gratitude or journal. Whatever you choose to do, do it mindfully. Notice the feelings of your body and pay attention to your thoughts. Notice what can be released and what deserves a bit of your conscious attention again in the future. Momentum can help carry you through the steps of accomplishing all the goals you have in mind. But let yourself create that momentum mindfully. I think

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you'll see the difference quickly.

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You've got this. You got this. Now get out there and create that mindful momentum. So you can continue to manifest dope shit.