Cultivating A Year of Contentment! How to Get over a Loss of Motivation Dip

Ever struggle to keep the fire of motivation burning through the winter chill? In this episode we unravel the secrets to preserving that inner spark, no matter the temperature outside. As we wade through the quietude of January and into the blooming potential of February with an emphasis on self-kindness and alternative productivity methods, this episode is your guide to staying aligned with your ambitions, even when your drive hits a speed bump.

Then, let's take a moment together to immerse ourselves in the symphony of the natural world—its rhythms and melodies that often go unheard beneath the clamor of our day-to-day lives. Recorded by previous guest on the show Lindsay Markovit see season  7 Episode 11  Think the stars of this segment are the sounds around you and the cadence of your own breath. Dissolve the noise of stress and awaken a tranquil focus. By the end of our time together, you'll be revitalised, having discovered the power of tuning into the environment's acoustic tapestry as a tool for serenity and renewed concentration.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:38

So first of all, I'd like to say thank you to those of you who listened to episode one of season 15, which is all about having a fresh look at how to approach New Year's resolutions and why January is not the time to be doing it. If you haven't listened to the episode, then do check it out. We will be doing a bit more work on that and I've also got an amazing guest which I'm recording with in a couple of days time. But I put I do a special show today called Cultivating a Year of Contentment how to get over a loss of motivation dip and if you recall the previous show, like I was saying, it's best to kind of use January or this time, the first bit when you're trying to do something new as the time of planning, and then from February onwards, is when we're going to kind of get into the meat of changing things up. Just one little extra note here If you listen to this and it's not January, you can still start and do these things that I'm suggesting Okay, some how to get over a loss of motivation dip. So it's January, as I recall this, and I've got my notebook, I've stopped doing my plans and there's all kinds of different things that I want to learn about.

Speaker 1: 1:52

The funny thing is, though, is like I can sometimes tap into the energy of the time, and it's so cold here at the moment, like, literally, I'm sitting in this like the thickest, warmest jumper ever. I've got a hat on my head, I've got the heating on, which is something I don't always like to do but it is an old house and I'm pretty chilly, and it's Saturday, and it's kind of grayish, which, to be honest, I'm one of those people that love it when it rains. I have no problem when the weather's cold or anything like that, but today, for some reason, I'm not feeling that motivated to, kind of, I need to go dig in a little bit deeper with my goals, and I was thinking about earlier. So, rather than just sitting there frustrated, instead, I decided to go out and do some chores, and then I actually thought, actually, I'm going to do some holistic yoga, to work on a thing I've got going on at the moment, so I thought I'd sit down and work on that.

Speaker 1: 2:54

The reason I'm sharing all this with you, dear listener, is that, sometimes, you will be able to sit down and do things, and by all means, don't give up Like do try and push through things. But sometimes it's just times when you can't kind of force something and it's kind of allowing that space to be and just take a kind of moment, like a moment of stillness. So if you you're having a lack of motivation dip and for those of you who did listen to last week's show, but even if you didn't, I'll give you some tips If there's one of the goals that you were trying to work on and you've got a complete lack of motivation dip, then Could you Instead Instead try and work on one of the other goals. Now, a note of caution by all means don't keep Flipping between different goals and then kind of not taking them through to their full manifestation, because that's Going to make life a bit more difficult. But if you're having a day where you've got no motivation, you feel like you're having a kind of motivational dip. You just you just thinking, oh, what's the point? Why should I try and do all these things? Not if it's going to change, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 1: 4:14

We can sometimes go down like this spiral where we're feeling so sorry for ourselves and kind of so Lost. So I thought I would do a little extra special show to help you through that. So, first of all, I Think we should all sit down and have a moment of quiet contemplation. This, hopefully, will help you out with your task. So we're just going to sit and just take some slow, calm, deep breaths In and out through our nostrils. Just have a moment of calm, just for a moment. Take a deep inhalation and a deep exhalation, exhalation. Let's do one more deep inhalation, a deep exhalation, a deep exhalation, and just let everything go. Hopefully, if you're a bit calmer I know I do. So, first of all, stop kind of mentally beating yourself up if you're feeling a lack of motivation in your goals, like a hint a bit earlier, if you're going for one goal and it's just not working.

Speaker 1: 5:47

I'll give you some examples that this might help a bit better. So maybe you want to I don't know write some kind of course, or you're working on something which requires a lot of concentration and you're just not in the kind of frame of mind to concentrate much. There's a few things you could try before you give up for the day, and that is could you go for a walk, could you do some meditation, could you find a moment of stillness and just kind of really feeling to yourself and why you feel like you're not motivated. Another thing you can do which sounds a bit random but it can help, I feel is put a dance track on, have a really good dance to something that really motivates you dance, dance, dance and then sit down and give that task another shot. If it's still not working, then if you look at the list that you did, maybe one of the things was to clean your spare room or tidy up something. If your mind is feeling more that you want to kind of do that, do tasks that are going to bring you forward. So, like, decluttering is a task that's going to bring you forward. Getting and watching TV and eating unhealthy foods probably not a task that's going to bring you forward in your goals for the year. And another angle it could be that you could write down some goals that you could try for the days that you aren't motivated. So just have some like ad hoc goals. Like I said, tidying up the spare room, or could you look up some really healthy recipes and experiment on cooking something really healthy.

Speaker 1: 7:34

There's all these different kinds of ways to be. Sometimes on your pathways can get stubborn and think, oh well, why bother? I've tried things before and things haven't changed. But I inspire you, or I would say instead, could you look at your goal with a set of fresh angle, a fresh angle? So perhaps you're trying to do it in a certain way and it's not working, but is there any of the components of that goal that you can kind of take and try and deliver on that?

Speaker 1: 8:08

And then life can be like that we have times when we feel highly motivated and then we have times when we feel like we just feel like nothing's, kind of flowing away, and that's the natural part of life as well. Instead of seeing things as good and bad, try and find the gems within the times where you feel less motivated and, like I said, look at the goal that you have for fresh eyes or have some of these ad hoc projects that you can do which don't take up too much time and aren't going to take you off your goal. So that's the kind of logical, mental way of kind of helping you with this. So that's another way that you can try and help and be with all of this. We can now look at some other ways in which you can help motivate yourself, and that is to take one of the things that was on your fun list. So, dear listeners, if you didn't listen to last week's show, we did ask people to put down some fun things that they want to do, and can you go and do that today? The next day you will get back to the goal, but that is something that you can do for sure. So I hope this was of help for you today.

Speaker 1: 9:26

So I'm going to share with you this lovely sound meditation that my friend Lindsay recorded. I think it wasn't this December, last December, but it was such a lovely, beautiful sounding meditation. I think it's perfect for this time of the year and perfect for the times when we feel like our energy levels are kind of dipping and our motivation is lacking. So, as always, do check out our website, shamanichealingearth, and if you want to support the show, you can find details of that. So Lindsay very kindly recorded a sound healing session and I'm just about to share that with you now.

Speaker 1: 10:09

She did say at the beginning it's best to practice lying down, be comfortable with a blanket, etc. But of course, if you prefer to do it seated, then that's fine. Just make sure you are comfortable and that you won't be disturbed. But I remember her saying that there's this amazing place in Cornwall in the UK called Tingetangle. Right, it's a really kind of magical, mystical place. There's legends of King Arthur, but there's also a fairy forest down there and it's just got amazing sounds and I remember her saying that she took some of the sounds from there. But I'm as excited as you are to hear this amazing meditation. So, without further ado, here is Lindsay's Markovitsa's amazing sound healing session.

Speaker 2: 11:50

This meditation is not suitable for people with sound-induced epilepsy. Please use headphones or a good quality speaker to listen to this meditation. Listen to the sounds of a stream that leads to St Mecton's Lair in ancient site in Cornwall, which is considered a sacred place by many. Listen deeply to these sounds. Let them wash over you and through you. Allow the sounds to conjure images of water, a beautiful stream, perhaps glistening, dancing in the sunlight. Allow these images and sounds to inspire feelings of flow. How does it feel to let go and flow, bringing your attention now to your breath, noticing the rhythm of your breath. There's no need to try and adjust its rhythm. You may be able to hear the sound of your breath, or just sense the vibrations of the inhale and exhale, much like the distant sound of waves against the shore, breathing into every corner of your torso, belly, chest, sides of the body, back of the body. Exhale, letting that breath go entirely, going to regulate the breath now. Well, inhale for five, four, three, two, one. Exhale for six, five, four, three, two, one. Inhale five, four, three, two, one. Exhale six, five, four, three, two, one. Inhale five, four, three, two, one. Exhale six, five, four, three, two, one.

Speaker 2: 17:50

Inhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, inhale, inhale, inhale, inhale, inhale, inhale, inhale, inhale, inhale, inhale. Getting to notice, now, the natural sounds that you hear around you. Notice the distant sounds and the sounds within your space, notice the singular sounds, repetitive sounds and the continuous sounds and perhaps, if you listen very carefully, you might be able to hear that distant oceanic sound of your breath. Getting to breathe a little bit deeper now, taking a really big inhale and exhale. Perhaps make a sound of your own, if you like. Couple more deep breaths like this. Use your exhales to release anything that you would like to let go of before you continue with your day or evening. Make some sound, if you like, with your exhales. Be expressive. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, just mindfully now Eating yourself back into your day or your evening. Thank you for watching.