“You I came to get down I came to get down so get out of your seat and jump around. “
House of Pain, 1992
It's time to talk about movement and expectations.
Welcome to Solo Worklife Meditations. If you work alone most of the time and experience that mental chatter that's a bit too strong because there's nobody to bounce your ideas and stress off of, then you're in the right place.
It doesn't matter if you're a small business owner, solopreneur, digital nomad, remote worker, or content creator, these meditations are made for you. This is a meditation to help you let go, connect, and energize your solo work experience.
If you're new here, welcome. This meditation is part of the Solo Worklife Meditations project, which includes tips every two weeks in the Solowork Life Meditations Newsletter at solowworklifemeditations.substack.com.
Special thanks to Ted from Quebec, Canada for the topic request for this session.
For this meditation, you can be sitting or lying down, however you feel the most relaxed. Close your eyes if that's comfortable for you. If not, you can stare at something if you like, it's okay. In fact, feel free to view the image on the YouTube version of this podcast. They will always be beautiful photos I've taken myself from different locations in the world.
Movement.
Body movement.
Let's dig into the necessity of movement.
Body movement is moving our body in a way that it needs to to get energy flowing.Your body needs to move. Unfortunately, our work lives are often us sitting at a desk in a very set position. Quick, fun body movements can help us break out of that stiffness and that flow.
That energy flow goes into your brain and into your emotions and your mood. Your body is made for movement. So let's convince our brain that we can do movement without doing exercise frequently throughout our workday.
Repeat after me.
My body is made for movement.
Again.
My body is made for movement.
Say it out loud with me a couple of times so your brain hears this request for playful movement, not exercise.
My body is made for movement.
Play with the words a little bit while you say it. Even your words can be playful in this affirmation. Let's do it one more time and pick a word to play with while you do this.
My body is made from movement. However you want to do it, there's no wrong way to say this or think this.
My body is made for movement.
We often need to use exercise and equipment and time periods and plans and goals to get us to do certain other kinds of movement that will help us with strength and flexibility and all kinds of things. There's nothing wrong with exercise, but that's not what we're talking about today.
This movement is more like four year old playful. My body wants to go somewhere and I'm just going to let it move.
My body is made for movement.
If you want envision exercise in one corner of your mind and movement in another, this might help you incorporate small, playful movements into your day without waiting for the perfect 30 minutes opportunity to do an exercise routine you've been holding onto. Your body needs movement to fuel the brain. Only you can help the energy in you flow better with some simple, playful body movements. Something simple, something quick.
Envision yourself jumping around, maybe just flailing your arms around like we did in episode one. It doesn't matter what the movement is. What matters is that it's not productive. It's playful. Remember when we were kids in school? We would just jump around for no reason. We can still do that.
What's a quick action that you enjoy doing that feels physically good, that makes you smile? Maybe giggle? Physical movement doesn't have to just be good for your body. It could be good for your soul.
It could be good for your emotions. We need to work, play more and these quick movements can be one way to do that.
Picture yourself getting up from your desk doing this movement you've been thinking about a few times and then going back to work.
My body is made for movement.
Move your body out of joy and fun, not obligation. When you do these playful movements, do it because it feels good.
You can exercise later if you want to, but for now, I want you to plan your joy movements. Right now, we're just visualizing these movements. You can do them anytime during your workday later, a few random playful movement breaks during your workday can make a big difference in your mood, mental abilities, and patience with the frustration that comes from being a solo worker.
Let's shift over to our breath now. Since we're preparing your brain for playful movement, let's do some playful breath movements also.
Inhale quickly and exhale quickly four times each like this: 1-2-3-4. We are jump starting the energy in your body with these breaths. Let's do it again. Four sets of inhale. Exhale. 1-2-3-4. One more time.
1-2-3-4.
Do you feel the energy flowing in you? My hands and my elbows are pulsing a little bit. Don't worry if yours doesn’t. We all feel this a little bit differently, but I hope that you feel a little bit more energized from that.
Feel free to open your eyes, you might need them for the next part.
As we wrap up this meditation, we're going to work on our feet. Feet are often involved with playful movements, so let's get them ready.
If you're unable to use your feet for this, feel free to do the same motion with your hands or eyes.
We're going to squeeze and open our toes. This works best with your shoes or slippers off, so slide them off real quick.
Good.
We'll do this with both feet at the same time. Now bring your toes in slowly so that you're trying to touch your toes to the main part of your feet.
We're going to do that slowly for 1-2-3-4. Squeeze them real tight like you're holding a pencil in your toes. Now we're going to release them slowly for 1-2-3-4.
Let's do it again, 1-2-3-4 and release them for 1-2-3-4. One more time. Bring your toes in, 1-2-3-4. And now we're going to spread your toes out, 1-2-3-4.
Do your feet feel bigger, like they need more space?
If not, don't worry. You can review this meditation anytime you wish to practice, stretching out your toes in anticipation for playful workday movements.
Feel free to put your shoes or slippers back on.
Remember, as you go back to work, remind yourself, my body is made for movement.
This movement does not have to be productive, does not have to be planned, and does not have to have a result goal. Its purpose is to get your energy flowing during your long sitting work days so that your thoughts and your emotions can flow.
Also, thank you for joining me for this meditation. If there's an aspect of solo work life that you'd like to focus on in one of these episodes, let me know. Just like Ted did, you can find more information in addition to this recording on our Substack at soloworklifemeditations substack.com. Okay, get back to work now.