On the last day of 2023, I nearly cried.
After a motivating cross-country skiing lesson two days earlier, I felt energized.
Finally, my brain started to stop worrying, and for a few brief moments, my body took over, and simply glided across the beautiful winter landscape.
On that Sunday, I woke up and wanted to get back to that feeling.
I knew I was tired, a part of my body was craving a day of rest.
I ignored it and got ready for another day in the snow.
15 minutes into it, my mind started complaining.
My body joined in. I wanted to sit down in the snow and cry.
Maybe, just maybe: An intensive year took its toll on me.
Craving Me-time
The next day, I knew better.
On the first day of 2024, I rested.
I finished a beautiful book, did some gentle yoga, went for a walk, and sat in an armchair while the sun shone through the window.
What a difference it was after these few hours of silence and of me-time.
Who designs your Yuanfen moments?
We previously talked about the possibility to design and influence Yuanfen moments, where connections with others somehow felt “meant to be”.
More often than not, we forget to create these "moments meant to be" more actively.
A busy work project. A meeting marathon.
A family to feed, to orchestrate, to support.
Friends to meet, events to attend.
Based on our personal experiences and many tales of friends mirroring a similar behavior, Sonya and I decided to design "moments meant to be" for us and for others with a strong intention:
Where we could come and nurture the most important connection we have.
The connection to oneself.
Connect to your energy
Our workshop series “Connect to your energy” creates such a space.
We both work in truly inspiring jobs, crafting transformation journeys in our organizations. We are both accredited Yoga teachers, both embedded in strong social networks and a mother and a mother-to-be.
Our experiences and skills lay the foundation of our workshops.
A space where our participants, currently all female, can come as they are.
Where they can nurture through gentle yoga, meditation, and coaching elements, their most important relationship.
Tend to their energy, let go and yes, also fall asleep if the body feels like it.
Especially when we balance multiple roles, and multiple responsibilities and care for others at work, at home, and in other settings, it’s easy to neglect our daily me-time doses.
Throughout the session, we shared with the participants small tips and tricks, on how to embed some breaks into daily routines:
Observe your breathing when you go to the toilet in between meetings
Use every crying child or ringing phone in public transport as a reminder to be grateful
Start or end your day with simple stretches in your bed
Prototyping those small Yuanfen moments regularly
Instead of endless discussion, we decided to prototype and test our hypothesis.
On Saturday, February 3rd, 2024, we go into the second iteration.
A few last spots are still available.
We continue to test our hypothesis that these consciously designed moments give each participant exactly what they need to take out of it. A stronger connection to oneself. An opportunity to connect to others. A place to rest, to be.
My lesson number one: Transformation is a continuum of tiny steps.
My challenge: Observing my breath during work days, relax my jaw consciously, and as I learned from my osteopath, relax my tongue too.
My commitment for 2024: I will sprinkle in me-time in small and big doses throughout the year. So ideally, on December 31, 2024, I feel rested rather than drained.
What small hacks do you have to create your moments with yourself and tend to your energy?
Transformation through connections to oneself, to other inspiring individuals, and to the bigger picture.