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The virtues of laziness

5/26/2015

Many busy professionals and business people are fueled by adrenaline as they push ahead and drive through their high-pressured lives. They have to get things done.

The problem: All too many of these busy people are exhausted, don't feel well, are emotionally worn out and, yes, stressed. Could bird watching be the solution?

It is antithetical to my nature to be physically inactive or to stay indoors all day. But this weekend up North the black flies were out, I had a sore hip requiring alternating ice and heat, and I was feeling blue, knowing my eldest is moving next month to the West Coast. I'm still getting used to my youngest living on the East Coast.

Embrace your unexplored lazy side
Birdwatching is especially effortless when sitting indoors on a comfy chair or couch, staring out of a window that looks onto trees and birdfeeders 20 feet above the ground. No walking, no bugs, no binoculars. And, if you aren't in want of companionship, indoor birding offers great solitude. Really, an ideal solitary "sport.”

Using a field guide packed with information about birds, I had hours of amusement reading about and watching American Goldfinches, Blue Jays, Cardinals and Purple Finches dart on and off their perches.

Back in the city, we've had little success attracting birds to our backyard birdfeeders. There are just too many squirrels and when I find them hanging upside down from the feeders, stuffing their faces, I get worked up and angry. I stopped filling the feeders with birdseed, knowing it was destined to be squirrelfeed.

When your work or home life is draining your energy and you feel stressed and irritated – and if you also have physical complaints such as headaches, tightness in your chest, or generalized aches and pains – consider being lazy for a few days. Or at least a few hours.

Being lazy has just energized me.

It might even give you a competitive edge.

Laziness works (in small doses),
Coach Minda

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6 Comments

Inner freedom fighters unite

5/6/2015

7 Comments

VIVE LA LIBERTÉ - VIVA LA LIBERTAD - LÄNGE LEVE FRIHETEN- TRĂIASCĂ LIBERTATEA -লং লাইভ স্বাধীনতা -תחי חירות - LEVE DE VRIJHEID -自由萬歲- FREEDOM BE LONG - OPERI LIBERTAS

After more than a few coaching conversations this week, I wondered how I might help people loosen their self-imposed straightjackets.

How can we be freer? 
How can we loosen the excessive rules we impose on ourselves and, inadvertently, on others? Wouldn’t we feel lighter if our fears and inordinate worries about making mistakes and repercussions would abate?

Because we live in Canada, where we are free from geo-political unrest, systemic violence and war, we are in a privileged position to cultivate inner freedom, more so than so many others across the globe.

Inner and outer freedom are not to be confused – outer freedom is what allows us for the most part to move about freely and safely. We are protected by civil and personal rights.

I am most grateful for this freedom.

What is inner freedom or personal freedom?

Here is an interesting paradox: I have been on a quest for personal freedom as long as I can remember and yet I haven’t defined this for myself.

I’m going to give it crack here – but apologize in advance that this will not be an expert or scholarly piece of work, nor well argued philosophically. More, an exploration into how being a inner freedom fighter “isn’t such a bad preoccupation.”

Creating the framework for inner freedom

Living morally – knowing you have tried each day to minimize harm done to others through careless comments, mean-spirited character attacks, strong judgments (and the like)
Making an effort on a regular basis to be kind and helpful to others and not jump to conclusions or negative assumptions too quickly
Having purposeful or at least decent work, love, courage in the face of difficulty
Keeping a reasonable diet, getting exercise, meditating, relaxing and having gratitude

Benefits of inner freedom

Freer and easier movement of thoughts, feeling and actions – removing the stumbling blocks of hard core beliefs, “shoulds” and “should nots”
Softening of the edges, more comfort in your own skin – able to interact easily with all kinds of people
Reduction in the rehashing and retelling of grievances and old stories
A greater sense of humor
An acceptance of our complicated and contradictory selves - without the need to hide certain aspects of ourselves (e.g. You can be a vegan but not compost or be a meat-eating composter)

Inner freedom offers a quieter mind, a mind at peace, a lightness of being and a sense of unity and of balance.

It's worth the fight,
Peace
Coach Minda

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The virtues of laziness

Inner freedom fighters unite

Coach Minda

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