A couple of weeks ago, I thought I had lost my bank card.
For a while now, I had got into the habit of carrying my bank card into one of the slots of my phone case. And recently, the card had started to slip out of the case and I had several times found it in random places in the house where it had just fallen off as I was picking up my phone.
Still I carried on keeping it in there.
And one Friday morning, a couple of weeks ago, I went to walk Diego before starting work, and while on the walk, I called the GP surgery to organise an appointment.
It was a sunny day. I finished my walk, got back home and put my phone to charge in the kitchen.
A little while later, the Whatsapp alarm on my phone pinged and I picked it up to answer a friend.
That’s when I noticed that the bank card wasn’t there anymore.
I checked the little bag where I carry my phone when I’m out. No card.
I checked the pocket of my jeans. No card.
I looked around the house. Still no card.
It looked like it had fallen off during the walk.
I picked up my keys and started retracing my steps, eyes firmly on the ground in the hope of finding my card.
Now, something interesting happened…
Rather than having that constant dialogue in my head: “Oh my God, why did I keep my card in there? I know they keep falling off. I’m such an idiot….”, which would have been my default in this kind of stressful situations I started to focus on my breath and go for the technique that always works for me:
Breathe in for 4
Hold for 4
Breathe out for 4
Hold for 4
And repeat.
Quickly, I started to relax and to see the positive side of the situation: I was having a second walk in the sunshine, I had learned not to stress out, it felt already beautiful warm even though it was only 9.30.
I retraced my step and didn’t find the card.
I got home, had one last look around… And there it was, fallen on the side of the sofa!
This got me thinking.
Quickly, as I was getting stressed, I reached out for a technique that never fails to calm me down. It enabled me to feel a lot calmer and more in control of the situation rather than catastrophising.
So, how about you?
Have you got that one technique that you can reach out in times of need?
If you haven’t yet, the best way to find one is to experiment at a time when you don’t feel stressed and to see how a movement, a breath or a meditation maybe affects you.
Once you find one that gets you back to your centre every time, practice it when you don’t need it. Practice it before going to sleep, in the morning as you get dressed…
Practice it so that when you do need it, it springs to mind quite naturally and you can use it to keep you calm, grounded and able to deal with whatever comes at you.