Today, I’d like to talk briefly about the subtle art of re-charging. Its easy, especially in New York City, to adopt a kind of “crash & burn” mentality about work – you just push yourself during the week, and collapse and recover on the weekends. Your body system gets into a kind of rhythm with that, but what you don’t realize is how much stress you’re experiencing as you do it.What if you made re-charging a daily occurrence instead of a weekend or holiday burn-out? How about staying ahead of the curve with your energy instead of behind?This is about taking care of yourself first, what author Stephen Covey calls the most important habit of successful people — “sharpening the saw.”/Its about taking that one hour a day to re-charge your body and your energy, making the other 23 hours more effective, more enjoyable, and more rewarding. It’s about enabling you to be better at what you do. Better at teaching or leading others, if that’s what you do, or better at taking care of others, especially if you’re a parent.
Some suggestions for re-charging:
*Steady, silent breathing with your eyes closed. Visualize yourself relaxing, this can be done anywhere, anytime.
*Get out of your chair and move! –whether that’s moving against resistance, on a treadmill, taking the stairs or just a walk around the park. We’re designed to move, not sit!
*Slip on some headphones and listen to your favorite record. Discipline yourself to just listen – it stimulates parasympathetic rest & recovery.
*Develop your own strategy and schedule for re-charging, every day.
