OohBox Tips to Finding Calm in a Busy World
Calm is an elusive state of being nowadays. Finding calm in today’s hectic world often feels like finding a needle in a haystack, but that doesn’t mean it’s totally out of your reach.
I also think calm looks different to different people. It doesn’t always look like that scene in Black Books where Bill Bailey swallows ‘the little book of calm’ and floats about London spouting wisdom. Sometimes it can be quiet, and unintrusive, and only there for a second. It’s those moments I’d like to highlight in this little post today!
Like most bloggers, this gal went to drama school at eighteen (I know, can you even believe it?!), and we had to do this strange exercise. Basically, we had to practise drinking a cup of tea (and yes, I’ll give all you doctors and lawyers the chance to grumble about me practising drinking tea while you were dissecting hearts or crying in the library at two in the morning). Once we’d got a handle on what we were doing, we had to mime making and drinking that cup of tea. Stay with me, I am going somewhere with this.
In order to pass that particular class, we had to show that we could feel the weight of the cup in our hand, and the heat. We had to watch the steam as we blew on the mug, and really taste the first sip. I took that exercise really seriously, and ever since then, every time I have a brew I remember that exercise, and how mindful it made me be in the small moments.
So whether I’m making a brew, stepping into a hot bath, even doing some gardening, I take the time to feel, hear and smell what it is that I’m doing. I like to feel the weight of the trowel, and notice how damp the soil is, and how it gets under my fingernails. I like the moment when you dip your toe into the bath and you feel your skin prickle in the warm water, while the rest of you is still cold. Those tiny spaces in between moments are wonderful places to find calm.
And what’s stopping you from finding calm while being productive? It isn’t always about relaxing, although yes, I wish it was! There’s lots of writing on a concept called ‘flow theory’, which in a nutshell boils down to finding an activity where it’s just difficult enough and you have just the right amount of time to do it. If it’s too easy and you have ages to complete it, you’ll get bored. Too difficult and not enough time, you’ll get stressed. Flow theory is that sweet spot where you enter a state of focus and get lost in the work. Planning your projects with this concept in mind allows for a kind of pragmatic peace that isn’t always available in the workplace, but it does need planning.
And then, of course, you have your moments of proper, marketable calm. Lavender sleep spray, candles burning, gentle books or even a massage, are wonderful extra touches you can make to your evening to help you find that place of calm. Because while it likes to hide, calm can be found anywhere if you can keep your eyes peeled!
Our Relaxer and Mindfulness Gift Boxes can be a small step in finding those moments of calm and inner peace. With scented candles, journal, a self help book and so much more including the sleep spray and massage candles, we're here to help you to send a moment of calm to those you love.
