A mindful staycation is the perfect solution for dealing with burnout and stress. This week, Lisa and Brad discuss the benefits of a mindful staycation and present several activities that can make it both healing and enjoyable.
Are you ready to shake up your life and cultivate a more mindful existence, all within the comfort of your own home? This episode is brimming with enlightening strategies to create a rejuvenating and invigorating staycation. We'll share the benefits of such a break from routines, help you understand how to embrace discomfort, and guide you to become more aware of your thoughts and emotions. We also shed light on the power of breaking free from unhealthy habits and replacing them with more recovery-oriented and stress-reducing practices.
Do you believe that mindfulness activities require an extravagant budget? Think again! We'll challenge your perceptions and prove that mindfulness can be attained even through simple and creative activities like taking a bath or playing with play-doh. It's about exploring the sensations in our body and questioning our assumptions about the “ick” of sitting in our own dirt. We also explore how weather, often seen as a hindrance, can actually be a catalyst for softening our inner selves and exploring our strong emotions. Plus, we share resources and ideas to kick-start your mindful journey and remind listeners about our free book of mindful activities. Let's embark on this journey of mindfulness together!
A mindful staycation is the perfect solution for dealing with burnout and stress. This week, Lisa and Brad discuss the benefits of a mindful staycation and present several activities that can make it both healing and enjoyable.
Are you ready to shake up your life and cultivate a more mindful existence, all within the comfort of your own home? This episode is brimming with enlightening strategies to create a rejuvenating and invigorating staycation. We'll share the benefits of such a break from routines, help you understand how to embrace discomfort, and guide you to become more aware of your thoughts and emotions. We also shed light on the power of breaking free from unhealthy habits and replacing them with more recovery-oriented and stress-reducing practices.
Do you believe that mindfulness activities require an extravagant budget? Think again! We'll challenge your perceptions and prove that mindfulness can be attained even through simple and creative activities like taking a bath or playing with play-doh. It's about exploring the sensations in our body and questioning our assumptions about the “ick” of sitting in our own dirt. We also explore how weather, often seen as a hindrance, can actually be a catalyst for softening our inner selves and exploring our strong emotions. Plus, we share resources and ideas to kick-start your mindful journey and remind listeners about our free book of mindful activities. Let's embark on this journey of mindfulness together!
Hello and welcome to Just One Thing. I'm Brad Stearns, here with Lisa Stearns, and we're your hosts on this weekly exploration of simple ways to enhance your relationships, improve your health, manage your stress and just be happier. Now settle in while we discuss Just One Thing. Good day and welcome to the next episode of Just.
Speaker 2:
One Thing.
Speaker 1:
Just One Thing is the podcast of Mindful Living that Today you can find us on Facebook at the Mindful Couple. We have a great Facebook group at Mindful Living Today with Lisa and Brad. We're also on Instagram.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, as the Mindful Couple.
Speaker 1:
As the Mindful Couple Today we are going to talk about or I'm going to entitle this take a mindful staycation, because last week we were fortunate enough to take a mini vacation. Yes, we were. We had a good friend who let us stay at her house on the beach on the Chesapeake Bay and it was just fantastic and I was thinking, wow, we should encourage everybody to take a mini vacation. And then you were wise enough to point out that not everybody is fortunate enough to be able to take a mini vacation, whether financial circumstances, child rearing responsibilities, work, whatever those obligations are. But we thought almost everybody could take a little staycation at their home. But instead of just like hanging out and relaxing and doing nothing, we decided there's a lot of benefit in taking a mindful staycation.
Speaker 1:
So before I go on and we talk about things you can do to make it a mindful staycation, maybe you could elaborate a little bit about what you were thinking about with the things that you could do and why it's beneficial.
Speaker 2:
Well, I think the inclination for most people is when they think of oh, I'm just tired, I need a day off, or whatever.
Speaker 1:
Or I have leave that I can take, but I'm not going anywhere because I can't afford it, or the kids are in school or whatever. Right, I think the tendency is to then binge watch Netflix, and you know, we all think we just want to take a break from everything that we're doing, but just relax, or what we think is relaxing, just get away from the routine.
Speaker 2:
And there are benefits to that. I mean, there's some benefits to that.
Speaker 1:
Sometimes you need that Right.
Speaker 2:
So definitely we're not saying that that isn't or can't be beneficial, but I think there is a different if you're really feeling, I feel like burned out you're tired, you're overly stressed.
Speaker 1:
I think a mindful staycation is actually more invigorating, more rejuvenating, more, better recovery and I agree, and although we'll go into some of the things that you can do on your mindful staycation, I will acknowledge up front that some of those things may not seem comfortable, right.
Speaker 2:
Right.
Speaker 1:
Because they're not the easy things to do, potentially like just sitting down and turning on Netflix or watching a football game all day and I think what I want to sort of emphasize is you want to shake things up a little bit with this mindful staycation and embrace maybe some discomfort, things that are maybe unknown. You don't know what the outcomes are going to be like, but I think we'll have some long-term benefit, absolutely Particularly if you can take these kinds of staycations with some frequency yeah, a couple times a year, maybe once, even once a month, one day four hours.
Speaker 2:
That's the other thing. It doesn't have to be three days five days whatever you can do, a mini staycation which would be a morning, maybe a Saturday morning.
Speaker 1:
Well, I remember when we first came back from our mindful space reduction. Really profound retreat that we took up at the Omega Institute on mindfulness-based stress reduction.
Speaker 2:
Right.
Speaker 1:
We embraced the idea of having a staycation once a month where we basically had a day of silence, Right. I think it went from the time we got up until dinner time. It wasn't the entire day, but you know, it really shook things up. You had to be mindful and aware of what was going on because you weren't allowed to talk, you weren't allowed to read, you weren't allowed to watch TV and you just had to fill your day with like I don't know what I'm gonna fill my day with so and so. Then you're forced to just sort of be aware, you know, of what's going on inside of me, the discomfort I might be feeling, the boredom I might be feeling that sometimes the panic I might be feeling about how am I gonna get through this day. But then you're forced to sort of settle back and like, well, if this, is what I'm committed to right.
Speaker 2:
Let me just take a walk.
Speaker 1:
Let me think let me listen to the birds. Let me sit on the porch, listen to the birds, listen to the traffic go by, right, maybe just stop and stare at the. You know a leaf or a flower. You know you can do things like making bread.
Speaker 2:
You know things that are very tactile things, and I think the other thing that that does is truly. It helps you recognize maybe those habits that you have that may not be as recovery oriented or stress reducing as you think.
Speaker 1:
They are like binge watching TV or drinking alcohol, or pulling out my list and running all my errands. Right, that'll put out.
Speaker 2:
I think it will bring. It helps you become more aware of what are those things that you fall back to, that are your habituated practices. When you have free time. That may not be actually restful.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely, and I think if you take the time to do a mindful staycation, I think this also reinforces the idea of a mindful life.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely.
Speaker 1:
Because the things that we'll talk about in a few minutes that you can do on this mindful staycation are things that you can do anytime to just sort of embracing more mindful approach to you, know your day to day, whether you know, and it helps you deal with the things that we talked about, like dealing with uncomfortable emotions.
Speaker 1:
Dealing with stress or dealing with boredom, or finding ways to do stress. Become a better communicator with your family or wife, or even yourself. Right, figuring out what's going on in my own head and becoming more aware of that dialogue in your head. So before we jump into some things you can do on this mindful staycation Right, anything else you want to sort of add or emphasize or no, I think we've done a good lead in for this.
Speaker 1:
So I know when I brought, when you brought this topic up of you know, not just a staycation but a mindful staycation what's the first thing that you thought of that either an individual or a family could do to sort of embrace something that's out of the norm, makes you more mindful, reinforces some of the habits that we talk about every week.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely no electronics. Okay, so no phone, no TV, no radio.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, anything that's artificial, I think, just the general term electronics. Electronics, yep, unless, and we'll talk about that in a minute. It's your stove.
Speaker 2:
Right, right, yeah, right, but but the entertaining kinds of electronics, right, right, the things that we do mindlessly and that might make you panic right there, Right.
Speaker 1:
So now's a good time if I'm gonna embrace this what's going on in my head.
Speaker 2:
How does that feel? What emotions come up?
Speaker 1:
with that? Do I? Do I panic? Why am I panicked? Can I be comfortable with those feelings of panic? Can I identify where in my body those Sensations are coming up and why it feels uncomfortable? And just the fact that I'm gonna commit to no electronics, that's very mindful in and of itself right and I think you may recognize.
Speaker 2:
You know what, if I leave my phone, let's say in my bedroom, right, I'm gonna have to fight with myself for however long. This is to run back to my bedroom, so you may have to put your phone out in your car or something like that. You know you may have to kind of safeguard and give yourself that. It's kind of like not having snacks.
Speaker 1:
I think I want to lose weight.
Speaker 2:
You know, put it a little further out of out of reach to make that possible. But I think I do you agree? Do you think that's the first?
Speaker 1:
I think. I think it's a great first step, particularly because so much, so many of us are just sort of wedded, yes to our electronics, and it's very difficult to think, contemplate a day, let alone a like a long weekend, without electronics, and I would encourage a staycation. Start with a day. Yeah, it doesn't have to be a full three day, four day weekend. I just just a short little break, yeah. So what? What's sort of no electronics.
Speaker 2:
Okay, so what do you do then? Yeah, so I know, what's another thing. Do you have another thing? That's like a no thing, like a thing put aside.
Speaker 1:
I think anything that you ordinarily do, okay, you know, I think it's just try to fill it with things that are mindful, things that you might not mess. I mean, if you have a mindful wife and you meditate every day, right, you know, keep that right right those kinds of things.
Speaker 2:
So I just I think one of the things that they emphasize during our day of silence, though, was no reading also right.
Speaker 1:
Um and and really no, no visual eye contact with another individual, which may be hard to do if you're sharing a home, and I don't necessarily know that this is, uh, that right, because one of the things I was going to say is, as I say, take this Staycation mindful. Staycation is a time to do something with your spouse, connect partner, family, to just really connect in a way that you typically don't. When you're just sitting there watching a movie like, pull out your board games Right, play a game of cards Right, and I think as you play those cards you know, really try to be aware of how you know your emotions are playing as you have Disappointments and wins and those kinds of things.
Speaker 1:
Pay attention to the emotions and the communication style of the other people right that you're. You know that you are playing with, be aware of their Anger, frustration, sadness, glee.
Speaker 2:
You may be aware, when you sit down to do that that. Okay. Every time we sit down to play a game, joey and Sammy get in a fight.
Speaker 1:
They start bickering like through goes first or a but.
Speaker 2:
And just recognizing that they may bring up a feeling, and so that may be something that you can first of all sit with and say, okay, why am I having this feeling? And second of all, what can we do? Maybe differently right on the outset, or maybe we play a game that they're on the same team so now they can't fight with each other in competition.
Speaker 1:
The reason I brought up games first is because there is nothing more mindful than really paying attention when you are playing a board game or a game of cards.
Speaker 2:
Especially if you're competitive.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely, because it brings up so many emotions, it brings up so many issues with communication style and listening to other people that it's a perfect training ground to be coming through living a more mindful and self-aware life.
Speaker 2:
Definitely definitely.
Speaker 1:
So it's something else that you can do besides playing a board game. Maybe sometime we'll take a whole podcast talking about how to use a board game to really become a more mindful person.
Speaker 2:
Right, yeah, so you talked about a couple of things I love doing walks outside- oh, perfect yeah. And truly being aware of what colors am.
Speaker 1:
I seeing Not just getting from here to there. Right, it's not your Not counting your steps. Right, you are trying to be in the moment and it really absorbs the entirety of the environment.
Speaker 2:
Right, right. So what do my feet feel like? Is there in my shoes, walking on the sidewalk?
Speaker 1:
Do I smell the rotting leaves or even the flowers?
Speaker 2:
I would say walk on non-flat surfaces, non-paved surfaces.
Speaker 1:
Because that makes your feet and your ankles do different things and you have to be aware of your balance and how you're shifting your weight to keep your balance Right. Those kinds of things Right.
Speaker 2:
So I think walks are a great, and if you can't walk outside and it's rainy, you can do that inside.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, you can just take a loop around your living room Absolutely Just paying attention to every step. Yep, you've talked about that. Yep, what I wanted to bring up, because we were talking about electronics. I said, well, that might not count if you have an electric stove.
Speaker 1:
Right, right, because one of the things that you could do as an individual or with a group again, is really find a recipe that's elaborate, go out by the ingredients and cook it all by hand, season it and saute it and chop it and smell it, taste as you're cooking it and communicate with each other and do it in a mindful and loving way and take your time really trying to get the recipe right, notice the colors.
Speaker 2:
Absolutely, yeah, the textures.
Speaker 1:
Cooking is a great thing. I think that's something maybe we should do. Yeah, because I do not like to cook, right, right, you know, I'm usually like give me my food, let me eat it.
Speaker 2:
Let me be done. Let's go on to something else.
Speaker 1:
But if we spend an hour or two which I know I think my younger son does that, oh yeah, and he cooks in a mindful way almost every evening I think it's very soothing and relaxing and it's a meditative practice and it's very relationship building.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, absolutely, they do it together.
Speaker 1:
And in terms of dividing the work, in terms of coordinating when things have to be completed, in terms of agreeing even on a recipe and what the meal is going to look like, is an awesome opportunity to communicate in a more mindful and loving way.
Speaker 2:
Something else to me is taking a bath, whether you're a bath person or not. Absolutely yes. If you're not a bath person and you're like ick, baths are icky.
Speaker 1:
But even embrace the ick Right, like what is it? That's a oh my gosh, I am so hot, I am so sweaty.
Speaker 2:
Right. Well, some people are like oh, I'm sitting in my own dirt, like okay, but like is that really damaging to you, or you know?
Speaker 1:
like and think about like. Where does that Even if it's even the story of my own dirt come from? Why do I think that's such a horrible thing? Exactly Because the dirt was on me to begin with, right, right.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and I showered this morning or this afternoon or last night anyway.
Speaker 1:
So can't do that much dirt.
Speaker 2:
I'm trying to think of what other things Gardening. Oh gosh yeah any kind of thing in the dirt is really good, anything that's physical?
Speaker 1:
I think yes, when you can pay attention to the sensations of your body, your hands, your feet. You know your posture as you're doing things. This is an awesome tool for just having a more mindful experience.
Speaker 2:
And I would say any kind of I hate. I want to avoid calling it art because I think paving people immediately pull away from that.
Speaker 1:
I'm not a artist, I'm not creative.
Speaker 2:
Exactly, I can't do that. But you know, if you have that mindset, first of all just explore that Like, where did that come from?
Speaker 1:
Just pull out a piece of paper and scribble on some, can I?
Speaker 2:
scribble, can I color with crayons? Can I pull maybe pictures out?
Speaker 1:
of a magazine and make a collage. A coloring book would be awesome.
Speaker 2:
A coloring book is perfect for that.
Speaker 1:
So there's lots of things that you can do to just be with that experience without having any kind of expectation or something else, or even if you decide to draw, which I think is one of the more difficult artistic pursuits to go after, because drawing is a difficult skill.
Speaker 2:
Oh my gosh, it really is.
Speaker 1:
But like just draw something and then, if you're not happy with it, explore that unhappiness. What?
Speaker 2:
stories are coming up.
Speaker 1:
Why am I so unhappy? Why did it have to look like George Washington? It looks like Charlie Brown. It looks like Gummy.
Speaker 2:
Why am I so unhappy with that? Right, right, exactly, and a lot of that, I think, sounds like oh, why would I spend time doing that? But truly, all of these things, allow you to me.
Speaker 1:
It's a softening of your inside, it's a softening of your mindset, it's a softening of the that habituated behaviors and expectations and outcomes, and it is a structured, purposeful way to try to get in touch with all of those things that we talk about and becoming more mindful. It really is pulling out strong emotions that you now have an opportunity to explore in a sort of a controlled way, right right, yeah, so I think there's so many.
Speaker 2:
I love the idea of walking in the rain, that would be, or walking in the snow. Both of those would be perfect Walking in the ocean waves. If you happen to be a person that lives near the water, walking in grass with bare feet is a thing.
Speaker 1:
Well, I would never do that. I don't like that feeling, but it's good to explore it.
Speaker 2:
That should be on your next staycation.
Speaker 1:
Well, I'm thinking like you can even do bizarre. I call them bizarre things like take a walk in the rain, assuming it's warm enough, or even not. Without appropriate gear and no umbrella, and then feel yourself getting wet feeling your clothes soaking, feel the water coming up through your side.
Speaker 2:
I'm getting a shiver right.
Speaker 1:
Like yeah, just like it's just an opportunity. It's like this is not the norm. What am I experiencing as I'm going through this?
Speaker 2:
Right, Right. Oh, another thing I was going to say is thinking of being creative. I keep thinking of doing things with your hands.
Speaker 1:
I'm sure.
Speaker 2:
Any experience with your hands can be very mindful, provided you are paying attention to what's going on in your hands. Play-doh would be great.
Speaker 1:
Oh, perfect, yeah, and that's artsy, artistic and creative, and you don't have to be making anything. No.
Speaker 2:
Just the art of. Maybe you could just be combining colors, you know just the kneading and the pushing, and what does that feel like, what muscles am I using in my hands and what does that feel like and what colors are created? Right, so it doesn't have to be. The reason we wanted to do this is because, like I say, to me, it's important to have stuff that doesn't cost money.
Speaker 1:
Oh yeah, there's no right, right, you know, don't go out and buy a new game, right? Just get a deck of cards Play tic-tac-toe.
Speaker 2:
Oh right, you know something that's easy in talking about games. All of this stuff is stuff that you should be able to do with anything you already have in your home.
Speaker 1:
And so, as our time draws to a close, I just want. I just my one thing is just to take the time to take a half a day and pursue one of these mindful staycation kinds of activities that we just described and see where that goes Right and make a commitment to try to do it, you know, once a month or twice a month or whatever period and try to do it a little longer each time so that sometime maybe you take a whole weekend and do one of these mindful explorations.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, and I think if that, if thinking about a half a day is overwhelming to you, then do a half an hour. You know there's no rule, there's no rule about how much time. The second thing I wanted to mention is if you're totally without ideas and you know we gave you somebody it doesn't feel like enough. If you go onto our website, mindfullivingtoday, you can sign in for and sign up for our guide, our book, our ebook, that's right, I know there's several mindful activities in there, yeah, and the whole book is mindful activities that are just easy to do and it's free and we don't.
Speaker 2:
I don't do a newsletter, so you won't be bombarded with stuff. It says sign up for my newsletter, but you're not going to get anything but my book. So but you know that would give you a good idea.
Speaker 1:
Other ideas? Sure, I'm glad you had an opportunity to sit and listen with us today, so until next time, this has been Just One Thing.
