What if You Could Multitask Self Care?

We multitask all the time. Many say it isn't a good use of our time. Others say it's the only way they can get everything done in a day or that it makes them more efficient. Some research says there’s no way a person can actually do more than one thing at a time.

So here you might be thinking: What is this crazy lady talking about and why is this person who is always talking about self-care and awareness talking about something as distracting, disjointed, and disorienting as multitasking?? 

Well, bear with me here, because what I’m trying to do in this article, is what I’m always trying to share with you. It's about getting you more connected with your whole self: mind, body and spirit. And am I trying to say that multitasking is a way to do that? Yes I am.

I have a patient example. Remember Josh? Josh was the one who was waking up in the middle of the night with panic attacks, who I taught my basic method of connecting the mind to the body in a healthy way, and who within days, was able to stop them from happening. I saw Josh a few weeks ago and asked him if he was still using the method and when. He told me that he uses it whenever something doesn’t feel good, and most of the time, it’s when he’s in the middle of his work day. This is brilliant. It's the method of connecting to his body in a healthy way that I taught him to use when he was really struggling to calm his nervous system and keep it calm. But he’s actually doing it. You might recall that Josh is a carpenter. So take a moment and consider what Josh is doing. If Josh notices he feels anxiety, tension in his body, or pressure to get things done, he pauses for a moment, drops in and feels a good feeling memory in his body. It might only take a few seconds, but when he does it, things quickly shift, and he feels better. 

Now maybe you’re going to tell me that this isn’t technically multitasking. Agreed. It isn’t. One second he’s doing one thing and in a different second he’s doing something else. What I’m trying to convey here is that what Josh is doing, is bringing self-care into his daily life, into the moment, into his body. He’s taking a step back from what he’s doing and remembering himself, engaging the wisdom of the body in the simplest way I’ve found, and doing it for himself. He’s bringing the sense of feeling good into the moment. He’s bringing himself into the present moment. He’s literally bringing his presence into the present. I’m in awe of the simplicity of the way he put it: “whenever something doesn’t feel good”. Again, it’s brilliant. He’s doing exactly what I’ve discovered is the thing that truly makes the difference. He’s doing what makes all the work you’ve done truly work. If he can do it, you can do it.

If you meditate or pray for an hour in the morning, do yoga, or go jogging, it can be a really nice form of self-care. But if the rest of the day, you’re stressed and miserable, is it really helping? 

What I’m getting at with the concept of multitasking, is infusing awareness and using your inner wiring that makes your mind-body connection so powerfully helpful as you go throughout your day. When we connect to our whole self through the vessel of our body, everything works better. Why wouldn’t we want to use our nervous system in the way that optimizes its design?

Lets dive a bit deeper and consider how and when you can try this practice. During the work day you might be plugging along, trying to get things done and realize that you haven’t gotten as far as you want. You’re already multitasking as you are realizing your frustration, stress, and body tension. Instead of paying attention to the stress and tension, try bringing in a different, more helpful kind of multitasking and drop in and center yourself, reassure yourself that it's going to be ok, ground your attention into your feet or legs. You will instantly feel more calm, more focused, and the tension in your shoulders can dissipate. This is what I mean by multitasking. Multitasking is the simple act of remembering yourself as you go through your day by using a simple method, even for just a few seconds to be present to yourself, for just a moment of self care. 

Let’s consider another example, one that is quite common these days. Say you’re reading the news, looking at social media, or “doomscrolling”. Take a second and check where your attention is. You’ll realize that your attention is inside your phone, on the news, in thoughts about what you should do or your lack of power to change the world. Instead, take your attention back. Take a few seconds and get your attention back in your body, into your abdomen, legs or feet. Take some breaths into your belly. Get yourself back.

Try it now, where is your attention? As you’re reading this, there is no reason why you can't also be centered in yourself.  Feel your breath, feel softness, warmth, or love inside you. What if you can feel gentle waves lapping at your feet? Just take a few seconds and just feel. What if you can stay connected to that feeling as you go through your day? Now keep it going as you read the rest of this article.

We don’t need to let go of self-care as we go throughout our day. Awareness of ourselves and how we’re feeling and taking care of ourselves doesn't have to be either on or off. We’re already doing and thinking a million things at once. What do I need to do next? Am I doing a good job? Am I getting enough done? What if we include ourselves in that multitasking too? 

So are you still doing it? Are you centered as you read this? I can hear my course participants exclaiming "Yes!" because I know they have done it and have felt the benefits in so many aspects of their lives. If you are having trouble doing it or feeling it, it’s just a matter of practice. A matter of including yourself in your busy day, even if just for a few seconds, in your multitasking, in the cycle of thoughts in your head. You might be noticing that it's hard to keep it going, that your thoughts keep pulling you back to your head and out of your body. We are so much more than our thoughts. Our whole being is in the vessel of our body. So when this happens, just sink back in and feel. Breathe. Can you do this as you read? Maybe not now but with just a bit of practice, and adding it to your daily multitasking, you’ll get to include real self care into your daily life.

How about now? Drop in, center, sense, feel. Each time you do it it should get easier. Eventually with a bit of practice you’ll be able to do it anytime and anywhere. And it might even happen automatically.

Let’s look at some more examples of where this kind of multitasking can be really helpful. It can be really helpful in relationships. It has to do with making decisions, discernment, and deciding what to do in the moment. What if having a difficult conversation with your partner, trying to get your child to behave, or trying to get your point across? Instead of overthinking and paying attention to what the other person is doing, or looking outside for what you’re “supposed” to do, what is expected of you, what you think someone else thinks you ought to be doing… What if you take a moment and check in with yourself? What if you know inside what you want? What if there can be a calm inside the storm?

What if you pause just for a few seconds in that conversation, drop in and calm and center yourself and take some deep breaths? What I’ve found is that when we do that, the other person seems less under attack, we can feel more clearly what we want, and are more clear in our communication. As human beings, we feel stuff unconsciously, including when someone is calm and centered. The pressure is diminished and the conversation just feels better. The results can be far reaching, and good for everyone involved.

This kind of multitasking is really about integration, wholeness, and real care of the self. It simply means that you don’t forget yourself as you go through your day, that you get yourself together, claim your own power to control how you feel, and keep going, no matter what you're doing. It's the fastest and easiest way to get into the present moment and live your life in that incredibly beautiful way.

What if, as you keep bringing this simple practice into your daily life, helps you to know and do what is truly good and right for you in the moment, to do what supports your health and wellbeing, and sense what those gut feelings are telling you? This is what happens when instead of thinking, you allow yourself to feel, to listen to your inner wisdom, and to that still small voice that is in there just waiting for you to pay a bit of attention to it. 

If there was a magic pill or button, or a fix for lots of things, this would be it. It has been that for me, for many of my patients, and for those who have put the methods in my course into practice in their life. If it still seems like it's hard, impossible, or unrealistic, my Mini Course: Living In A Body will give you the basics and the steps to bring it into your daily life in two 30 minute lessons.

With a simple act of centering in your body in the moment, you’re actually multitasking. You’re actually including more of you, you’re supporting your body’s optimal physiology, accessing more of your body’s inner wisdom and guidance. Present moment multitasking may or may not technically be multitasking depending on whether you can stay centered no matter what you’re doing, but it definitely can get us into the present moment, closer to our True Self, help us to know what we really want, and bring it into our lives.