A long time ago I watched a film called Up In The Air (not the sweet Pixar film), where George Clooney played an emotionally detached corporate HR downsizer and also delivers motivational talks. One thing stuck with me - imagine putting every single thing in your life into a backpack, and then trying to lift it. Heavy as lead.

Imagine if those things you put it were your worries, and concerns, your roles and responsibilities, habits you haven’t gotten around to setting or breaking, deadlines, phone calls or messages you haven’t responded to, or emails clogging up your inbox. Imagine if they could all be placed on a scale and be measured - in the end, they literally weigh heavy on us, and for some, contribute to anxiety or feelings of overwhelm.

Lightness and ease are two things that change whatever we are doing enormously, and contributes to mental wellbeing. This is not to say that effort isn’t involved if we take a lighter path, or that there isn’t a time for dealing with difficult things. Think of a bird that soars through the sky, floating on air currents… at some point it has to land, and find food, build a nest, maybe go through a whole mating ritual. But there is balance there, with moments of magical floating through the stratosphere.

Weaving lightness and ease into our lives as a daily practice, can mean making some small changes, or some more substantial ones. We hold a great deal - from worries about our kids, families, about jobs, about whether we're doing enough, about the future, about health, what we earn or can afford, whether we are valued or not.... Some of it may seem small, but cumulatively it weighs us down, as much as it also just makes up life. 

Finding lightness is crucial to managing our mental health. Perhaps much of this you do already, but just in case, here are 12 ways to find lightness in your life (think of it like a tapas menu, so choose as many as you want).  

1. Check-in - Set aside 1 or 2 minutes as soon as you wake up for intentional stillness and to check in with yourself before you leap out of bed, so that you don't start the day in fight or flight mode.

2. Listen - Tune into your breath, maybe use that 1-2 mins in bed, or any time you want.  Your breath is like an internal radio station, telling you the weather, the news.  Let it inform you - if the breath is shallow or a little ragged, take 5-10 slow breaths through the nose (try in for a count of 4, and out for 6, or in for 2, out for 4 etc), and then move gently into your day.  If it's smooth and deep, you may be raring to go forth and move your body.

3. Move your body! Put on some tunes and dance, even sing, or do a short yoga video to energise.  This video is just 10mins long to get you moving - or jump into the video library and try these Radical Self Care flows (just 30mins).

4. Magic Suitcase - If you have a moment of feeling overwhelmed, close your eyes and visualise putting all your roles, responsibilities, lists of things to do into a big wheely suitcase, and pop it outside of the door for 5-10 mins while you take some slow, quiet breaths. 

Breathe right into the back body, where 60% of your lung tissue resides, to increase oxygen intake.  Pause at the top of the breath and hold for a beat or two, then hold at the bottom before you breathe in again, to build up your CO2 tolerance (tip - CO2 in the body actually helps the oxygen release process from the red blood cells into the muscles and organs)

5. Nourish - Eat foods that don't make you feel heavy or lethargic.  Thankfully we are moving into summer, so I am back to some favourite recipes - Vietnamese summer rolls are super easy to make, kale salad or orzo salad are popular favourites at home!

6. Connect and Laugh! Make plans to hang out with friends, or call. There really is medicine and healing in community. Sometimes you need to talk and share, or just be silly. If your friends aren’t around, make time to watch a funny movie - there’s a sense of lightness and being free when you can laugh fully and loudly till your tummy hurts!

7. Phone notifications - we live in a world where we are constantly available and bombarded with alerts - even if it’s just for an hour a day, switch your phone to silent, or better yet, go through your phone notifications in settings, and choose what pop ups you want. I also mute certain group WhatsApp groups to save myself from the constant pinging!

8. Lighten up -

9. Set boundaries - in work, in life - decide when you are available and when you need time to yourself. Make a diary date, an appointment for yourself and stick to it. If it feels stressful to do so, perhaps talk to the people in your life about needing some pockets of time to refill your cup. If we don’t communicate our needs, others won’t be aware of them, or of how important they are to you.

10. Take control - if you’re feeling out of control with something, you have two choices to get through it lightly. You can either ride through the storm, with the awareness that all is temporary, “this too shall pass”, responding and reacting as things arise OR you can take a deep breath and take steps to manage the parts of the situation that may be in your control to act on. This might mean a period of discomfort - difficult conversations, having to live more frugally for a time while you put money aside, ending a relationship, working pattern or kicking a habit (or starting one!) - but you will be taking action, and this in itself will bring you back to an awareness that you are steering the ship, with a light but firm touch, rather than being tossed in the waves. 

11. Pause - Absorb this simple truth - worrying about something happening in the future is like paying money on a debt you don’t yet owe. I’m not saying don’t plan for something you definitely know is coming your way, but perhaps do so in a pragmatic, calm way. Hit pause when you feel heavy or overwhelmed, and consider what the cause or causes may be. Take action if it’s necessary and within your control, and recognise where it isn’t and how you can navigate from that place. Recognise that if you’re worrying about something that “might” happen, you’re wasting energy and adding unnecessary weight and worry to your life. 

12. Best till last - Intentionally seek out joy and beauty every single day, and be present in those moments when you find them. This is one of the simplest and sweetest things. When we look for the negative and heavy, there is actually a part of our brain that wants to prove us right, and as it filters out all the input, you’ll notice most what you fixate on. It doesn’t mean that looking for the positive means that your life will only be filled with singing daisies, but believe me, there is magic and beauty around us all the time. Seek it out, look upwards, intentionally seek joy and in those moments of finding it, you’ll also find lightness too.

As I wrote this list, I kept thinking of more to add - and I am weaving this into a very special course called Prepare to Unfurl, which has helped many people already set the foundations for transformation and growth. If you want to know more, click here, or drop me a line. Let me know if this was helpful, and if you have any extra tips for finding lightness in your life.