This evening I went to my first yoga class in years. It was wonderfully relaxing and nourishing. I have known the teacher for a long time and she is always so wonderfully calm and joyous. She constantly smiles: so full of love for the world whilst also being exceptionally sensitive and compassionate. To me, she seems to exude Zen.

I know life isn't like that though. I'm sure she has days where she feels cross, lonely and stressed. Yet I still put her on a pedestal. I dream of walking on fluffy clouds, reacting calmly to all situations, never raising my voice, never acting on a negative impulse. I fantasise about immersing myself in nurture and healing and love. And as I walked back from the class this evening, I promised myself (for the millionth time) to bring more calm and peace into my world.

The problem is, the second things get hard or stressful or I feel down, the thought to nourish myself goes out of the window. I don't even see the thought: it has run away long before. Autopilot has already kicked in and before I realise it, I'm engaging in the same self-destructive habits as always. And once I'm there, damaging myself once again, it's ten times harder to drag myself out and to more positive things.

I've tried meditation (sends me to sleep), exercise (great for working off stress but not relaxing), watching TV (strangely stimulating) and more. Actually, the best thing for me is just sitting silently with my eyes closed. But with two small children it's nigh on impossible to find the space, the pause, the breath, which will calm me down and keep me from taking self-destructive actions. I also mostly just don't remember to do it when I need it most.

So I have a new idea. I'm going to try listening to calming music. It won't stop me running round after the children and my jobs list and it won't stop the stresses from coming. But I can play it in the background and perhaps it will keep me grounded enough to stop my subconscious taking over before I've given it permission. Singing is good for the soul after all.

I'd love to hear others' successes with finding peace and intercepting negative patterns of habitual behaviour. Also any music suggestions would be great!

But for now, I'm off to find my gong and incense sticks, and of course some calming music.

Shizzle

A Moodscope member.