The 10 Minute Challenge

The alarm goes off and after hitting snooze five times, I jump out of bed and start my routine. Packing myself into Jane Honda, we blast our way to work which is when I realize...I left my lunch on the table...shit. But there's no time, I can't go back. Then at every red light, I'm either putting on mascara or trying to take off the reminence from when I stabbed myself in the cheek. Yelling at drivers for cutting me off, I zip my way down to the city where I race my way to the punch clock to realize, I'm late. Irritated and sweating from all the rushing, I can't help but silently curse just about everyone who comes my way.

Hey Mel, how are ya?

Great!

Why am I lying?

[Freeze frame]

This was the moment that I decided that I was going to take on the 10 Minute Challenge. Here are the deets...

1) The 10 Minute Challenge is for a minimum of two weeks.
2) Set a pleasant alarm for 10 minutes (which means not a fire drill alarm) in the morning when you wake up. Get into a comfortable seated position with legs crossed and back straight. If you have back problems, sit against a wall. Begin to count your breaths: every inhale is one, every exhale is two...repeat. If a thought crosses your head and you lose count, start counting again. You'll notice how many memories, thoughts, experiences need to come out. This morning I got to 32 when my mind went off. By the end of it, I managed to climb my way to 46.

3) At the end of your 10 Minute Challenge, set your intention for the day. So for example, this morning, my intention was: to be aware and follow every negative thought that crosses my mind with a positive one. Yesterday my intention was: to listen more and be aware of the energies around me.

Now this seems pretty simple, but it makes a world of difference. Yesterday I found myself thinking clearer, which affected every aspect of my day...including what I ate and drank.

Mmmm...coffee. No, it'll make me feel jittery, go for a Mate Chino at Tea Emporium instead.

Mmmm...chocolate cookie. No, grab yourself a handful of granola with cacao nibs instead.

I don't always make the healthiest choices, but I've found when I've taken a moment for myself, I've also taken a moment to be aware of what I put into my body.

Will this really make me feel good an hour after I eat it? Probably not...I'll be tugging at my jeans when I feel bloated and gross.

Stopping to create awareness means, I avoid processed food that lives in a box or that has ingredients that I can't pronounce. It means that I'll be conscious of including greens at every meal and making sure that starchy foods don't have the majority on my plate.

By nourishing myself and setting an intention, I begin to create awareness that I'm starting to realize benefits everyone...including myself.

Maybe we can begin to see that we don't need a vacation to have time to ourselves. That time can be found closer than we think and that's it's crucial to set aside some of it every day. My man Deepak Chopra said it best when he said, "you can't have the on without the off." So true...

Doing so will likely prevent anymore mascara cheek stabbing, lunch leaving, road rage freaking Melissa's from entering the world each day.

That way, the next time someone asks, Hey Mel, how are ya?

I can take a second and say...

[Unfreeze frame]

Great!

And really mean it.