Start Over Today
It's a hectic week here in the Mulready household!We're packing our little apartment up, selling most of our big things and throwing away half of our little things. I'm wrapping up my personal training clients and transitioning some of them into virtual coaching. I'm scheduling hang outs with friends that I want to see before I go and interviews I want to get in before my wifi is unreliable in Bali... and I never even thought about the fact that my birthday is in 2 weeks!It's a whirlwind right now, and when I stop to consider everything that is changing, overwhelm threatens like a heavy blanket blinding me to the exciting possibilities of the situation. To keep me from sinking, I'm going to yoga consistently because it serves as the most direct and lasting method to come back to the present that I've tried.Today, after my second to last yoga class with my favorite teacher here in LA, I walked up to Matthew Reyes at YogaHop and asked if he had any videos or even audio files of his teaching so I could take them with me."I'm just kind of panicking about not having your class," I explained further. "I don't know any good yoga studios down in San Diego, and I have all these routines here that work so well for keeping me sane!"He looked at me with his calm yogi smile and told me that unfortunately, he didn't have any videos quite yet."Starting new chapters is always scary," he said. "You'll have to make new routines and new connections, and that's exciting. You get to start over again."Ah.That little perspective shift turned on the light switch I couldn't seem to find before that moment. I hadn't been thinking about it in the way of getting to start all over again, which is funny because I had that positive outlook while I was on The 30x30 tour.I'd go into every new town, excited to explore and discover all the new things I possibly could. I searched out indie book stores and coffee shops, stopped into new yoga classes when I had the time, and hung out with people I'd never even met before.This new chapter in my life is the chance to start all over again. This is the chance to explore and discover new routines, new outlets, new friends, and a new life....which reminded me of a truth I had not recognized in quite a while.Every day is a chance to start over. For all of us.I know you've heard that before, so let me elaborate on exactly my take on starting over. It may be a bit different than the standard meaning.I don't mean that you need to drop everything, make a big move, change careers, stop talking to all your current friends, or anything that drastic. A chance to start over again can be as simple as choosing to leave behind the guilt of eating a food you felt shame around as you move forward with your mindful eating habits. It can be as easy as not beating yourself up over your extra rest day, and checking back in with your body the next morning about what type of movement it wants to do.Starting over is re-capturing the fresh sensation of your pure intention. Starting over is acting with newfound or rediscovered boundless verve. Starting over is beginning from wherever you are, no matter where you thought you'd be by now.Starting over doesn't have to be from a blank slate. It is entirely possible to just start over from where you left off. [tweet]It's the simple recognition that you are never locked down to anything or to anyone, and the subsequent actions you take to move forward and release yourself from what doesn't serve you.All of us could use this opportunity to start over in at least one area of our lives. What is one thing that you could start over with today?Who's going to start all over again from wherever you are, wherever you left off, or from scratch?
Make the choice, and sing it out in the comments below by writing what you're starting over with and what you're leaving behind in order to do so.
For me, I'm leaving behind my old routines and safety nets, and starting from scratch with a whole world of new possibilities in San Diego.I don't know about you, but I'm excited all over again.Stay strong,Amy