Back to chaos! Here in the Northeast, the days are getting shorter and the weather is turning a bit cooler, even some of the leaves are starting to change. We’re getting cozy and scenic, and busy! As so many of you jump back in the hubbub of school and work, I’m thinking about a whole different kind of change. Teachers and parents tell us that Fall is a big adjustment time that derails them from their health goals. With lots of fruits, veggies, warmth, and daylight, summer living is health in a neat little basket. Back to work, less light for evening walks, fewer veggies calling out your name, everyone wanting a piece of you, and there again is Sally’s leftover birthday cake in the staff lounge. It’s a complete 180o from where you’ve been.
This year let’s take a pledge toward a new approach. Keep the excitement of the change of seasons; keep the energy of getting back to the parts of the chaos that you love. Then stop, take a deep breath and stretch. Seriously. One degree of change at a time. When you feel the icky chaos creeping back, take a deep breath, reach your arms over your head, exhale and gently stretch to one side. Release and repeat to the other side. I’m not kidding. You can’t get rid of the chaos. It’s been the same story, different day, for decades. You CAN get rid of the cringe that builds up into the eventual knot in your neck. Exhale, stretch, release. Be gentle and it certainly can’t hurt. So take my new PATH pledge: “I WILL exhale.”
What are you wanting for yourself in dealing with the “icky” chaos this Fall?
p.s. To the teachers and other school employees we represent in Vermont (VEHI), Maine (MEABT), and New Hampshire (NH SchoolCare) — here’s to a great start to the new school year!