MOBILITY – Foot lax ball smash and floss, 4min/side.

See video for instruction ( http://youtu.be/wVt-o0JqDBc ).

Can be done standing, kneeling, while watching TV, or sitting at a work desk. This is a great one to do everyday– think of ways you can fold this into your daily life!

MINDFULNESS – 5min box breathing ( http://youtu.be/fVCDox8xhLI ,http://youtu.be/9R8776Outos ) with consideration of the thought gap beforehand and afterward.

See video for discussion of the thought gap ( http://youtu.be/EsSDuPyrL10 ).

Looking for a lack of something is difficult– thinking of times you don’t have a thought gap is probably going to be hard at first.

It might be easier to consider instances in which you lost your temper, felt defeated, or dismissed something out of hand.

This is the true meat of mindfulness work– looking your own emotional shortcomings in the face without judgment and without punishing yourself.

We are all human, we all make mistakes, and we all have lapses in our patience. The trick is finding instances in which we can insert that thought gap, inject compassion into the world, and making mindfulness a habit we practice.

And remember, the point of a practice is that you allow yourself to fail. But you come back to your practice, despite that failure, and do not allow yourself to be defined by one lapse (or twenty :P).

Like this post if you complete the foot lax ball smash and floss– let me know what you think below! Which part of your foot was the spiciest?

Comment below on your thoughts of the thought gap! How will you create that gap between stimulus and response? A deep breath? Counting to three before snapping back? I wanna know!