Adjusting to the New
Another word for “new” is “change.”
Meditation allows us to make changes in our lives and then move through the shifts that flow from those changes. What I find is that I tend to forget about the challenges of managing the NEW. Those simple, and sometimes surprising, physical differences in my life.
Bodies like things to stay the same – they don’t like change. They resist it in many creative and interesting ways. When I make an energetic change, for example a shift while I’m meditating, experience has taught me how to best manage my body’s reaction. But NEW is a whole different deal.
NEW means changes outside my energetic system that impact my body. There are lots of these – big and small. Situations where my body must make adjustments – change routines. Bringing my energic skills to these situations can smooth things out – the same way allowing my body room for a growth period after a significant energetic change can – but they can still knock me for a loop.
A lot of the time, these are not big things – I tend to have a handle on the big things. It is the little things that trip me up – things that I don’t really think of as an adjustment – a change.
So, what are some examples of physical changes that can cause havoc?
- Re-route in traffic due to construction – It adds time to the commute and means you have to find a new place to stop for coffee in the morning until the construction is done.
- New Co-Worker – This can lead to all kinds of changes – and not just the ones you think of off the top of your head. It also changes the small things: the arrangement of items on a shared counter; how lunch breaks coordinate; and shifts in workload.
- Menu Changes – You like a particular restaurant because they make their turkey sandwich on focaccia bread. You go there for lunch and find that now they only serve the sandwich on sourdough.
- New Baby or Grandbaby – It’s not just the infant that has moved into a new reality. Adding another member to your family changes basic physical routines. That impacts your body.
- New House or Car – Either of these can trigger a need to develop new routines. Where do all the little bits and pieces of necessary clutter go?
So, what happens? We make all the tiny unimportant adjustments throughout a regular routine day without really thinking about them – focusing instead on the larger picture – and then wonder why our bodies are stressed and we’re exhausted when we finally sit down to “relax.”
The process of adjusting to the New – especially a lot of new all at once – is one where listening to your body pays extra dividends. This means paying attention to your body’s reaction to the changes you manage as a matter of course – without really thinking of them.
When it comes to adjusting to the New, I like to think of my body as a toddler – between two and three years old. Toddlers enjoy routines, but they are also adept at managing changes. As the parent of a toddler, it is good to be mindful of when that child has just had enough. When you are asking too much of them. Because when they finally hit the wall there is a temper tantrum – one that could have been avoided by easing up and having them take a nap.
Just as a toddler does, my grown-up body has those “I’m tired and cranky and need a break” signals. I tend to ignore them – shove them to the back ground to deal with later – but they are there. They can range from irritability or impatience to “feeling stressed” or developing a headache.
I’ve found that listening to my body when making adjustments to new aspects of my physical reality makes it easier for me to grant myself grace – a little extra time and space. Because even though the change is “only” to my physical environment, the growth period is just as real for my body.
