Social media has taken over my life. I feel like I am simultaneously on the phone, checking the news online, posting on FB, checking twitter and playing Words with Friends all the time! Not only that, it never seems to stop! Of course, I could choose to NOT play online games but I gotta have a little bit of fun – right?

Frenzied. Frazzled. Chaotic – all of those words accurately describe my life as I embark on building my yoga business but frankly it described my life when I worked in the corporate world too. I think the pace of life has just gotten faster and there’s more to keep up with.

This ever-growing list of things to do has caused me to feel overwhelmed or stressed at times and I think that’s common for many of my friends. As the TO DO list gets longer, my place on that list falls to the very bottom.

Oh, I’ll exercise this morning but wait…I have to update my FB page first. I’ll take a walk at lunch but no, there’s a conference call that I have to attend. And the cycle continues…and my stress level rises.

How do you find the feel-good amidst all this frenzy?

Here’s what works for me. When I start feeling that all too familiar feeling of being overwhelmed or feeling like I’m pulled in a million directions, I stop for a few minutes and just sit quietly. Sometimes my eyes are closed and sometimes not. But I observe what’s happening around me. I try not to assign a label to anything – there’s no good or bad. Whatever is just is.

I find that the simple act of observation takes the drama out of what’s happening. We tend to create a lot of drama in our heads about our situations. “Oh no, I’m not prepared for this upcoming presentation, the people on the phone are going to hate my talk, I’m going to lose my clients, I’ll lose money and go bankrupt….”

If I just observe without judgment, my mental track sounds more like this: “I have a presentation coming up and I don’t feel prepared. Ok. This lack of preparation is bringing up some anxiety in me. Ok.” All of a sudden by just stating the facts, the emotional intensity of the situation lessens considerably. I don’t feel the frenzy in the situation and I can look at it more calmly. When I’m calm, my focus naturally gravitates to positive thoughts.

I use this same technique when I practice yoga. There are some days when I can’t do a pose as well as the day before. My initial reaction is to get frustrated but I’ve really been practicing the impartial observation. I just notice and take a mental note that I’m not as flexible as the previous day. Every day is different. Each situation is different.

I also use this technique when I go to a yoga class that I’m not teaching. It’s so easy to get in competitive mode and start comparing my postures vs what the other people are doing. You know what? That only makes me feel bad in the end. Because there is always something that someone else is better at than me. It’s the nature of life.

I’m learning to not compare, not judge. I’m learning to just breathe and observe. With observation I can then find the little nuggets that make me feel good in the middle of all the activity in my life.

Find the feel-good in the frenzy!

Listen to me present on Quickshots (www.quickshots.net) on May 16th at 12 pm PDT where I will be talking more about Finding the Feel-Good in the Frenzy.