In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the importance of practicing hard moves in easy water for your mind has never been clearer to me.
Things that we took for granted in our day-to-day lives such as cell service, power and water were shut down for weeks. We still don’t have potable running water in our house, AND, I know we are some of the lucky ones. There are some who lost everything.
The devastation is overwhelming. When I walk my local greenway along Hominy Creek I still can’t believe how high the water got, even though I saw it in real time with my own eyes, and I can still see the remnants of garbage in the trees.
In the face of such loss, devastation and change, the one thing that stayed steady for me and helped me feel grounded was my daily routine. A routine that I’ve practiced for decades each morning no matter what’s happening. Sometimes I have to shorten it, sometimes I can add to it, but the core routine is there. It’s something that brings steadiness to my mind and body.
The power of routine
In his book The Wild Edge of Sorrow, author Francis Weller writes:
“Approaching sorrow requires enormous psychic strength. For us to tolerate the rigors of engaging the images, emotions, memories and dreams that arise in times of grief, we need to fortify our interior ground. This is done through developing a practice that we sustain over time. Any form will do: Writing, drawing, meditation, prayer, dance or something else. As long as we continue to show up and maintain our effort. A practice offers ballast. Something to help us hold steady in difficult times. This deepens our capacity to hold the vulnerable emotions surrounding loss without being overwhelmed by them.”
That’s why my private coaching and mental agility mastery for paddlers course focuses on building strong routines in different areas of life from morning, to bedtime to meal time to boundary setting and more.
Routines in your ‘go bag’
Having a steady routine in your life can help you build mental strength and agility. One of my former coaching clients who had to evacuate her home with her family during the hurricane shared with me that the morning routine I helped her create became a lifeline to ground her in the days following. That doesn’t mean she was zen through the whole experience. It means that she had strategies to turn to when fear and anxiety felt overwhelming. She even had her daily routine supplies packed in her go bag when she quickly evacuated with her family.
Through participating in many cleanses and coaching, she had the self awareness to take action like take a walk when her anxiety got too high.
Practices
One of the reasons I facilitate and participate in the Guided Spring and Fall Cleanses is to practice giving up my attachments to the foods/drink that my mind is convincing me that I need.
This practice of choosing to give things up creates space between the attachments so you can see that you can live without them.
After Helene came through most of the grocery stores, and all of the restaurants and coffee shops closed down. For a few days you had what you had, and tried to find what you didn’t have by coming together in community. When you’ve practiced giving things up it prepares you for when you have no choice. You already know you can do it so you don’t get overwhelmed or incapacitated. You have the capacity to stay steady and move forward one step at a time.
Creating a daily routine doesn’t necessarily mean you have to give stuff up, instead, you add mindfulness practices to your morning that set you up for success each day regardless of outside circumstances. It could be walking, journaling, yoga, meditation, warm lemon water, scraping your tongue etc…
One that I strongly recommend at the very least, is to create a boundary around looking at your phone first thing in the morning. Give your senses time to wake up without letting others take your power. Especially true during these times when it’s so easy to just start doom scrolling.
What is true freedom?
True freedom doesn’t come from doing whatever you want whenever you want, true freedom comes from doing what the moment requires of you.
Practicing hard moves in easy water with disciplined routines can provide steadiness in your life when shit hits the fan (and when things are awesome!).
That’s why I’m so passionate about having a holistic approach to paddling, and supporting your mental agility with routines, boundaries, cleanses and other seemingly unrelated practices to paddling.
Remember, how you approach paddling is how you approach life, and vice versa. 
As we approach the new year, this is a great time to steady yourself and create and set powerful routines that will improve your mental agility so you can have your best year and paddling season yet.
If you’re ready to take that on, I’m offering 2 bonus months of coaching when you book a private coaching package with me by October 31st.
And don’t forget that when you book a 6 month or 12 month package you get the cleanse(s), Mental Agility Mastery 8 Week Course and day (s) of private kayak instruction included!
CLICK HERE to find out more OR EMAIL ME to book and get your bonus. I’m here to help you build your courage and confidence on and off the water.
