As well as teaching yoga in the evenings, I have a day job working for the Government – well, up until the end of next week anyway. After then I’m heading to Thailand, Sri Lanka and India to do some more yoga training for a few months. I would much rather write about that but all in good time…
Normally my practice allows me to stay pretty level headed and able to deal with stress (I think. Others may disagree…) but work’s been busier than usual and I have actually felt like I’m living through an episode of The Thick of It. We’re short-staffed to the point where yesterday there were two of us instead of the normal six and I’m counting down the days until I leave. It came to a head yesterday morning when my inbox was filling up before my eyes and I had to action almost every email as there was no-one else there to share the burden. Waves of panic were coursing through me and I could feel my head throbbing à la Stressed Eric.
I thought to myself, “if I don’t step away from my computer, I think I’m going to crack.” I left my desk. I made my way to an emergency exit stairwell that’s barely used and I actually laid down on the carpet at the bottom of the stairs in savasana. I didn’t care if anyone saw me. I focused on my breath and placed one hand on my abdomen and the other on my chest. I felt relieved as I gained control of my breath and my emotions.
Stepping away from my desk allowed me to achieve some clarity and on returning, I basically said to my boss, “you can send me all these emails and tell me they’re urgent, but there’s only me here and I’m not superwoman.” Of course, I didn’t quite use those words but it seemed to do the trick.
This reminded me of an interview I had for working at a yoga studio doing their marketing. I was asked how I dealt with stress because “it’s not like you can lie in savasana in the middle of the office when it gets too much.” Seriously, the interviewer said that to me. But I did yesterday! And it worked! How funny is that!
I’m so happy it’s the weekend tomorrow. Enjoy.
Om shanti.