The dread for Mondays gets worse especially after a long and crazy weekend of feasting, drinking and merry-making. Is this long weekend really over? Perhaps too many of us associate Mondays with the thing that occupies one-third of our day so much that we forget there are another two-thirds of the day which we could well, make love with.
- It is not about shutting the world out and spacing out while you are being shoved around in the MRT train, tongues clicking away.
- It is not about burying yourself in your workspace so that you can just get through the day in “peace”.
- It is not about trudging home, slumping on your bed after a hot shower and falling asleep with the last thought on your mind being something along the lines of the pile of work you have to tackle the next day
- It has nothing to do with ‘firing up the week ahead’ with a power workout and equating that intensity with your inner drive because it is only Monday – you have to be kind to yourself.
- It is not about indulging yourself aimlessly in social media feeds so that you feel like you’re connected to the whole wide world while you drift off to sleep.
It starts with loving Mondays and the little things that come with it.
- It is about being aware of your environment and the people that you are sharing a space with – “What music are they listening to? Why are they smiling to themselves?” Take joy in their joy.
- It is about starting YOUR mornings with yourself.
I tried it and felt so refreshed and lighter after I have dumped all sorts of emotions and thoughts onto paper while
commuting to work. I didn’t believe it would work but I was amazed at the pages of words I could pen at the
start of the day. They don’t even have to MAKE SENSE!
- It is about making the effort to have meaningful conversations with your loved ones and friends –“How was your day? I want to meet you. Let’s meet. Shall we have dinner?”
Call them. Talk to them. If you want to spend time with someone at the end of Monday, that is significant.
- It is about stretching your body and holding the poses for longer than you think you could and then relax and breathe. The one thing I really look forward to on Mondays is my yoga stretch class when I get to spend some quality time with myself and my body, unfazed by the buzz that goes on in my phone. And on some days, I laugh a lot at myself, giggle with my friend and my yoga classmates as we get into unusual poses… I crave that moment when you can hug yourself and sink with deliberation onto the mat, lying there in shavasana pose which in Sankrit means “corpse”, but the funny thing is, I usually feel more alive in that pose than in anything else.
- It is ending the day with yourself, getting lost in your own world and not others’. My personal favourite is to do a few rounds of Vinyasa, and then to curl into a child’s pose. Don’t forget the child in you. Keep your imagination wild and alive. And on your bed, do a few side stretches, and then dream. If you feel like it, read or listen to some music, scribble words that come to your mind on your phone.
Goodnight Monday. ☺
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