If you are reading this and you are doubting your ability to have control over your life then it is I, Angel Zaumdio, that challenges you to the Apozitude challenge. I came up with this idea as I was soaking myself in a hot bath of eucalyptus and spearmint epsom salt. I had just watched a documentary entitled Stress: Portrait of a Killer on Netflix. Amazing research and documentary by Robert Sapolsky. A must see in my book.
Anyway, after watching this documentary about how stress is a killer, I decided this was the perfect time to take the epsom salt soak I had been planning. I stepped into the hot salty water and turned on my well-being meditation. I laid there in the water breathing in and breathing out as the meditation guided me to allow alignment and releasing resistance. I could feel the stress dissolving from my body and the cells of my body returning to their natural state of balance. Once I was guided to listen to the music and let it guide me to a deeper realm of relaxation, I decided to sink deeper into the water as well.
I sunk down to the point where my ears were under water and I could hear the beating of my heart echoing through the water and in the muffled distance I could also still hear the music of my meditation. I decided I would test the theory that deep intentional breathing could help relieve stress. As I listened to the rhythm of my heart, I deliberately slowed my breathing even more and I could actually hear the pace of my heart begin to slow. All of a sudden the Ice-bucket challenge popped into my mind. I thought what a drastically different effect that water would have on me than the current water I was relaxing in and that is when it occurred to me that I could create a challenge of my own for my readers.
So, how long did it take you or someone you know to get the water and ice bucket together? Add to that the time it took to find someone to record the Ice-Bucket challenge video. Now add the amount of time it took to record the video and change out of the soaking wet clothes. Plus the amount of time it took to post it to FB. How much time do you think all of that took? Let's just guess for the sake of this blog that it took just about 15 minutes. It was probably more, but let's just say 15 - 20 minutes. Just one more thing though ,... take into consideration how this made you feel. How you felt when you watched your friends video and then heard your name in the list of people they challenged. How accepting the challenge made you feel. How being recorded made you feel. How that ice water made you feel. Think about all those things.
Now! Think about the Apozitude Challenge. Oh yeah, I haven't challenged you yet. Ok, I challenge YOU to take less than the amount of time it took you or your friend to do all that stuff for the Ice-bucket thingy and dedicate 15 minutes to yourself. No distractions, simply undivided attention for 15 minutes to your breathing. I challenge you to put yourself first for 15 minutes and prove to yourself that you can have a deliberate affect on your level of stress by slowing down long enough to reduce your heart rate and focus on a sense of peace. Really focus on how that sense of peace feels in your body and know that anytime you want to you can deliberately reconnect to that sense of peace even if for just a moment here and there throughout your day.
You are an amazing person. Take time and spend it with yourself and bless the world with the best of yourself. The payback is wonderful.
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I kinda look intense, but I was really relaxed. :)[/caption]
