How To Uncover Your Inner Strength To Stop Procrastination

Inside everyone is a fire that can be either nourished or put out. Procrastination happens when you are divided within, & time slips away. In this live conversation between multidisciplinary instructors, Ramona Yagnik, & Elliott, they discuss their own personal journeys with procrastination & offer solutions to honor our inner fire so that procrastination will naturally fade away. Guided practice at the end. The ending bell is included. Thank you for your donations.

Transcript

Hey,

Hey,

How are you doing?

Nice to see you.

Nice to see you too.

Thanks for having me.

Thanks for having me.

Thanks for doing this.

I'm not four minutes late,

By the way,

Because I was procrastinating.

I was just trying to get logged on and everything.

I updated my phone and everything,

Rebooted.

So yeah,

It's going to be nice to talk about this topic with you because it seems so prevalent and popular in our culture,

In our lives.

Yeah.

And I've experienced it too.

It's something I think many,

Many,

Many people can relate to.

Yeah.

Yes.

And it's been actually really fun creating this as well,

Because along the way,

There's so many moments that we have stopped and identified that probably part of the process of getting to do this is actually being a bit of procrastination there on that part of,

You know,

Just how we've like just meeting and all of the things like involved in so many everyday things that we do.

So it's actually really awesome to be able to see it from that perspective as well with some humor as well along the way.

Part of the human journey.

Yeah.

So,

So yeah,

Welcome everyone.

Thanks for joining.

Why don't we kind of introduce ourselves just for people that don't know us so well or they're joining from new or they're from your following or my following.

Yeah,

Please.

So again,

My name is Lalitha and I am a naturopath,

I specialize in thyroid disease and a thyroid coach,

And I train and teach Kalaripayattu Indian martial arts and I'm a musician as well and have lots of fun doing all of these awesome things.

And actually really love to help people develop their inner strength,

Discipline and focus in their lives and it's really apparent to,

You know,

What we're talking about today.

I'm currently putting together a awesome online thyroid health course focused on hypothyroidism.

So really keen to get that out there and launch that.

So that's,

I'm going to talk a little bit about the thyroid because that's got something to do with what we're talking about today as well.

So,

So yeah,

And got lots of other projects going on on the side,

Well on the side in the main,

But they're all very much related to holistic life,

Holistic well-being and really blending in all of our modern kind of health and well-being technologies with all of our ancient philosophies and technologies as well.

So yeah,

That's kind of my thing.

And I'm in Melbourne right now and visiting clients and students.

So yeah,

It's nice to be in the same place.

It's nice to be able to see you Elliot in person as well.

Yeah,

Absolutely.

For anyone in Melbourne,

You should definitely hit up Lalita for a massage or an appointment with anything that she's doing because she's top notch.

Thank you.

Only for a limited time,

She's in Melbourne.

I'm also doing my Ayurvedic massages as well in Melbourne when I'm here.

So love doing that and sharing that.

Why don't you tell us a little bit about all of the amazing things that you are and what you do?

Yes,

For anyone who doesn't know my work,

I'm primarily teaching meditation and working with sound healing,

Using sacred instruments,

Tones,

Mantras and different aspects of sound to help heal and open up different energetic possibilities within you.

And for even just simple stuff like mindfulness practices,

It's amazing how much sound and the mind can create a really conducive atmosphere for you to be able to relax.

And when we're able to relax on a daily basis in our moment to moment experience,

When we actually sleep,

There tends to be less procrastination with people because there's that opposing force of truly resting to be able to really take action and do things that you like to do.

And so I'm really involved with the meditation practices and music and sound.

And I also do body art on the side as well as music production and engineering.

So if anyone has experienced my work,

You probably have noticed there's a sort of aspect with the music and the sound that I like to really involve myself in because I actually started creating sound and music for meditation and yoga.

And then I kind of got into meditation on a daily basis as a result of that.

So I'm really strong on that side of it.

And I'm in Melbourne,

Australia.

You're in Melbourne,

Australia.

We're going to be traveling a lot more in 2023 for sure.

Yeah,

Nice.

That's something that's been on the back burner for a lot of people.

So that's amazing.

You do so many amazing things.

And I think it's really cool how you blend them all together and are so strong in,

I guess,

The vibration aspect of your healing as well.

That's really cool.

And you're on his time timer.

Yeah.

Yeah,

It's also related.

It's on time so you can find Elliot on inside timer and you've got loads of different meditations there as well,

Right?

Yeah,

There's a link in my profile on Instagram and you can find my website and my website will be able to guide you to different locations depending on what you're interested in or what you need.

Great.

Yeah.

And also,

I love the way that you tie things together,

All the different practices and lineages of information and wisdom that you've gathered along your path.

It's really amazing when it all sort of comes together in a way after a certain point.

And even what you're doing now with the thyroid stuff,

I totally see how it's connected with everything that you've already been doing.

And yeah,

It's fantastic.

Yeah,

It's lots of fun.

And I guess,

Like,

Yeah,

Today we're going to be talking about procrastination.

It's so tied in.

It's going to be lovely to talk about this topic because it is so tied into what we do and we help people with.

And why don't we,

I guess,

Start by talking about,

You know,

Why we procrastinate a little bit about procrastination in terms of that as being something,

You know,

As its own thing.

I would like to just make one point where I'll leave it over to you.

But like,

When we're talking about procrastination,

It's not necessarily as it could be related to being really lazy or not feeling motivated.

And I think that's,

There's a strong correlation there.

But it's also maybe just the delaying of or putting off of doing something like that.

I think that's important.

We kind of highlight what are we talking about here when we're just putting something off.

Absolutely.

Making it less important,

Maybe in that time and kind of avoiding it.

So,

Do you want to go first and talk a little bit about like why you think we procrastinate?

Yeah,

Sure.

Thanks.

Before I start,

I just like to let everyone know that we're going to be on here for roughly an hour and we're going to be discussing different aspects of procrastination,

What makes us procrastinate and how to find what we truly can rely upon within ourselves to overcome procrastination as a habit,

As a result of different things happening in our lives.

And as an origin for us to escape the inevitable or try to avoid being able to live a life fully fulfilled.

And then we're going to have a meditation practice at the end.

And for anyone who even hasn't meditated before,

You're more than welcome to join us for this.

This is something that anyone can do from beginner to advanced.

And when we're finished,

This is going to be available for an hour or sorry for a whole day for 24 hours.

If you know anyone that's interested in checking this out and being able to view what we've covered today,

Then you can share with them for the next 24 hours.

And then if you'd like to have a copy,

Or if you'd like to have a few supplemental materials that we've created for around procrastination,

Please get in touch with us,

DM us,

Write in the comments,

Say that you want some extra information or you want to be a part of it or you want the video of us presenting today.

And we're going to have some valuable stuff for you to pick up to help battle procrastination and try to find a rhythm that you can catch and go forward with that internalization and externalization of what procrastination means in your life.

So yeah,

I just want to put that out there.

Get in touch with us afterwards if you want a copy and those supplemental materials.

And one more thing we might also like would be great in the last part,

Maybe last 10 minutes before we do that,

So in about 30 minutes,

To actually open the discussion up and invite somebody that wants to maybe get online with us and have a chat about their experience.

So if you want to get online or join us back at that time,

So we can kind of share that.

But it is recorded,

Of course,

So just a disclaimer there.

Remember to say that again,

Before we add anyone on that it will be recorded and published as well.

So,

Yeah.

It's forever.

Forever.

Why don't you go ahead and start.

Tell us why you think we procrastinate.

Yeah,

So I think my journey of procrastination has been a long one,

Actually.

I feel like I was procrastinating as a child.

Not because I had some tyrannical parent walking around telling me what to do and trying to escape this,

But because I actually found that my development with an idea or a concept or a practice or something pretty involving with life,

I tend to want to think about it first for a while.

I'm not one of those people who just wants to jump in all the time.

A lot of times I want to step back and I want to view stuff from a distance and try to create some space so I can see the whole picture because I often feel really overwhelmed or super involved with what I'm going through.

And so I need that time to develop a mental relationship with it so I can understand things.

And so things that were coming up,

Even like tests at school,

I didn't want to take them all the time.

And so I would procrastinate studying them,

You know,

And procrastinate until I got really close.

And then I'd be like,

Okay,

I've already developed this understanding of it in a different way.

That once I got into the details and taking the facts and the figures and the graphs and the charts and everything,

It was more like I could process it better.

And so I think I started off as a slightly successful procrastinator.

But then,

You know,

Later in life,

It was really clear to me that I was developing habits from that,

Which were affecting other areas of my life.

And I think for anyone who's really battled with procrastination or been able to identify with themselves as a procrastinator,

At some point you realize that,

You know,

It's a problem and you want to change it.

You want to better understand it.

And so for me,

Why I was procrastinating was almost like it became like an automatic.

And so I stopped being able to really control it.

And so why I was doing this was because I thought I was performing better.

I thought I was better with procrastination.

And that developed a certain way of me relating to life that developed a certain way with me handling tasks and issues and things that were coming up.

And so I had the self-awareness,

Thankfully,

To look at that and go,

That's not what I want,

Actually.

That's not aligning with what I want to be or who I want to be.

And so I tried to flip that and I tried to flip it like instantly.

But it wasn't that easy because of why.

The reasons why I procrastinated was because I felt like I was in control.

I felt like the outside world wanted me to do something and I wanted to rebel.

I didn't want to have to do things by the rules.

I wasn't like that.

I wasn't brought up like that.

I never wanted to be that.

I never aspired to that.

And because what people think doesn't usually bother me too much,

I'm not really feeling that pressure.

So I need to put that pressure on myself.

And so the reason why went pretty deep.

And so it took a lot of time and a lot of processing and a lot of healing to fully work it out.

But I believe,

In my experience,

The reason why we procrastinate is very personal.

It's very personal to who we are and who we think we are.

So if we want to break through who we think we are,

If we want to be able to view what we think we are and create a new form for ourselves to become and work out of old habits,

Then we have to really look deep within ourselves and ask,

Why am I allowing myself to go in this way?

What's working within me that I don't understand yet,

Which is influencing me to procrastinate?

Because it's not always something that's between you.

Well,

It's always going to have to do with you and the outside world,

Right?

But there can even be imbalances within the body,

Within our physical,

Hormonal,

Chemical body,

Neurological body,

Which is not working properly.

And that can lead us into habits of procrastination.

So it's a very personal experience.

Yeah.

Yeah.

How about you?

Yeah,

I agree.

I actually can really relate to that.

That kind of being.

I started when I was a child as well.

And also in a very similar way.

In a similar way of wanting to kind of,

And even with studying the same thing,

Like really getting to the last minute,

Putting it off until I had that pressure and then thriving in being able to perform in a highly pressured kind of environment or situation.

And a lot of people actually work really well under those kind of circumstances,

Putting a deadline and then getting so close to it and then doing really good work right at the end.

And that could be really amazing.

I think what you said about like highlighting when it becomes a problem,

That's when you're putting things off consistently.

And then for me,

Especially like coming out of,

Let's say,

High school and university and then getting to a point where I was like,

Okay,

I really,

I like to take risks.

So for me,

It was,

I was also one of those people that was,

And still I'm like,

Like to jump into things and just try them and do them.

So,

But one thing that really started happening the last 10 years was I started to get really busy.

Get so,

So busy and get busy doing lots of different things.

And that really kind of made me have long lists of things to do.

And then kind of everything getting a little bit out of its routine and kind of trying to put things in my schedule in all these different places and then consistently moving them.

And now,

You know,

We used to write in our diary,

Okay,

This is what I got to do.

And then to change it,

You have to scratch it out and then write it down again.

Whereas now we just have to cut and paste it and put it into another point,

Part of the calendar on our computer or on our phone.

And I think that's become a lot easier to do,

To just put things off.

And so I think for me,

It was this idea of just getting really busy and this concept of avoidance.

I think that's really big in procrastination.

Why we procrastinate a lot of time,

It's like we're avoiding seeing something that's right in front of us.

We want to put it to side because we don't want to deal with it.

It's like that part of ourselves inside ourselves.

It's like,

Yes,

I've got to do that.

But to do that thing or to think that way,

It's going to make me feel a certain way.

And I don't really want to do that right now.

So I'm just going to like push it to the side or do it later and do something else.

And that then connects with this idea of we're always looking for doing things that we like doing.

So it's like that really like pleasure reward seeking behavior.

And that's a very natural thing that can also be really great for us.

But when we look at those two kind of avoiding and then looking for pleasure seeking,

Like when they can get very out of balance.

And I think that's again identifying,

Well,

Maybe putting like a deadline off and then performing really great right at the end is a good thing.

I do really well.

But then when it becomes a problem,

It's like,

Okay,

Wait a second,

What am I doing here?

And identifying that as an issue is really important.

And also being really optimistic about what we are,

You know,

What we want to do and thinking that we've got the rest of our lives to do it.

And we've got loads of time.

And so we're putting things off consistently,

Because we believe that there's this,

You know,

Forever we can do it later in the future.

And for me,

It's always later.

It's always later.

Yeah.

And that's,

Of course,

A huge reality.

And we can obviously go on this like huge tangent of philosophy and talk about,

You know,

What does that actually mean?

And I think that is important to talk about as well.

But for me personally,

I think also that identification of understanding that there's so much and practices that have helped me become so much more in the moment that have really helped me connect with,

Well,

What is the later to the moment?

And what is the importance of being really present with doing this specific activity right now?

And how real is what's,

You know,

The timeframe that I have in front of me to do this thing?

And so,

I think that understanding comes with practicing embodied practices,

You know,

Doing the embodied things.

It's like it really brings us in the moment.

So,

I guess we can talk about that in a moment.

But I think why,

You know,

The why it's really getting to know,

Like you said,

Ourselves,

Getting to know what is the reason why we're doing this?

What is like,

Who are we?

And what is our identifying,

You know,

When did we start doing this?

What's our patterning like?

And why do we have these patterns over the course of our life or however we,

You know,

Whatever timeframe we're looking at or that it became an issue for us?

And then really come to coming to terms and being really honest and aware about those kind of attributes in ourselves.

And that's when,

You know,

That's the way that we can even find the why within our own personal,

Like you said,

It's such a personal reason,

The why,

But it requires us to really go deep into that.

Yeah,

Yeah,

Yeah.

And I think that's a really good point.

Because the reasons why it's personal for us is the reason why it exists as a trait or a pattern or a temptation for us.

And that always relates back to the self,

The self of desiring,

Of avoiding desire,

Mortality.

Like you said earlier about this idea that there's always later,

Like,

I can always do this tomorrow.

Like,

One of the main things that I would tell myself when I was procrastinating like,

Like mad was,

Oh,

There's tomorrow,

Like,

I'm going to be stoked for this tomorrow.

Like,

Jump all over this tomorrow,

But tomorrow,

You don't feel enthusiastic about it.

So that's when I was starting to realize,

Oh,

There's a problem.

Like,

And that's such a big part.

And that's why we're gonna,

You know,

Have a little meditation practice at the end of this is because I feel,

Again,

What you said about the embodiment,

It's so important for this because procrastination to,

To move out of procrastination,

It takes so much psychic energy,

It takes so much energy up here.

Because you need to,

You need to,

Like,

Free yourself from that thing that you do,

All of it here,

Where all the decision making is being made,

You know,

All the stuff to do with the limbic system and the brain and the neurology of the body,

What its functions are doing.

So it is a truly embodiment practice to get into the reasons why you procrastinate.

And that,

That,

That really,

Like,

Strong psychic energy that's required to create it.

It's also the same kind of energy that needs to work with other stuff going on to get yourself out of it.

You know,

For instance,

The,

The,

The real psychic stuff,

Thinking about where I actually am in this present moment,

Because right now is that point where I'm telling myself,

I can just do this tomorrow.

Yeah,

Exactly.

I know doesn't come.

So it takes a lot of like,

Energy of self awareness and mentally.

So bringing that embodiment into it helps ground us,

It helps even things out and it gives us a better chance of overcoming procrastination and overcoming bad habits.

Because it's,

It's like recruiting another sense of power within yourself,

Another,

Another essence of what you are,

Which you may not be tapping into yet.

To be able to work with other stuff that you're able to do,

Like for,

For instance,

You know,

The embodiment practice,

You know,

You're bringing your body into something that your mind is directing you towards.

And then because you start creating this healthy connection with your body and with the practice at hand,

You start to feel something and your body starts,

You know,

Flushing you with different chemicals and everything starts to work together in different ways.

So yeah,

This can't just be beaten,

You know,

With the mind,

You know,

Like it's not just the power of the mind.

A lot of times,

Why we're procrastinating is directly related to things like our diet.

Things like how well we're treating ourselves when we actually rest or when we don't have everything,

You know,

Going at 100 miles per hour.

Going back to what I said earlier about the resting,

When you rest,

Really,

You know,

Completely,

You come back,

You know,

The next day,

Ready and clear minded and your body's in balance and all these things are happening.

So,

Yeah,

It's really,

I like how you put that because the embodiment is definitely part of my journey of coming out of procrastinating too much.

Yeah.

Yeah,

Thanks for sharing.

I think that's what it is.

And I think right at the end,

We can talk about what are these tools we're talking about,

You know,

With how people can actually and how we share ways to support,

You know,

Getting into that space with embodiment.

Yeah,

And I'll also talk a little bit about the,

You know,

The thyroid in that as well.

I just wanted to quickly talk about what does inner strength look like because it's something that we,

You know,

We're tapping into to be able to get into these spaces of,

You know,

These moments where we can make these decisions for ourselves.

And yeah,

Just to just kind of highlight these key concepts that when we're talking about inner strength,

What do we actually mean by that?

Because sometimes it can be a little bit abstract.

It's not necessarily a physical strength that we can measure all the time.

Yeah,

Shall I?

What's your,

I guess,

Your view of that,

Like inner strength as it relates to stopping the procrastination?

Yeah,

I think it's really for me about staying focused,

Building this quality of focus in our lives.

And once we are able to focus our attention,

Build the quality of focus from multiple aspects,

We're going to develop this inner power,

Inner strength of focus that then we can aim at.

Okay,

I've got that thing.

I can see my list.

I'm focused so I can be in that space that you're talking about is I know this is what I got to do.

And I have the ability to be clear that tomorrow's tomorrow and today's today.

And that future is,

You know,

Another moment for me.

So I'm going to be really present and focused with what I've got.

And so and what I've got,

What I've,

You know,

Acknowledged that I'm going to do what I've planned to do.

So developing the quality of focus is really important for inner strength for then combating or dealing with this idea of procrastination that comes up.

And that's not like a singular sighted thing,

Is it?

It's pretty complex to have that to gain that focus.

Yes.

And we're going to talk about the tools of how we're going to do that.

But yeah,

Exactly.

And they're so multifaceted in that way.

So then I think that's really important.

It's like,

It's not just,

You know,

Me saying,

Okay,

I'm just going to be focused and I'm focused.

There's all of the physiological aspect of having the ability to be clear and focused,

Having the discipline to practice things that allow us to practice focus as a separate practice in itself.

And then wanting to do that as well and understanding our path within those practices and how what we do then translates into that quality.

Yeah,

I find it so important that part.

Like when you're clear with yourself,

You are essentially acting as a clear reflection for yourself.

And so that allows you to be really honest with yourself and why you're doing or even trying to accomplish what you're trying to do.

And I think that really reframes the whole thing around procrastination.

You know,

Like when you go from thinking like,

Oh,

Crud,

I have to do this today or I have to do this right now.

If you really are enjoying what you do,

And you're really,

Really into it,

You know,

It's like you want to do it.

You really want to do that.

And so it's like,

I get to do this.

I get to have this opportunity to action,

Take action with this.

You know,

It feels great to be a part of this.

I feel great to be a part of it.

I don't even really,

I mean,

That's hard to say procrastination.

Like if you don't want to do something and you're putting off doing it.

Yeah,

Like you have to be really clear with yourself and you have to be really honest with yourself.

And to do that,

You know,

We can look at different aspects of what it means to be clear as in this form.

You know,

There's the physical body that we can cleanse.

There's the mental space that we can cleanse.

There's our rooms that we can cleanse.

You know,

The places that we spend a lot of time in each day.

There's so many different ways that we can take even just small steps in that direction.

And it helps immensely with our procrastination habits.

Yeah.

Yes,

I guess developing for both of us is like developing the qualities of honesty,

Clarity and focus.

Kind of join together,

We could join them together and say,

Well,

That's going to be a really strong foundation for developing our inner strength to help with this specific kind of these things that we do of putting things off.

So,

I think that's really awesome.

Yeah.

So,

Why don't we talk about some tools?

I'm already looking at the time like,

Whoa,

So much time is already passed.

It always happens this way.

It always happens when we're talking.

Do you want to,

Shall I start or do you want to start?

Yeah,

Please,

Please.

So,

One of the things that I think I first want to talk about is looking at the physiological aspect.

That's something that I'm always looking at when somebody is coming to me and they're asking me about how they feel,

That we're talking about how they feel.

We're trying to help them with,

I'm trying to help them with their health,

Especially within the hypothyroid and thyroid space.

I'm looking at my clients coming to me with this inability to be able to stay focused,

To have mental clarity,

To have energy in general,

Not well rested and brain fog is huge.

Especially with COVID,

Right?

And especially with COVID as well.

And these are all symptoms of thyroid dysfunction,

Actually,

As well.

And when we look at how our mind works,

With this reward system that we work on,

It's like I do something and it feels good and I'm happy about it.

We look at certain neurotransmitters and one of the neurotransmitters,

Which are basically chemical messengers in the brain that help us function.

We look at dopamine and dopamine is huge for this reward system.

And a lot of the time we can see and also from research that when we have lowered or imbalanced dopamine function,

We are not able to feel motivated,

Feel focused,

Do the things and feel good about them.

And so that can also lead us into this kind of direction of wanting to do things that only feel good so we can feel more of that and pull more of that neurotransmitter out.

And then that's another way that it can also get depleted.

And then when we look at,

And I know this is getting a little bit technical,

But if we look at one of the precursors to dopamine,

There's an amino acid called tyrosine.

And tyrosine is essential also not only for dopamine to be formed,

But also for thyroid hormones as well.

It is the building block.

It is a building block of thyroid hormones.

So there's a very strong correlation between us having that potential deficiency in our body along with multiple other B vitamins and other kinds of nutritional deficiencies that may affect us in our ability to feel clear and focused and alert so that we can actually take action and do the things.

So identifying is that what's happening with us is super important.

We could be so amazingly like have all of the tools in front of us,

But if we're not sleeping well,

If our digestion is not working well,

We're not absorbing these nutrients.

We're not including these nutrients in our diet or we have a physiological dysfunction and we need support to balance that.

Then that's something as a tool that we want to look towards to support and there's so many practitioners out there that can help us identify.

Is that one of the little prongs of our holistic approach that needs a little bit of support along with all of the other things we're going to talk about?

So that's really important looking at how do we do that as a challenge and whether or not it's actually that we actually don't have the energy to even feel well or focus.

So that's huge.

The second thing I just wanted to mention,

Or did you want to say something about that?

I just think that's a really big aspect of this because you want to give yourself a fighting chance with anything that you're facing in life,

Right?

And part of that is manifesting abundance in your life,

Like psychically and channeling and envisioning and everything.

But another part of that is also just giving your body and your nervous system and your hormonal system and everything that's working inside of you a good fighting chance for you to feel abundant within on that level.

Because then you actually will operate at a different level of efficiency and power that will help you get through these sort of things.

And this is like part of why when I'm talking with clients about procrastination,

There's a really big emphasis on choosing to do the little things so that this big thing right now that is procrastination actually gets shrunk.

Because the more that you put your energy into these oftentimes really simple aspects of your life for our level of involvement to get through everything.

But when you get more involved with things,

You actually realize this is actually quite complex stuff like what you're saying about with amino acids.

It's all part of our daily activity,

Our daily routine,

But actually,

Yeah,

If we do some of these things basically correct,

We're going to have a much better chance of overcoming these challenges such as procrastination because procrastination is happening for a variety of reasons.

Yes,

Absolutely.

I think that fighting chance and then also sometimes we feel really well and we're like,

No,

I'm actually good on all of those aspects.

But then we kind of get into a point implementing all these things and then it's just like,

But I'm still not there yet.

And that's when I recommend people,

Okay,

I really believe in we're all our best healers and we know what potentially we can do all of the things that we need to do for ourselves without interventions as well.

Like we really have that knowledge inside of us if we can tap into it.

But if we get to a point that we can't,

Then it's a good moment to seek help on that and look at that aspect and not forget about these chemical messengers in the body and the body actually has all these biochemical reactions and we've got to support them.

And we are also in a time where we are like,

You know,

There's a lot of toxins in our environment.

So,

Sometimes we are coming off the back end of a situation and so we need to cleanse,

As you mentioned,

We need to cleanse our body,

We need to get support on that to actually have clarity and then our cells can actually thrive and have that fighting chance.

The other thing that comes,

You know,

Very strongly in the Ayurvedic practices is looking at how we create stability and balance in our lives.

And that really comes back to this concept of what we call Dinacharya,

Our daily routine.

How do we create discipline within our daily routine?

How do we create some routine that helps us,

You know,

Like identify separate parts of the day and,

You know,

What we do in the morning,

What we do at the end and then a couple of points during the day of when we eat.

This is our framework for our day and to help us balance the energy a lot of the time in certain people and then they get affected by certain environments and,

You know,

Especially in cold,

Windy,

Dry places like Melbourne.

There's a lot of this wind energy,

There's a lot of what we call this Vata energy around and it is really quite disturbing to our nervous system and so we haven't got a clear idea of what we're doing.

So then of course we're going to wake up in the morning and be like,

Oh,

What's going on today?

Oh,

I have all of these things to do.

Well,

I'm just going to push them over to that other time and I'll decide about that later.

But if we're thinking about our routine before and we've got some really awesome practices,

Cleansing in the morning,

You know,

Setting up when we eat according to our digestion and then a really nice night routine,

We're going to be creating a framework for,

Hey,

This is going to help me through this time.

I'm not saying that we always have to stay within the structure,

But it really supports balancing that nervous kind of crazy energy that sometimes can overtake and especially when our prana or our flora,

Vital energy is being affected.

And there's certain times of the year in certain places and people that have a higher amount of that kind of energy in their body,

It's going to affect them even more.

So we know who we are.

A lot of the time I'm telling people,

You probably just need to move to a different place.

You're spoiling all the fun,

Lolita.

Can everyone just move to North Australia where I am,

You know,

Where it's warm and humid and tropical.

There's already been an exodus out of Melbourne.

There has been.

So yeah,

It's like really coming back to this daily routine.

That's a resource that I'm happy to share as well.

Later I'll be part of our little resource kit after this chat.

And it's simple.

It can be very,

Very simple and you can make it really simple.

It doesn't have to be complicated.

And you just change that as you go that suits what you're doing and where you are.

But at least having that helps that create that structure.

And then there's more stability.

Our digestion,

Our nervous system can be a bit more relaxed on a physical level.

But then getting things done and fitting them in is when our body is relaxed and we've got some schedules,

It's going to be much easier for us to be more present with ourselves,

To stay more focused and to have this routine is really important.

And I just wanted to mention those specific things.

I know what you're probably going to be talking about is also going to be very relevant to this.

Yeah,

I think all that stuff is really,

Really,

Really important for this.

And I found that in my own experience,

The routine,

Because routine represents a few things about what we are.

When you're able to create routine,

You're using a lot of different powers within you.

This is part of your inner power because it takes discernment.

It takes accountability.

It takes creativity.

It takes a sense of enjoying what you're doing to really pull a good routine together.

And it's also,

You know,

Like the beauty about routine for me is it's really about like experimentation.

If you experiment with what works for you,

Then you're setting yourself up in an environment where you're willing to learn.

You're willing to try something and see if it works,

Because if it does,

Then that can be added to your routine or that can be added to your tool belt of things that you can bust out when something happens.

Right?

Yeah.

So because it takes all these different things to create a healthy routine,

That is your inner strength.

It takes a variety of different aspects of our inner strength to create routine and actually create a good one.

So I'm definitely,

You know,

Into the routine aspect because when I was coming out of different ways that I'd procrastinate,

I had to replace that lack of action with something,

You know,

And for me that something was I need structure to pull myself and connect the intentional quality.

Of what procrastination is with the action of doing it.

And for me,

That routine kind of built the bridge for me to walk on to connect those.

Yes.

So yeah,

Thanks for bringing that up.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I think,

I think like the other thing about the routine that you can add in and of course,

I'm going to talk about this,

That doing a movement practice that gives you that embodied feeling and practicing things.

And I know you're going to touch on that in a moment as well,

But,

But practicing activities that really help you feel like you are in your body.

You're in this moment,

You're present and you're focused.

And that is going to be really helpful for them.

And then when you're,

However long you spend in that timeframe,

You're going to be then building that strength and carry out into your other time.

So we can do all of these really great intellectual things and sitting down things.

And that's great.

But moving the body,

Getting the flow happening through the whole body.

Of course,

I'm going to say do martial arts because that's what I practice.

But,

But all of the other things that you can do that might be dance,

That might be going to the gym,

That might be whatever it is that gets you into that space,

Into that flow state,

But also into a way which,

Which brings you back and takes you,

You know,

You're not looking at your phone.

You're just really present with your body,

Taking the action,

Doing something that is then going to translate into action in your life,

In the other things that you're doing.

So,

So that's what,

What I mean by embodied as well.

It's like we are being so present and that's how we're going to then replicate that energy and the other things we do.

I'm not saying everybody has to do the same thing,

But I think we all need to,

Again,

Coming back to being honest with who we are,

What our journey is,

And how do we stay really present with that changing phenomena as well as our body changes.

That's,

Yeah,

Super important,

Like understanding that.

Sometimes we need help with understanding that and even with the routine,

Sometimes we need somebody else to kind of help us,

Guide us into,

Hey,

What do I do?

Because I just don't know what to do.

It's great to seek help for that.

But even with our movement practice,

Sometimes that can also be helpful getting a personal trainer,

Teacher,

Whatever it is,

Or following a method that is going to help you get really focused and present.

That's also one way we can cleanse our body,

But it's also going to bring us into developing these strengths.

So,

I think that's a really important prong as well of my approach with my clients,

But also just in general for this idea of procrastination because it means we have to physically act.

So,

Then,

You know,

We're not putting off the act of the body.

And I see that as a result in myself and in my clients,

Like the people that are moving and they've got,

You know,

A routine and part of their routine is movement practice.

And it's something that they really enjoy doing and they look forward to doing.

It's huge for them.

It's a game changer.

Yeah,

And this I think is also evident in the symptoms,

Like the physical symptoms of the physical and mental symptoms of procrastination.

Like when a lot of procrastinators have shown to be,

You know,

Unable to sleep well.

And so,

They develop insomnia because the mind is constantly going.

It doesn't get a chance to break.

And then within the body,

You know,

There's issues with digestion.

There's issues with proper flow with the digestion.

And you start to develop these symptoms because of the way that you're avoiding that natural flow with life,

The way that you're not creating right movement because life is in constant motion.

And we,

In a very big way,

Reflect that and that's how we connect with movement in our life makes a big impact on everything.

From our health to the way that we can get through the day and all sorts of different things.

Yes.

Do you want to open up the floor to other people to ask some questions?

Yes,

There is a question there as well.

Yes.

We've got one for Vera Lunax.

I'm not sure.

I get that.

Yep.

So,

Should we answer this question?

And then if anyone wants to come on live with us,

You can.

I assume it's okay we read the question out so that we can address it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I'm very active and not proactive when it comes to projects or teamwork,

But I have a hard time starting or continuing something.

I'm doing it alone.

Why does that happen?

Interesting.

And it happens to a lot of people.

And do you want to talk about it first?

Yeah,

Sure.

Thanks for the question.

For me,

There's a difference when you are opening yourself up to be working with others as opposed to when it's just with yourself.

It's almost like a really different game.

But for me,

I understand it's almost like a game on top of a game.

I've got the game already dealing with myself and my own way of doing things and how I like for them to be done.

But then when you're working with others,

It takes more energy.

You have to be you're opening up different ways of activating what you are to work with what you've got to make something that you ultimately want to achieve.

And so when you're opening up with working with other people in a social space with teamwork and things like this,

Your ability to act is altered.

Our sense of why we want to do this may not be just within for yourself.

It's now part of a team goal.

And so it changes why we want to do it.

It changes how proactive we're going to be because there's other aspects of what's going on that we already have possibly a lot going on with.

For instance,

What your social life is doing is going to affect the way that you interact with people in a team and feel like being proactive.

So there's other areas of our life that will come into play.

And this is why,

You know,

True like a procrastinator is someone who's showing up in other areas of their life,

Not just in one area.

You know,

We might be dealing with procrastination with one thing,

But there's actually another thing in another area of life that it's happening with.

And so we have,

You know,

This to think about and to work on because that's a different type of environment that you're in.

And I think when you're working with teams,

You have to bring that same energy.

You have to be honest still.

You have to whatever it is that gets you to do what you want to do and to,

You know,

Accomplish them.

You have to bring your spirit into the group.

You have to really include yourself into that group so that you can still shine,

So that you can still work your magic in what you do and bring your own special flavor to the team.

When you feel like in a team,

You're not able to truly give your gifts and contribute,

Then,

You know,

You get suppressed in a way.

You can start other things pop up,

You know,

Like emotional triggers or,

You know,

Negative thoughts can come in.

And so starting something or continuing something when you're in a group is really something different than when you're alone.

So expect different sort of things to come up for yourself.

And don't beat yourself up if it is,

You know,

Quite different than when you're alone.

That's just where the work needs to be done.

That's just where you have to really focus your energy and attention.

And that's natural,

You know,

That can happen for a lot of people.

Yeah,

Absolutely.

I think that's actually a very really something that happens to a lot of people.

And also one of the reasons is because I think we have to work harder when we're alone sometimes because a lot of the time because we're not using,

But we're playing God.

And so it's like,

As you were saying,

It's like there's all these other energies there and that we kind of feed off that.

And we work,

I mean,

A lot of us work in community.

So we work with each other.

We relate so well to each other.

So it's easy when we've got a shared space.

As soon as we come back into ourselves,

It's like me on me,

Me against me,

Me versus me kind of thing.

And then we have to,

Like you said,

Look internally.

So it can be much harder to actually get motivated to do those things ourself.

I think there's also that what you said,

There's a shared responsibility when we've got a project happening.

So it's like,

Hey,

Other people are relying on me.

There's a deadline.

There's a shared deadline.

So we have to do that.

And it's like we're so much better at helping other people.

And then we kind of put our own thing on the back burner.

And I think for some of us that happens.

And so that's because it's a shared responsibility.

But then for ourselves,

We're kind of like,

Oh,

That's okay.

And that's,

Again,

Us procrastinating because we're not actually dealing with our own stuff and putting ourselves as a priority,

Putting our own routine as the priority.

And so working,

As you said,

It's like we shouldn't beat ourselves up about this.

It's something awesome that we can identify,

That you've identified there.

And I love this question because it really brings us back to that point of like,

Hey,

I really need to put myself as a priority now.

I really need to do these practices because I'm really great with other people,

But obviously not by myself.

Sometimes I even suggest like I mean,

And this is part of it.

It's like when you've got to do something by yourself and let's say it's a movement practice.

That's why you engage with somebody else to help you start that process.

That might be a personal trainer.

And then you'll get enough motivation.

You'll get enough of that inner discipline to then set your own routine.

And that will help you through that process.

And that's why we're also in community with each other because we are here to help each other.

So I think,

You know,

Really reaching out is another tool that's so amazing that we can really do.

And I'm a culprit of it as well,

Like just thinking I have to have all the answers for myself and thinking that I have to do everything.

Whereas actually we can really reach out for the community.

And I don't think I just want to mention it's like really setting ourselves up for winning rather than setting ourselves up for failure as well.

Because like something that I see with procrastination and movement especially is like with my clients as well.

Okay,

Every day I say that I'm going to do this thing,

This practice at this time of the day in the morning,

Let's say.

And then I get to that time and then I get involved with all these other things and then I put it off.

But then I try again the next day at that time.

And I think about it the whole day and then feel anxious about it the whole day that I didn't do it.

And then again,

That happens the next day.

And I kind of go in there and one of the big things I tell them is don't do that.

Don't set yourself up like you're obviously choosing the time of the day or one of the things that I didn't do it in the morning,

So I'll do it in the afternoon.

But then that doesn't happen.

It's like set that time then.

It's a dance.

It's like,

Oh,

I'll do it then and then it didn't happen so I'll do it then and I'll just keep on pushing it.

But actually,

I think it's really important.

It's like if you didn't do it then,

Don't do it then.

But then set the time to do it at the exact same time the next day as a tool.

Because I know we're all pushing things out of our schedule to the next time.

But don't feel bad that you didn't do it for that whole day.

Because that's going to set this emotion going inside of us of like,

Oh,

I didn't accomplish it.

Reiterating that feeling inside us as well.

And I think that's really,

Really important that we like really set us up to win rather than set us up for failure.

And then consistently do that throughout the day.

Yeah,

Totally.

So,

Yeah,

You kind of got to stop in there and find the way to intervene on ourselves sometimes.

And really like acknowledge,

Okay,

That's the time for me to do it.

If I don't do it,

That's fine.

But I'm going to do it then.

Obviously,

That's still pushing it.

Yeah,

There's just so many aspects to it,

Isn't it?

It's like procrastination is a bigger force in our life than we sometimes realize.

Because it's become part of the fabric of our daily life.

It's become part of the fabric of how we move from one task to the next or one space to the next.

Like this conflict of time and how in the real world,

If you want to get stuff done,

There's deadlines.

And there's times that you have to meet people.

And there's all these very specific things and rules that you have to abide by.

So when it comes to finding the will or the desire and the joy to want to even do something,

It really takes that directness with yourself to set up yourself for success.

Because if you don't have that direct communication even going for yourself,

Well,

Hell,

What are you going to do when you actually get out there and have to deal with all these different obstacles of getting it done?

You're not going to even have a chance because you're not setting yourself up already within yourself to be able to overcome those hurdles.

So now you reach those hurdles and you're like,

I actually don't want to do this.

And that's sometimes why we procrastinate.

And that's just one kind of angle of procrastination.

Because like we're talking about before,

There's different reasons why we procrastinate and why procrastination as a trait or as an issue is coming up in the first place.

And so there's a lot of different angles to this.

And so I feel like there's a lot to cover here.

There's a lot to get through.

But I would like to offer a little meditation practice as part of what we can use to truly help ourselves,

Bring out our inner power and our inner strength to overcome times when procrastination is prevalent.

So if you're OK with that,

We can begin soonish.

Otherwise,

We can take another question or two.

If there's anyone else in the room that wants to ask a question regarding what we're talking about,

We can take another question before we begin.

Where are we at with time?

We're actually a little bit over time.

But yeah,

We can stick to that tradition.

We'll be an hour and so on.

Let's maybe go ahead with the meditation.

And then if anybody's got questions later,

They can also ask us,

DM us as well.

But that was actually a really amazing question as well.

Yeah,

Thank you for that question.

Thank you for that.

So yeah,

I would say just start with your amazing meditation.

OK.

For anyone that's listening to this,

Find yourself a comfortable position.

You can be either seated in a chair or on the floor for this or even if you're lying down,

That's OK.

Begin by trying to limit any distractions.

Maybe your phone is,

It could be ringing later,

So put it on airplane mode or maybe there's a window that you want to close or turning anything off.

And begin by connecting your body with the foundation beneath you.

So whether it's your feet on the floor or shifting your shoulders back and letting them drop a little bit,

Bringing your more contact points.

If you're sitting down in the meditative posture,

You can try to create more contact surface with the floor.

And just raise your head a little bit so that you're not looking straight ahead,

But you're just slightly above so that your head can rest and your neck can rest a little bit.

And close your eyes when you're ready.

When we focus on our breath,

We suddenly realize and become aware that there's a process and there's a cycle and there's a moment in the breath.

There's always this one moment.

It's constantly going and we don't have to control it.

You don't have to make it work.

It's just happening.

And when we are happening,

We as human beings who aspire to be more and to become more than what we were,

We always have this moment to drop into.

We always have a cycle of life happening around us.

We always have this ability to be present.

And take a nice deep breath in through the nose and on the exhale,

Leave with a sigh out through the mouth.

Take another one,

Relaxing a bit deeper into the nose,

Out through the mouth with a sigh.

This last one,

Relaxing even deeper.

And now I'd like for you to just for a moment,

Find one thing that you feel full of gratitude for something in your life that you're grateful exists.

You feel grateful that this thing,

This person,

This quality about life.

You're just so thankful that it exists in your life.

And what that feels like inside of your body is gratitude.

This object of gratitude brings you closer to life,

Makes life a little bit more vivid,

A little bit more connected within you.

And now I'd like for you to ask yourself a few important questions,

Which are related to connecting your intention with the action.

Is this task that you want to achieve?

Is it something that you really,

Really want to do?

This may be a big goal or just something that you're doing tomorrow,

Today,

Whatever it may be.

Is it something that you really,

Really want to do?

Feel it in your heart,

Place your right hand on your left chest where your heart is and just allow your hand to make this connection with your body to feel where this energy is coming from within your body.

The energy of your hand mixing with the energy of your body and your heart.

Feel into where this task lives in your body.

Once you find it,

I want you to envision with your mind's eye the best possible way that you can successfully accomplish this task.

See it,

Smell it,

Feel it,

See it play out as you continue breathing.

As you visualize this successful situation,

Feel that connectivity with the body and the heart,

Wherever that task was found within the body and feel that charging up your hand.

Feel that energy extending itself into your hand,

Steady,

Deep breath,

Visualizing the best possible outcome with your goal.

See it completing,

See it happening in your mind's eye in the best possible way.

And feel that wonderful emotion,

Feel it spreading throughout the body,

Feel it spreading and charging up your right hand.

Take a nice deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth with a sigh.

And now rub your hands together,

Take your right hand and rub it to your left hand and feel that warmth and feel that emotion and feel that charge,

That energetic quality just spread to your other hand and grow and grow and spread.

And it's just taking over your whole physical space and becoming part of your aura,

Part of your subtle energy,

Right down to your bones.

And feel this reality take place and give now three claps.

So maybe what we create inside of ourselves also be created into the world through our conscious awareness,

Through our ability to focus our energy and to accept what life has to offer us.

When you're ready,

You can place your hands down on your lap.

Take a nice deep cleansing breath to close this practice in through the nose,

Out through the nose.

Pranam.

So this is a short version of being able to prime yourself for a particular result.

If you want something and you clearly want it,

You can envision yourself doing it,

You can take yourself through the process of envisioning this whole thing happening the way that you want it.

And this does not mean that you're going to experience just that.

This doesn't mean that what you just envision is going to happen.

Right?

It's not like this.

It means that you have created on multiple levels the experience already.

And by doing this and making this a part of your daily practice,

If it's a part of your daily practice,

This will grow into something naturally because you're focusing your attention and your awareness in this direction.

But this helps immensely with procrastination because whether the main culprits for procrastination are in forces and things out of our control or out of our awareness,

Or whether they are within our awareness and we know what we're doing,

The game we're playing with ourself.

Regardless,

When we take this sort of step towards consciously creating the experience in the best possible way that we can come up with,

We are already just by doing it,

Bringing ourselves closer to what we truly desire and what will truly matter to us to bring us out of spaces of procrastination.

And so I'm going to offer everyone that is with us today or even if you have a friend or a loved one that you want to bring along to watch this replay,

You can DM us and message us directly and we'll give you some free material.

And one of those free materials that we'll offer you is a meditation,

A guided meditation that I've done,

Which is on priming and basically an extended version of what we just did.

So taking that up to,

There's a 10 minute version,

A 15 minute version,

A 20 minute version,

Just to kind of help people with different time schedules and different open windows.

So if anyone would like one of those versions,

Just write to us and tell us that you came or that you'd like to catch the whole recorded recording.

Thank you.

Thanks,

Elliot.

That was really beautiful.

And I love this.

You know,

It really sums up what we've been talking about in the sense that like it's really,

You know,

Priming our body and our mind to be successful,

You know,

In that way,

Like we're really giving ourselves as positive reinforcement that yes,

We can do it.

There was a question like if we don't do it the next day,

You know,

If we keep on saying we're going to do something the next day,

I mean,

That is what we're talking about.

It's like what we're,

You know,

If we're procrastinating,

That's what we're actually doing.

We're just saying we're going to do it every day.

And then it really is sitting back and coming,

You know,

Taking a moment to stop and think,

Hey,

I've actually got an issue here.

I keep on putting it off every day.

So what is actually going on with me?

Why am I doing that?

What is inside me?

What are all the things that we've covered today,

Especially as we can go ahead and review this whole video again.

But what are those really core things?

And something that you've highlighted especially is the feeling in the body and creating the feeling in the body that is associated with us getting like the best outcome of whatever that action that we want to take out.

And so getting that mindset and then the feeling,

Making it an embodied practice is so important as well.

And I think your meditations and even the way that you've expressed that and described that is beautiful in that way.

So thank you.

That was really great and really helpful for everyone.

Yeah,

I think it's important for everyone to understand if you're really battling with procrastination or even if it's just something that you perceive as small in your life.

It's important to remember that it's a result of many things happening and it's not the natural way of life.

So when we correct a few things in our life,

This sort of habit tends to go away and fade.

Because we are capable of so much more than what we are usually even aware of or willing to admit.

And that's actually part of why procrastination can develop because we are not acknowledging that we have this moment to do whatever we want.

And if we truly take responsibility with that and we take ownership of our own ability to act,

Then these sort of things fade.

So you are not the procrastination.

Even if you identify as a procrastinator,

That's not what you are because what you are is meant to move what you are,

Is meant to let go and have the cycle of life happening within you.

And procrastination,

You don't see procrastination in nature,

You don't see procrastination with animals.

They are on a different level of interacting with life.

So that is even part of their reality,

Right?

We can tap into more of our inner strength regardless of our abilities to overcome this kind of stuff.

And that's just something that we have to learn to accept that we are really powerful beings,

Capable of changing our reality through sometimes very simple steps.

Yeah,

Absolutely.

Yeah,

I agree with that.

I think that understanding that power within us,

Doing the things that help us understand the power within us,

That's huge in this process.

Yeah,

Anyone who's listening or was a part of this,

Feel free to write to us and let us know if there's anything you'd like for us to cover in a potential future talk.

Yes.

Yes.

So thanks so much.

Again,

Please be in touch if you'd like the resources,

Send us a DM on Instagram and you can check out our link to bio links as well to contact us.

And yeah,

So be in touch with us.

Let us know what you think as well.

And yes,

Hopefully some of the things that we've shared today as well can also support with everybody like on generally as well.

But yeah,

We can go really specific into that.

So yeah,

Have a great day.

And thank you,

Everyone.

Thank you,

Everyone for joining.

Thank you.

Thanks,

And we'll see you soon.

Reviews

Thank you Lalita and Elliott
for this very nice and powerful topic🙏🏾🎇🌞💓

Even for an high achiever like me, the topic of procrastination is meaningful. As I am learning to be without doing, I am feeling like I am procrastinating on important tasks like setting an appointment with the dentist, getting my green card renewed and potentially becoming a us citizen, organizing my next trip to Hawaii, etc. I also recognize procrastination like how you describe it for you in my son. It helps me accept him the way he is. Thank you Elliot for sharing this talk with your friend healer. 🙏