Living in Human Scale

Are you living “within human scale?” This phrase has been dancing around in my head since I first heard it on Brené Brown’s podcast, Unlocking Us. She tells a funny story about getting her hair done and working on her computer at the same time. It provoked a thoughtful conversation between her and her stylist, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.  Listen on Apple. Listen on Spotify.

It seems to me that we are indeed living beyond human scale right now. Between our social media feeds, the 24 hour news cycle, podcasts, and online news outlets, we are bombarded with world events and everyone’s opinion of them. 

But we’re not meant to take all that in. 

And if we try, we’re living beyond our capacities to consume, digest, assimilate, and release. We can only overwhelm our systems for so long before anxiety, sleeplessness, agitation, digestive distress, and depression creep in and make us feel less than our vibrant selves. 

So if you’re finding yourself needing a nap, or snacking more, or checking out in habitual ways, give yourself a break. YOU are not meant to solve the world’s problems. You’re not even meant to know about all of them all at once. We haven’t mentally and psychologically “evolved” much beyond the slower pace of our ancient ancestors, yet our lives are at warp speed. 

Think about how fast you walk. THAT is human speed. That is human scale. 

Get it?

As an antidote to all this over-stimulation and over-consumption, I offer you a few things:

1. You can turn off the news. It ain’t goin’ anywhere. You’re informed enough.

2. Focus on your smaller world: your intimate family and friends, your chosen communities, and your neighbors. You may have 1,000 friends on the socials, but the ones that will feed your cat are the most important.

3. Do THIS CLASS from Online Yoga Membership this week! You will:

Shake it off with some dancing.

Return to form with yoga.

Recalibrate with restorative.

This is Harmony Flow, and it's something I'm working on right now. I’d love to hear what you think! I’d love it even more if it makes you feel good…or at least a little better. Don’t let the “dance” intimidate you. It’s easy peasy movement to get your blood flowing and your endorphins kicking. And the music is fun and uplifting! Grab your yoga mat, blocks, and a sturdy couch cushion and you’ve got everything you need to reset your system to operate on a human scale. 

May you recognize you’re only human, have self compassion, and take steps to care for yourself and those you hold dear. May love win.

Much love