On a warm day–particularly a warm workday–the squirmy, tap-y, shift-y, knee-bounces start in.  In other words, it’s hard to sit still. 

When this happens, part of me thinks, “great!”  Who wants to sit still when there are walks to take, spring cleaning to do, fresh air to breathe, and friends to visit.  Our bodies were made to move, after all, and spring warmth is a great time to celebrate that.

But too much of a good thing is, sometimes, too much, and spring giddiness can turn me into Jumpy McHyperton on a moment’s notice.  So here are 5 tips on how to sit still. 

1. Focus on something.  I love the Wii Fit balance game called “Zen,” where you have to sit perfectly still focusing on a candle, which will extinguish if you move or lose your focus and posture.  Finding a point to focus on–a pretty object on your desk, a flower, a photo of a loved one, a spot on the wall–can tell your brain “one thing at a time.”  Let your eyes lock in on the object but then soften around it a little bit. 

2. Do a “body scan.”  Starting with the crown of your head, scan your body–one inhale and exhale per part–and see if it is overactive, hyper, tired, or hurting.  Try to concentrate on relaxing and releasing it before you move on to the next part.

3. Exhale longer than you inhale.  Breathing out is literally a release–of toxins, of spent breath, of old energy.  If you inhale partially but exhale fully, you’ll be oxygenating your blood and shooting out your jumpy “too-much” energy with each breath.  Try connecting your long exhales with a word, like “peace” or “rest” for even more intention.

4. Dance out the heebie jeebies.  It might just be that your body is trying to tell you, “MOVE!”  So if you can’t sit still, give in to it for a few minutes of frenetic activity.  Do jumping jacks, dance around the room, or jog around the block.  Afterwards, see if your body is more in the mood to sit still and restore.

5. Try again tomorrow.  There might be a reason other than a warm day’s vitamin D overdose that’s making you jumpy.  You might not have gotten enough quality sleep or eaten whole, healthy foods, so your body just might be off.  Don’t force a square peg into a round hole–give yourself permission to try again tomorrow.

Do you ever have a hard time sitting still?  How do you deal?

(image via: http://homepage.mac.com/lawrencedavid/cuteanimals/frog_jumping.html)