EP 9 Cultivating SPACE- Nourish Creativity and Productivity in 2024 by Allowing and Nurturing Space

Welcome to the first episode of 2024's Nourish Me Podcast - a rejuvenating exploration of the concept of creating 'SPACE' for optimal health, creativity and productivity. Join JoAnne Pavin certified Wellness Practitioner and Health and Human Performance coach as she discusses the importance of 'SPACE' - a critical but often neglected aspect of modern life.

Discover how keeping a clean physical space, taking time for digital breaks, scribing, breath breaks, creating an environment of silence, and diving into deep work blocks can lead to remarkable positive changes in your daily life.

Create a haven of tranquility by clearing out physical clutter. Learn about the importance of cleaning your kitchen regularly and its impact on your health journey. Dive into JoAnne’s practices for clearing mental space, such as journaling or brain dumping, and the transformative power of regular 'breath breaks'.

Conscious silence is explored in this engaging episode as well. JoAnne emphasizes the importance of building pockets of silence in your daily routine for quiet introspection. She also discusses the concept of deep work, a practice inspired by Best Selling Author Cal Newport, for nurturing focused attention to enhance creativity in a world of digital interruptions.

Experience the space for yourself with JoAnne’s soothing and empowering guided meditation. Allow yourself to imagine and experience your goals for 2024 manifesting in a tranquil space, feeling the joy of accomplishment.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the Nourish Me Podcast. I'm Joanne Pavin, your host,
and if you found yourself here, you're ready to take actionable steps to optimize
your health and live a more balanced, productive, and creative life.
In our tech-driven world, we need a reminder to slow down, stop the scroll,
and take digital breaks.

(00:21):
I'm here to inspire you to step away from your screen, to nourish yourself through
nature and connection to others, to follow a new algorithm, the rhythm of real
life. So let's get started.
Hello and welcome back to the Nourish Me podcast. This is Joanne Pavin, your host.
This is the first episode of 2024.

(00:45):
Yes, it is February. February but I decided to do it different this year and give myself some space.
Yes, I took January for some
space and today we'll talk about the word space but January was a month where
I allowed myself time and space for ideas and creativity and really myself to

(01:13):
listen internally internally to the motivations,
the inspirations coming from the inside,
since we're so inundated from the outside all the time.
With all of the inputs and notifications, our nervous systems really get taxed or fried.

(01:34):
So to start your year off right, today I want to touch on the importance of
space and how nourishing it can be when we give ourselves space in various dimensions
such as a physical, mental,
emotional, and spiritual space.
What is space? According to the Oxford Languages Dictionary via the digital Google space,

(01:59):
it is defined as a continuous area or or expanse, which is free,
available, or unoccupied.
But today in our modern world, we're in the sea of unseen signals.
And even when we feel like we're in the wide open space, we're really in a soup of digital signals.

(02:27):
And sometimes that can be overwhelming. Thus the increase in anxiety disorders and mental issues.
I can't emphasize enough how important it is to give yourself space and clear your space regularly.
Let's start with your physical space.
It is suggested to clear out clutter and to get rid of any unnecessary items

(02:52):
in your physical space at least once a year, if not twice a year.
If you haven't worn it or used it in a year, get rid of it.
This includes cleaning out your office, bedroom, kitchen, fridge,
and pantry, getting rid of two children, a dog, and a husband. No, I'm just kidding.

(03:16):
Don't clear the actual physical humans out of your space, even though sometimes we'd like to.
Cleaning the fridge and pantry is big on my list.
If you are part of my spring clean your health or or wellness accountability
groups, you know I'm a huge advocate for fridge and pantry cleanouts, at least once a week.
After all, your kitchen is where your health begins.

(03:39):
A clean fridge with healthy, fresh ingredients sets the week up for nourishing meals.
It's my recommendation to create one day a week dedicated to cleaning and organizing your kitchen.
When you're eating right, you're feeling right, and your whole life goes better.
Another thing that you can do to clear your space is burn some wild sage.

(04:02):
So after you do the whole spring clean over your house, you can start to sage
and then make sure you open the windows and clear out the smoke.
But that's really good refreshing ceremony to do in your space.
Another wonderful practice to clear your Your mental space can be writing or

(04:24):
scribing, as they refer to it, in the morning before you start your day.
It can be brain dumping all your thoughts and ideas out onto paper so they don't
clog your mind during the day.
The actual physical act of writing your thoughts down has been scientifically
proven to be stress reducing and relieving.
We all know when we can get our lists out via sticky notes or a journal,

(04:48):
we have more organization in our brain.
Another important tool in clearing your mental and emotional space is breath breaks.
I'm a huge proponent of breath breaks. Give yourself a breath break.
When you feel stressed or overwhelmed, take a moment, give yourself the space and breathe.

(05:11):
We need to breathe in through
the nose out through the back of the throat also
breathing between a stimulus and response allows the space and sometimes that
space can change your reaction for the better so if you think about how someone
might set you off and you might want to snap back if you allow yourself the

(05:34):
space to breathe in between.
Life will go better. Breathing allows for introspection and intentional thinking before reaction.
Try also giving yourself five minutes, an hour, or even 24 hours before responding
to emails and texts and phone calls.

(05:55):
We often think we have to shoot off
responses immediately, and that can be overwhelming for our mental space.
Allow the expanse as they define space you may surprise yourself at how expansive
your thinking becomes when you allow this time and space between responding,

(06:18):
Next on our list is creating a spiritual space or time for silence.
And this involves articulating to others that you need silence to be with your
own thoughts and desires.
Yeah, right. Like that's going to happen if you have kids and a husband and a dog, right?
This is so important. Silence, at least in the morning when you wake up,

(06:42):
giving yourself maybe an extra half an hour before you would normally wake to
give yourself silence. I was introduced to Hal Elrod last year.
I love his Miracle Morning. In the Miracle Morning, he talks about his SAVERS.
And SAVERS is an acronym for all the things that you would do in the morning.
I won't get into them, but you can go and Google his SAVERS. S is for silence.

(07:07):
Giving yourself the silence before you start the day or at the end of the day.
Silence can be a simple and effective way to improve mental health.
Creating a space where you have no inputs, no noise, nobody talking.
It's like giving your mind an enema.

(07:31):
It is suggested to create a dedicated
space for your meditation so that you can build the energy there so if you create
a space space in your bedroom or in a quiet area of your house or perhaps on
an area that is out in nature you can do this regularly start with a minute and build from there.

(07:54):
And before you know it, you have a new habit.
Finally, create time blocks of deep work.
Inspired by the best-selling author Cal Newport and his book,
Deep Work, I highly recommend it.
Turning off your phone or putting it in do not disturb for at least two to three

(08:16):
hours creates a work and creative space where you can nurture focused attention,
which is diminishing in our modern world.
Nobody has focused attention anymore.
But this is a space where you have no digital interruptions.

(08:38):
Can you do it? I know it's hard, but again, it's a new year.
So do it different. Create a new habit. Create time blocks of deep work.
By intentionally creating space, you'll start to notice more creativity bubbling up from within.
And you'll find yourself more productive. and before you know it,

(09:01):
you'll be accomplishing all those goals that you set in the beginning of the year.
To recap, we are going to clear our physical space by removing clutter.
Stay posted for my spring space clearing class, which is super fun,
practice clearing emotional and mental space through a daily journaling or writing practice,

(09:24):
and allow intermittent intermittent breath breaks throughout the day.
Finally, create a space for silence or spiritual nourishment and begin and end
your day with either meditation, prayer, or reflection.
And if you're overzealous, you can bring it all together by challenging yourself

(09:47):
to deep work time blocks to enhance your creativity and productivity.
If you haven't figured out already, my word for 2024 is space.
I have also created events this year to hold space for you to nourish yourself.

(10:07):
You can find them on my website at www.joannepavin.com.
The links will be in the show notes. You can join my newsletter or follow me
on Instagram to stay up to date on my upcoming events and classes.
You can also work with me in numerous ways. I offer a one-to-one and group health

(10:28):
and human performance coaching to individuals and organizations.
I provide classes and workshops on site and virtually.
And a topic that's near and dear to my heart that I've been speaking on for
many years is healthy digital balance, or how to manage digital distractions
in our modern world, or I call managing the digital storm,

(10:52):
which is why I created this podcast.
And please save the date for this coming fall when I create the ultimate space
to renew your energy at my second annual Soulful Renewal Retreat in the wide
open space of Soulful Prairies in Woodstock, Illinois.
This year, Linda Bruce, the owner and And Ikhwan, Gestalt therapist,

(11:17):
will join me to provide the intuitive healing energy of the horses.
This retreat is a great space to get back in touch with your senses as you recharge in nature.
If you're interested, you'll want to join the waitlist at joannepavin.com forward slash events.

(11:38):
As we celebrated the change of season from summer to fall, we initiated change within ourselves.
I hope you'll join us this year. Let's wind down with a space meditation.
If you're driving, stop the recording and resume when you can get comfortable and close your eyes.

(12:02):
Take a deep breath in through your nose, out through the back of your throat.
Close down your eyes if you haven't already, relax your brow, unlock your jaw.

(12:30):
Relax your shoulders. Make adjustments to any part of your body that may be holding tension.
Breathe again in through your nose. Deep. Expand the ribs. Exhale.
A couple more deep, deep breaths on your own.

(12:52):
You can put your hand on your heart. Notice your heartbeat.
You can already feel your heart slowing down.
You can smile and just relax.

(13:16):
I want you to imagine going to a wide open space.
That space can be in an open field on a beach you can put yourself in any space that is relaxing to you.

(13:45):
There is no one there, except for you.
You have no distractions, no interruptions.
It's just you in this beautiful space and take a moment to feel what it's like to be in this space.

(14:17):
Music.
Feel the clarity the peace,
the relaxation and notice any feelings that come up or ideas that come to mind,

(14:42):
allow your mind to go wherever it wants to go in the space the possibilities are infinite,
and just take time here to notice the beauty of the surroundings,

(15:04):
the colors, the smells, how the space feels on your skin.

(15:26):
And now imagine that you have accomplished the goals that you've set for 2024,
or that one big goal you've been wanting to achieve.
You've accomplished that.
How does it feel? Breathe in that feeling.

(15:52):
Finally, you've accomplished that goal.
Celebrate for a moment.
See yourself celebrating in the space.
Breathe it in.

(16:15):
You may be jumping, dancing, bouncing, cartwheeling.
And know that you've accomplished these goals because you gave yourself space.
I want you to bring your awareness back to your breath and to your hand on your heart.

(16:41):
And I want you to know that at any moment you can come back to this space.
Want to create. If you can see it, you can achieve it.
Breathe it in.

(17:03):
Exhale.
See yourself in this space
creating and achieving
all you want to be and when
you're ready you can slowly open your eyes thank you for joining me on this

(17:31):
space meditation see See you next time on the Nourish Me Podcast.
Music.
Thanks for listening. And if you feel inclined to nourish this podcast,
please leave a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts.

(17:52):
Music.