This changed my life. REALLY.

Recently I've given myself permission to have a day to do whatever I please. A free day. A day off. I like to call it a FLOW Day.

It's not like I do nothing. I accomplish things. But I have nothing planned, nothing on the calendar. I may paint or I may not. I see friends, or I embrace solitude. Anything goes.

On my recent Flow Day, I slept until I woke up naturally around 7am. I made my favorite coffee and took the steaming mug to my chair by the window. Here I choose to light a candle, journal and meditate for about 20 minutes. Then comes the key to having a Flow day: I pause.

I stop everything for that moment and think about what I'd like to do next. Not what I have to do, should do or a host of other things that may descend upon my mind. I go to that deeper part of myself and ask "what would feel wonderful right now?"

During my Flow day, I went for a walk in the park. I did color sketches in my sketchbook and tried new techniques--just for the fun of it. I took a nap. Watched a movie in the middle of the afternoon. I called a friend.

Now I suspect that my readers with day jobs, families, partners and spouses, responsibilities, are thinking there is no way they could do this. But I challenge you to try. Maybe a half day to start. A gift to yourself.

The Dutch call this "Niksen". Loosely translated to "doing nothing." They say it is an integral part of their culture (along with a 35 hour work week). It's not being a couch potato literally doing nothing. It's taking some time to read, take a walk or sit in a cafe for hours with a friend. Getting off life's treadmill with a side of intention. And it's not scheduled activity.

The dessert of the Flow Day is in the following day. I was relaxed, less stressed and had more energy to tackle that other list of things to do. Give it a try and email me about your results. What was your Flow Day like? What was the day after like?

My goal for my next Flow Day is to be off social media for the day. We'll see if I can do that!