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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is an unexpected lesson from Mr Rogers. Neighborhood

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Speaker 1: use a transition ritual to get yourself ready for what's next. Now. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: we all love Mr Rogers, the children's television actor, for

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Speaker 1: what he taught us about kindness and managing our emotions,

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Speaker 1: things we all need in these anxious times. But we

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Speaker 1: can learn a thing or two from him about making

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Speaker 1: intentional transitions too. If you grew up watching Mr Rogers

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Speaker 1: like I did, you can probably conjure up the image

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Speaker 1: of him walking through the door to his house, taking

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Speaker 1: off his sports coat and putting on a zippered cardigan,

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Speaker 1: trading his dress shoes for sneakers, all the while singing

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Speaker 1: an invitation to be his neighbor. The opening sequence helped

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Speaker 1: young viewers anticipate a calm, hope filled adventure. We can

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Speaker 1: do something similar in our own lives, even if our

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Speaker 1: neighborhoods are a little different from Mr Rogers. You may

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Speaker 1: experience multiple transitions in a single day, at the start

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Speaker 1: of the work day or sitting down to dinner at kids, bedtimes,

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Speaker 1: just to name a few. These are often moments when

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Speaker 1: people feel especially harried or frenetic. Transition rituals can help

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Speaker 1: you intentionally in one phase of the day and inaugurate

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Speaker 1: the next, preparing and setting the tone for what's ahead

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Speaker 1: so you can be fully present and keep anxiety at bay.

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Speaker 1: You may already have some transition rituals. For instance, many

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Speaker 1: people light candles, clink glasses, or say grace before eating.

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Speaker 1: Particularly nice when we're all eating at home, these rituals

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Speaker 1: kick off a shared meal. They let you know that

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Speaker 1: the bustle of meal pre up evening chores and arrivals

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Speaker 1: and departures have stopped for a bit. All you need

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Speaker 1: to do now is enjoy each other's company and consume

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Speaker 1: your food. Sometimes, though, it's easy to feel the pressure

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Speaker 1: of what's behind us or ahead of us and never

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Speaker 1: really arrive. We all know people who really do like

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Speaker 1: and respect their colleagues, but back when people were still

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Speaker 1: working at offices, they'd blow past them without even smiling

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Speaker 1: because they were so preoccupied with being thirty seconds late

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Speaker 1: to a meeting. Or maybe a phone call with a

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Speaker 1: friend doesn't end up being the rest bite you hope

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Speaker 1: for because the opening exchange of how are you busy?

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Speaker 1: Me too? Unleasha's a litany of complaints. So how can

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Speaker 1: we use transition rituals to be more intentional? For one,

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Speaker 1: the language we use really does matter. It's powerful instead

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Speaker 1: of the stressed out chatter. Better to take a deep

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Speaker 1: breath and say to ourselves, now I'm here, slow things down,

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Speaker 1: narrate what's ahead. Now I'm working. I'm ready to do

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Speaker 1: good work with my colleagues. You self talk to help

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Speaker 1: you arrive where you are, As Mr Rogers showed, Songs

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Speaker 1: can also be helpful for transitioning. If you've ever been

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Speaker 1: in a preschool class, you've likely heard a song used

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Speaker 1: as a queue to shift from one activity to the next.

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Speaker 1: It's amazing to see a dozen three year olds cheerfully

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Speaker 1: clean up just because they hear the cleanup song. Songs

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Speaker 1: can help adults make transitions too. Maybe you have a

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Speaker 1: psych up playlist to build your energy and confidence before

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Speaker 1: a big day at work, or maybe there's a special

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Speaker 1: song you listen to as you make dinner and unwind.

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Speaker 1: A morning playlist can provide kids with cues that it's

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Speaker 1: time to brush teeth. Music can let us know wordlessly

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Speaker 1: what's ahead. And finally, just like Mr Rogers, change of

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Speaker 1: clothes and shoes. Physical cues can help with transitions. If

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Speaker 1: you wear a lanyard with an I D card again

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Speaker 1: when people go back to work at their workplaces, you

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Speaker 1: can start momoniously remove it as you leave work. Taking

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Speaker 1: off the lanyard means you're just you, not a teacher.

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Speaker 1: For the moment, you can narrate the wardrobe change to

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Speaker 1: amplify its impact. Dr Williams has left the hospital, you

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Speaker 1: say as you change out of your scrubs. Even if

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Speaker 1: you don't have special gear for your profession, changing clothes

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Speaker 1: or shoes at the end of the day can let

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Speaker 1: you know that the work day is over too, as

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Speaker 1: long as you do it mindfully, acknowledge what you're doing

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Speaker 1: as you're trading your shoes for slippers, or putting on

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Speaker 1: yoga pants or taking off your tie. And finally, one

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Speaker 1: last reminder, leave yourself some margin. All the transition rituals

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Speaker 1: in the world can't keep you from feeling frazzled if

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Speaker 1: there's not enough space in your days. Transition rituals can

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Speaker 1: help us be present for each phase of the day,

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Speaker 1: but we have to make sure it's actually feasible to

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Speaker 1: get to each phase without drama for transition rituals to

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Speaker 1: have maximum impact. If you used transition rituals to help

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Speaker 1: you get prepared and be present for what's ahead, I'd

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Speaker 1: love to hear about them. You can write me at

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com. In the meantime,

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Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four,

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Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me

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Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media

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Speaker 1: dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with all

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Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying

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Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I Heart Radio.

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