January Update
That clean, white sprawl of fresh snow across the landscape, mounding and dipping, pillowing and drifting. The breathtaking chill of that first sip of frigid air. A cascade of blue hues layering a clear sky. The twinkle of the sun kissing the frozen flakes. The powerful, haunting quiet of winter has settled in for the months to come.
I did a much needed visual mediation yesterday. (Survival of the calmest:). The meditation asked us to see our body as our compass. The South, the grounding of a life. Our roots. Our past. Our memories and keepsakes. The North, above us. Showering down goodness from above. Possibility. Trust. Faith. Hope.
To the East, we reach. This is what lies ahead. Our intentions. Goals. What and who we aspire to become. The West supports. A broad hand between our shoulder blades helping us stay upright and moving forward without tripping, or turning back. Using what we’ve learned to grow.
Our Center, that golden brightness within, brings, and holds, everything together, helping us feel whole.
It’s a challenge to grasp that I am the sole maker of my mind. That I am the one fully responsible and accountable for the goings on in my life. That I can always chose differently. That I can make my life better any time I decide to.
Today is the foundation for tomorrow.
I’d love to refresh my memory on this much more often than I do. Is that true for you? Please let me know. I would love to hear from you.
May we all find our way to the life we want for ourselves. May we participate. And then celebrate it all.
Becoming More
Equanimity. . .
Story is the formula for life. It levels the playing field.
Set your narrative.
Or others will set it for you.
This book pleases me every time I open it. It is a great little toolbox of reminders for living in our lives. Lifting us up to being and becoming the best of ourselves.
Excerpt from Quantum Thinking: Factoring in Possibility by Adrea L Peters
For the Love of DIGESTION
Digestion is as emotional as it is physical.
I was as surprised as you may be by this month’s focused fave. It is imperative that we are digesting what’s in our guts, minds and hearts. It takes attention and love. Here’s to us releasing the waste on the regular. xoxo
Apples! Water! Dark Leafies!
An apple a day may keep you cleaner than you think! I keep a container of sliced apples in the frig and eat at least one apple a day. Water is critical to your health for so many reasons, not the least of which is healthy flow for your intestines. Skin LOVES water! Mood boosts from water. As for dark leafy greens, I think I have mentioned kale a couple times? Eat it, please. And its friends.
Decisions! Decisions!
You can eat as you like as long as you are eliminating the waste of it. Throughput is what the gut needs. Knowing that meat-y and soy-y proteins are slow to digest, I hope you’ll consider adding the above—apples, water, greens—to help things along. It’s like anything you do, when you have the right team and pieces in place, everything works/runs well. Every choice we make either stuffs us up or helps things move along. Cheers to all of us using the power of choice on the regular.
Debt Matters
Whatever we are holding onto and cannot seem to digest, needs to go. I am 1000% right there with you and have my own list I’m whittling through. Ignoring our debt only adds to it. I mean finances. I mean emotions. I mean work. Experiment with paying off a bill, speaking up, and crying it out. How does that feel? Lighter?
Toxic v. Healthy Thoughts
As I found myself in need of an extra tool this January, I turned to my friends at Abraham-Hicks, who never disappoint! Their latest suggestion is a box or jar for things&emotions we want to Deactivate and one for things we want to Create. I took the offering a little DIY and hopped onto Vista Print to make some square cards that I write on the back of. Example for Deactivation: Beating Myself Up, Doubt, Guilt, Anger. Example for Creation: Book Sales! Love! Ease! Highly recommend this activity! Easy and powerful. What could be better? Scraps of paper work perfectly!
In case you wonder why I care so much about this shizzle… In 2005, I received my certification as a Nutrition Educator from Bauman College because I wanted to understand how food works in a body. xoxo
Sharing the Goods!
Hippy Feet OMGosh! My sweetie friend, Kristin, gifted me a pair and I wore them today and wow. I mean WOW. There is something about the cotton. Highly recommend!
The Boy Who Bakes, Edd Kimber, is awesome. It’s as simple as that. There is also a version of this book that is gluten-free and somewhat vegan. I love every recipe. Cannot recommend highly enough!
Another Brooklyn creative makes these lovely little candles! I have the Sea Salt Grapefruit and Lavender Hinoki burning at the very moment. The waft is subtle and pleasant, not perfumed and overpowering. I love the feel of candles alit around me… soothes and happies me all at once.
This film, The Lost Leonardo, is so freaking good. If you love art and/or incredible storytelling, please race to stream this! Loved every moment of it. Jaw-dropper!
The. Best. Smell. Ever. Hinoki is my go-to scent for a “pick me up” and, well, to cover up the smell post-bacon fry! It’s a lemon-y woodsy smell. I love this spa. All their products are excellent and affordable! And they ship fast! I meannnnn! So so good!
As we near that magical time that is February and Valentine’s Day… thought I would add in some LOVE! This Brooklyn maker has incredible smells and loads of wonderful! Thank you, KF for the intro! I just ordered White Temple and a sample set so I can really immerse myself in the yumminess!
Balancing Extremes
January was a tricky month for me. How ‘bout you? II had an eagerness to get the New Year in motion. Yet. I had some moments at the end of the year that plopped my arse down and made me slow way down. We all have events going on so the particulars are irrelevant to the outcome. Sucky somethings happen to us all. We pause. Or we react/overreact. Then we pause. Eventually we digest. We process. We rise. And once there, we love more than we ever have before.
I don’t like to be sad or angry or frazzled and lost. Yet, those feelings do bring me to life more. Engaging with my emotions is so energizing, even the yucky ones. For me, I’ve learned, like it or not, I have to share with a trusted friend or two in order to understand what I’m doing. I need reminding to be sad, let it all out, drain myself fully before I can start to “get it”.
With a friend, I can always have a laugh or twenty about it. Deep trust results in belly laughs for me. From that release, I begin to digest, process, and heal. It may all happen in less than an hour, or it may linger along for weeks, months… Some things are easier to make sense of than others. Some sucky somethings are not easily digested. The laughter is harder to find.
May we not judge situations. Or ourselves. May we not ignore our feelings. May we not shy away from the good, or the bad, that emerges. Gently we grow, hmm?
May we know that we are forever loved and let that love pour into us at all times. May we remember the compass we hold within and let it fortify us from all of life’s gorgeous, and temporary, storms.
I’m already looking forward to connecting next month. Lucky me knowing you are here. Thank you.
