December Intentions

I'm keeping my intentions for this month pretty simple.

1. Drink a glass of fresh green veggie juice every day.

2. Practice hot yoga 2-3 times per week.

3. Give and spend mindfully, buying handmade (or making gifts myself) wherever possible.

4. Write and send holiday cards to family and friends, near and far. I picked up these and these the other day, the former by one of my favorite artists Charley Harper and the latter as a nod to our dachshund, Basil.

5. Carve out 30 minutes of time myself every single day (regardless of how packed my schedule is) to sit and read with a cup of tea, watch the sunset, or simply sit and be with the flickering light of my favorite vanilla & peppermint holiday candle.

What are your intentions for this month? I'd love to hear.

Reverb10 catch-up

I'm trying my hardest to stay current with my Reverb posts, but I've slipped in the past couple of days.  In the spirit of not making excuses for myself (see #10 below), I'll be honest and say that I'm finding it difficult to post on a daily basis because of the time and energy it requires.  (While Reverb participants certainly don't have to answer every prompt, I wanted to challenge myself by trying.)

December 11 Prompt: Things 

What are 11 things your life doesn’t need in 2011? How will you go about eliminating them? How will getting rid of these 11 things change your life?

1.  Clutter.  I love clean, open spaces and clear surfaces, so clutter drives me crazy.  This year, 

I need to pare down the amount of unneeded, unwanted stuff that I have.

2.  Distractions.  TV and mindless internet surfing are two of my biggest.  These things are fine in moderation, but I find that living with intention requires cutting down on "background noise" and listening to what's real. 

3.  Mindless consumerism.  For reasons of the wallet and the soul, I'd like to spend more mindfully in 2011.  

4.  Feeling guilty about saying "no."  To requests for favors, social obligations, and other demands on my time and energy.  I struggle with being able to prioritize and assert my own needs, but I'm getting better at it.  It's an ongoing process.

5. Comparisons.  I tend to compare my own life to others' lives and feel jealous of those who "have it all, " even though I realize it's impossible to really know what someone else's life is like.  In 2011, I'd like to replace comparison with compassion.  Compassion for myself and for the challenges that others undoubtedly face, even if their lives seem perfect on the surface.

6.  Self-doubt and negative thinking.  Replacing them with self-confidence and positive thinking in 2011.  

7.  Obsessing over my to-do list.  Being organized is good.  Scheduling an unrealistic number of tasks in my planner and then beating myself up when I inevitably fail to get everything done?  Not so much.  

8.  Wishing.  "I wish my living room were decorated differently..."  "I wish I had more time to paint and draw..."  Usually the things I "wish" for are within my control, and I would be better served by calling myself to action.

9. Biting my tongue.  When I find a joke or statement to be offensive and/or bigoted.  When I want to stick up for a cause or issue I believe in.  When I witness rudeness, unfairness, or general jerkiness.  There's certainly virtue in keeping the peace, but I tend to veer too far in the opposite direction for fear of being judged, and then later wish I'd stuck up for myself and/or my viewpoint.  (See #8.)

10.  Excuses.  My own and others'.  In 2011, I'd like to stop making excuses and just be honest with myself about the issue at hand.  And while I can't control whether others' make excuses, I can be more assertive about my expectations and then hold them accountable in an authentic, compassionate way. 

11.  Lack of follow-through.  I tend to get big, exciting ideas and then quickly abandon them because, honestly?  Details sort of bum me out.  I have the capacity and intelligence to deal with the details...I just find them boring.  My challenge is to realize that anything worth doing is going to require some amount of mundane grunt work, and to find the excitement in the less glamorous aspects of any given project.

December 12 Prompt: Body Integration 

This year, when did you feel the most integrated with your body?  Did you have a moment where there wasn’t mind and body, but simply a cohesive YOU, alive and present?

I can't point to a specific moment, but yoga has this effect on me.  When I'm on the mat, I feel a profound integration of body, mind, and soul.  I'm a firm believer in the power of yoga, and I think it's power lies in its ability to infuse our conscious thoughts with an awareness of our body and breath, a consciousness that, in time, begins to show up in other areas of our "off the mat" lives.  To me, this is what it means to "live your yoga."  To take that feeling of cohesion - of being fully alive and present - and to bring that same awareness to our everyday lives.  

"The way you move is the way you live."

This morning:

Waking slowly to a misty, overcast sky.  
A warming bowl of organic rolled oats with a drizzle of agave and maple almond butter stirred in.
A mug of green tea (my current favorite, genmaicha, sweet with the flavor of roasted brown rice).
Planning the week's menu, highlighted by a wholesome, soul-comforting autumn-themed meal of herbed quinoa, red cabbage slaw, and apple-ginger crisp.
Nearly two hours of heart-opening vinyasa flow.
The way you move is the way you live, the instructor says.  Do you fling your limbs wildly through your practice, hurdling ahead to whatever's next?  Or do you move your limbs with intention, taking time to enjoy the sensation of movement itself?
Post-savasana, stepping outside to find the fog has dissipated, replaced by a bright and clear sky.
Taking the dog for a long walk, and noticing how she pauses to savor the breeze against her face and how she takes in the sights and smells that we humans bypass without a thought.
Settling into a hot bath, the steaming water scented with clary sage and lavender.  Skipping the usual reading during the bath routine, and instead, taking time to just breathe the fragrant air.

The way you move is the way you live.  My intention for today is to move mindfully, to live on purpose.

Discomfort...and what Yin Yoga can teach us about embracing it

As I mentioned last week, I recently discovered a great Yin Yoga class.  I've attended this class twice in the past two weeks.  Both times, I've left class feeling not only incredibly relaxed but also profoundly aware of my relationship to discomfort.  Specifically: all the ways I resist it, and the strange and wonderful things that happen when I stop doing so.

But let me back up a couple of steps.

Yin Yoga, as you may know, is a style of yoga in which you hold each asana for prolonged periods of time, usually 3-5 minutes.  As you first enter a given pose, there can be pretty significant discomfort, especially in the hips and lower back area, parts of the body where we - women, especially - carry emotional tension.  During the first minute of the pose, the discomfort intensifies, as the muscle resists pushing past what the mind perceives to be its limit.

However, if you can breathe through that discomfort, something unexpected happens around the 1-minute mark.  The muscle actually relaxes, releasing its tension, which allows you to access the deep connective tissues and to stretch beyond what first seemed possible.  Practiced regularly, Yin can increase your range of motion, protect against injury, and help keep the body healthy and young.

What I find so moving about Yin is that it echoes so perfectly the way we deal with discomfort off the mat.  When faced with challenging emotions, our impulse is to resist.  We tense up at the first sign of potential pain, attempting to protect ourselves against feelings we don't believe we are strong enough to survive.  Our mind has us utterly convinced that we simply cannot bear to actually experience the pain, to the extent that this belief seems like reality.

It is at this point that many of us "numb out" in a desperate bid to distract ourselves from having to feel at all.  (We turn to food, shopping, TV, partying, etc.  And to clarify, I don't believe these things are inherently bad; it's when we use them as an  that we get into trouble.)  But as with Yin, the great paradox is that it's only when we are able to embrace the discomfort - to be with it - that the tension releases, and we are able to relax into ourselves, and - engage more fully with our lives.

As I mentioned, I've been meditating on this point during these past couple of weeks.  It is, of course, an ongoing practice (as with yoga, and as with all things).  We will always feel discomfort, and we will always resist it.  It's not realistic to expect ourselves to suddenly embrace our discomforts, left and right.  But maybe if we can at least be aware - at least nod in recognition, call it by its name - we wouldn't resist it quite so much. 

We might even get a little bit, well...comfortable.

Routine, structure, and prioritizing what's important.

Good morning!  You may have noticed that it's been a little quiet around here this past week.  I finished up at work last week, and amidst the all of the changes, I took a little break from blogging.  Today (the first day of my "new life" as Jason and I have jokingly dubbed it), I'm feeling refreshed and ready to jump back in.

Something I've been thinking about a lot lately is routine.  I am, by nature, someone who thrives on routine.  I like knowing what's going to happen next.  I find it comforting to have a schedule, and stick to it.  A schedule enables me to be more productive, because I know I only have X amount of time to complete Y, and I'm less likely to procrastinate.  So, while I'm excited about all of my newfound free time, I'm also seeking a balance between latitude and structure.

For example, I've decided that I want to continue waking up early.  People have been asking me if I'll be "sleeping till noon" with my newly flexible schedule, but my creative energy actually peaks in the morning, and I know it will be important for me to "show up" (as Julia Cameron says) and be present to my most important tasks during those hours.

Speaking of which:

"What, exactly, will you be doing all day?"

Since quitting my job, I've been fielding variations of this question (though usually not phrased quite so bluntly).  Here are the priorities, or intentions, I've identified for the next few months. 

1. Schoolwork
Listening to lectures, completing assignments, participating in sessions with my IIN health coach (a nice benefit of the program is that we're assigned our own health coach for the duration of the program), studying for tests, and meeting regularly with my new study buddy to talk about what we're learning and support each other's progress.

2. Building my health coaching practice
My goal is to launch my own health coaching practice, including sessions with individual clients and group workshops in-person and via e-course/webinar.  So, for the next six months, I plan to focus intensely on all of the things, big and small, that starting a business entails.  More on this soon.

3. Lots of yoga, running, and other kinds of physical activity
One of the reasons I decided to leave my job is that I could no longer bear the sedentary 10+ hours a day of commuting and sitting behind a desk.  Even though I was able to fit in workouts before or after work, 4-5x per week, my body was crying out for frequent, intense, and varied movement.  And, as a health coach-in-training, I realized it was critical for me to "walk the walk" of designing a lifestyle that honors and supports my body's needs.

4. Writing
I've found the blogging community to be an amazing source of support and motivation.  In fact, I credit my ability to make this change in my life partially to the inspiration I've found through all of you.  I hope to up the quality of my posts (as opposed to just the quantity), and to spend more time nurturing the relationships I've built with fellow bloggers.  You'll continue to find my Foodie Friday posts on Tranquility du Jour.  I also plan to begin submitting articles to other health and wellness publications.

5. Taking care of myself
In addition to exercising more, I want to continue eating healthily and I'm excited to have more time to shop for and cook healthy meals.  The self-care category also includes things like engaging in a meditation practice, spending more time in nature, reading, spending quality time with Jason (and Basil!), hot baths, and artist's dates.

There are other things, of course, like the highly glamorous task of cleaning our second bedroom (currently functioning as a storage room with our laptops buried somewhere underneath layers of extraneous stuff) and turning it into a workable office space, and other projects I've been putting off due to lack of time.  But the five areas above encompass the areas I'll be consciously devoting the most time and energy.

How do you structure your time, and what role does routine play?  How do you prioritize the important stuff?  I'm curious to hear...whether you work from home, work outside the home, own your own business, etc.

Birthday intentions

Happy 26th birthday to me!  Today's been absolutely lovely so far: a beautiful card and lavender vanilla-scented soy candle from husband, many calls, texts, and emails, a gorgeous rose bush from my co-workers, and a relaxing solo lunch at Teaism, plus a surprise gift from a very thoughtful blog friend!

Yesterday, I reflected on the best moments of the past year.  Today I'm sharing my 26 intentions for the coming year!  In no particular order:

1. Continue to eat healthily and increase my knowledge of nutrition 
2. Make more of an effort to incorporate whole grains, fresh veggie juices, leafy greens, and other superstar foods into my regular food rotation
3. Deepen my yoga practice and explore the possibility of signing up for a 200-hour yoga teacher training program
4. Continue a regular running routine
5. Run a half-marathon
6. Exercise my creativity by making the time to draw (a childhood passion of mine)
7. Indulge in regular artist's dates
8. Expand my organic garden to include more herbs - and maybe even some vegetables
9. Start a weekly walk-in-the-woods ritual (I always find walking in the woods so restorative)
10. Expand my culinary know-how by signing up for a knife skills class (I've always loved chopping, slicing, dicing.  Something about the repetitive motion feels meditative to me.  I would love to learn the professional techniques!)
11. Re-examine my wardrobe and donate old, ill-fitting clothes and clothes that don't feel like "me" anymore
12. Slowly add a few beautiful, high-quality "authentically me" pieces to my wardrobe
13. Deepen my friendships with people who uplift and inspire me
14. Enjoy my first full year of marriage to my wonderful husband!
15. Seek out outdoor adventures (kayaking, rafting,hiking, skiing, etc...oh, and I want to try snowboarding this year!)
16. Budget for regular massages
17. Learn about holistic pet care and incorporate practices into our care for Basil
18. Try acupuncture for the first time
19. Be more conscious of my relationship with technology (specifically, be more selective about what I do online as opposed to just surfing around aimlessly)
20. Finish a first draft of a cookbook
21. Continue to improve my photography skills
22. Bring more laughter and play into my daily life
23. Plan several more trips to parts of the U.S. (Maine and Oregon are both on my list)
24. Practice saying "no" to things I don't have time for or don't really want to do
25. Submit food and health-related articles to several publications
26. Last, but certainly not least, continue to connect with all of you wonderful fellow bloggers!

Welcoming August

This summer has been an exciting one, to say the least.  June had us joyfully preparing for our wedding, while July found us enthralled by beautiful Italia.  It was an incredible - unforgettable - couple of months, to be sure.  I find, however, that the advent of August feels like a deep and contented sigh of relief this year.  I don't mean relief that the wedding + honeymoon are over, per se, though I must admit, my stress level has plummeted now that the festivities have passed.  But rather, to be moving on with life.  To be exploring new projects, now that I have the time.  To be re-visiting short and long-term goals, individually and as a couple.  To be making plans for our next adventures (a whitewater rafting/camping trip later this month, followed by a trip to Chicago for Labor Day Weekend).

I'm proud of how hard I've worked to get into better shape and eat more healthfully these past eight months.  I felt my progress stall a bit in June and July, as I eased up a bit on my exercise routine and enjoyed many delicious meals over the course of the wedding festivities and our honeymoon.  I'm not down on myself about it though.  It was a rejuvenating detour in my journey, and I now feel a refreshed motivation to increase my running mileage, deepen my yoga practice, and return to a disciplined way of eating.  For me, the long, warm days of August provide the perfect opportunity to re-focus, challenge myself physically, and to explore post-wedding goals and dreams.

How are you greeting August this year?  What are your intentions for this month?


Image via Pia Ulin.

On wanderlust and traveling (without leaving home)

"Buy the ticket, take the ride."

-Hunter S. Thompson

I've had a serious case of wanderlust these past couple of weeks. Perhaps it's the long and extra-wintry winter we had this year (and the consequent string of days spent tucked away indoors, venturing out only when necessary). It's not so much a desire to travel to any place in particular (though I've got that too.) It's more of a yearning for the spirit of travel. The adventure. The movement.

It's a hankering for the open road and the feeling of being just a little bit lost in an unfamiliar place. A craving for the thrill of the new, the strange, the unusual. The feeling of not knowing exactly where this road will take me, or what's around that corner. The freedom of carrying only a backpack on my back and a map in my hands, liberated from most of my earthly possessions. That child-like wonder at the newness and peculiarity of it all. The pleasant confusion of deciphering a new set of words, flavors, and subway systems. The trail itself, and being unsure of where it leads, but feeling that it's somehow important - critical, even - that I get there. Wherever there might be.

My fiancé and I will be exploring Italy this summer on our honeymoon (just four short months away!), and I've been brainstorming ways to capture the momentum of travel in my everyday life until then. Some ideas:

Visiting new (to me, anyway) museums

Exploring quirky neighborhoods

Trying an unusual recipe

Spending a Saturday hiking a trail we've never hiked before

Striking up a conversation with the barista at the corner coffee shop

Taking a new route, even if it's just to the grocery store or the mall

Thinking about ways to "travel" within my own life has sparked a whole new way of thinking about my day-to-day existence. I've been asking myself: Where can I stretch beyond my comfort zone? How can I get from A to B in a new and different way? Where is there room for growth?

I'd love to hear your thoughts. How do you cope with wanderlust? How do you "travel" within your everyday life?

P.S. Thank you all so much for your supportive comment's on yesterday's post. I've found that setting intentions is another effective way to create movement (to "travel") within my life. If you blogged about your own intentions for March, please share a link - I'd love to read them!

Image via Free Bird.

March intentions

Helloooo March! I don't think I've ever been happier to see you! Even though spring doesn't officially start until later this month, today's relatively mild weather and clear blue skies are hinting at all the things I love about the spring and summer months: running outside, going on hikes through beautiful nearby parks, watching as the earth and its creatures are renewed (flowers in full bloom, birds singing, a bounce in everyone's step), an abundance of fresh produce at local farmers markets, dining al fresco, sipping a glass of chilled white wine on the porch as the sun sets...I can't wait!

I have not been terribly disciplined about setting my monthly intentions (though I have been making progress on my 2010 intentions), so I've decided March is a good month to revive this habit. Here are my intentions for March:

Increase the frequency of my yoga practice - strive for every other day (currently practicing 1-2x/week, but I miss how amazing I feel when I'm practicing 4-5x/week)

Continue to nurture my body with fresh, healthy foods and lots of exercise

Take more pictures! One of my goals for this blog is to incorporate more photos from my own life, but I always forget to take pictures. Starting this month, I intend to take more!

Take steps toward fulfilling another aspect of Tulips & Tea that I have been toying with for awhile (I don't mean to be mysterious about this, but I need to get a couple things in place before I can share...)

Sign up for a just-for-fun type of class at the local community college (we got the catalog in the mail the other day, and I couldn't believe how many fabulous classes they offer - everything from wine tasting to floral arranging to women & entrepreneurship! It'll be tough to pick just one.)

Finalize wedding ceremony details, draft our program, and decide on wine/beer for the reception

What are your intentions for March? What are you most looking forward to during the spring and summer months?

P.S. There are so many interesting and inspiring things popping up in my Google Reader today! Some good reads, in case you missed 'em: Gala Darling's Empty Bellies do not Beget Genius (so right on, as usual [image may be NSFW]), Positively Present's Three Shades of Happiness, and Sarah Von's Manifesta (an excerpt from Eve Ensler's latest book, which Sarah also blogged about here).

Image via Bippity Boppity Boo.

Mondo Beyondo List

As I've mentioned, I'm currently taking the Mondo Beyondo course, an online class about uncovering your dreams. A couple weeks ago, we created our Mondo Beyondo lists, which is a list of all the creative, wild, and totally juicy dreams tucked away in the back of your mind. Things that may be unlikely to happen in 5 or even 10 years. The point is to just write down whatever comes to mind without questioning it. As Mondo Beyondo instructor Andrea writes:

"If we can loosen ourselves up and stretch ourselves just enough to get our rational mind out of the driver's seat, really interesting things will float to the surface. You might not know why you are writing something down, but I encourage you to trust everything that shows up. Don't censor yourself. Your dreams are living below the surface and I want you to surprise yourself."

Now, we've been asked to release our Mondo Beyondo into the universe however we want, so I decided to (gulp) share mine with you. (It's always kind of scary sharing "dreams" and stuff like that, isn't it? Taking a deep breath...here goes...)

My Mondo Beyondo list:

-have a family

-backpack through india and thailand

-adopt a dog

-become certified to teach yoga

-take a culinary tour of italy (we'll sort of be doing this on our honeymoon!)

-learn to speak italian

-write a cookbook centered on principles of holistic health + wellness

-volunteer with animals (just completed my application to volunteer at local animal shelter)

-travel the world as a food writer

-buy a little bungalow (with a snazzy kitchen) in a college town (preferably near mountains)

-design and create my own line of wellness teas

-make my own jewelry

-make time for and honor my art daily

-get my master's in creativity studies/art therapy and become a creativity coach (more of a long-term aspiration as i'm very happy in my current job)

-start my own non-profit using yoga+meditation to help survivors of trauma (also long-term)

-become my healthiest self (working on making some serious changes to my lifestyle and diet and have lost 13 pounds since the holidays...woohoo!)

-run a half-marathon (going to sign up to run a local 5K at the end of march...hoping to work my way up to half-marathon)

-play the piano again

-grow an organic herb and vegetable garden

-go to culinary school

-improve my photography skills and become a food photographer

-spend a year traveling throughout europe

-meet at least a couple of the folks i most admire

-become an advocate for a more sustainable food system (à la my idol alice waters)

-take dance and drawing classes

-give a TED talk

-go white-water rafting

-learn to knit

-go on a yoga and/or meditation retreat in costa rica

-perform stand-up comedy

-become an outward bound instructor

I'm looking back over this list, and the phrase that keeps coming to mind is: jeez, I'd better get started! I'm kidding...sort of.

Image via Mondo Beyondo.

Reflections on 2009 + Intentions for 2010

Hello, my dears, and happy belated New Year! After taking a break for the holidays and a vacation to Key West, I am finally getting back into the groove with blogging, twitter, etc. The past couple weeks, I have been doing a lot of reflecting upon the past year as well as thinking about my intentions for the new year.

2009 was quite an exciting year. Among other things, I:

• Became engaged to my best friend and the love of my life and began planning a wedding
• Took an amazing trip to California during which I toured a vineyard and tasted wine straight from the barrel in Napa; dined on ocean-fresh oysters at San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace; and climbed the rocky coastline of Northern California's Humboldt Bay
• Said goodbye to urban apartment living; and
• Moved, with my fiancé, to the picturesque town of Annapolis
• Became a homeowner and enjoyed turning our condo into a cozy sanctuary
• Started this blog and discovered an incredible blogging community
• Re-committed myself to living a creative life and took steps toward exploring my creativity more fully
• Visited art museums on the West Coast (SF MoMA), the Midwest (The Art Institute of Chicago), & the East Coast (various)
• Joined a gym, began running 4-5x/week, and started a home yoga practice
• Took advantage of my spacious new kitchen by making all sorts of delicious home-cooked meals, and grew my knowledge of ingredients, techniques, flavors, etc.
• Deepened my commitment to using organic, local, and seasonal products
• Celebrated New Year's with my family and fiancé in Key West

After much pondering, I have decided that my word for 2010 is SAVOR, meaning "to appreciate fully; enjoy or relish." I wish to greet each new experience with gratitude, and to fully appreciate, enjoy, and relish what each day has to offer. Guided by this intention, I will:

• Get married and savor all of the moments that will make up that day (and every day with my husband thereafter!)
• Honeymoon in Italy: Cinque Terre,Tuscany, Florence. Savor the art, architecture, food, wine, and scenery.
• Continue to grow my cooking skills and take better advantage of the fresh ingredients at local farmer's markets. Savor both the cooking process and the end result!
• Savor artist's dates on a more regular basis (I really want to make it a priority to do at least 1 per week!)
• Savor the creative process via various projects and activities
• Continue to grow in my yoga practice and savor all of the benefits to my mind and body
• Savor good health and learn more about about keeping my body healthy through naturopathy, healing foods, Ayurveda, and other holistic methods

I have so enjoyed reading about all of your words and intentions/goals for 2010. I have been gathering bits of inspiration and ideas from all of you!

Here's to 2010!

Image via TheSketchedbook. Is that not the most awesome calendar ever?