yoga – sooo many things
Wow, hey July. We’re here already, huh?
What have I been up to the last couple months? Great question, let me see if I can remember that far back.
I recommitted to learning and talking about racism. This is an exciting moment of deeper understanding and focus on a problem that has been swept under the rug by white people for far too long. We are moving forward and I’m committed to being a part of that. In particular, I’ve been really interested in the (new to me) concept of defunding police departments to give a bigger portion of city budgets to more productive areas like housing, schools, mental health, and addiction services can lead to better outcomes and less violence.
I’ve been doing lots of yoga and going on lots of runs. Taking the time to slow down and breathe during my yoga practice or getting my anxious energy out with a run around the neighborhood makes an incredible difference in my mental health. Lately, my brain space has felt pretty scattered, and moving my body every day is one of the best ways to make that space feel a little less chaotic.
I took a walk every day in May and woke up at 7am every day in June. And I liked it. I thought it would be REALLY hard to complete these goals, but it actually wasn’t once I committed to following through with them. I only missed 1 day of walking and 2 days of waking up at 7—not half bad considering how little self control I usually have when I don’t feel like doing something!
I discovered how much I like working in the yard. It’s been clear to me for a long time how good it makes me feel to spend time outside. And for the last few years I’ve enjoyed growing herbs and vegetables in our backyard. But I’ve always thought about putting in the effort to make the plants grow better and the yard look nice as boring, waste-of-time work. Maybe it’s just me getting older, but this year I actually look forward to spending time out in the sun pulling weeds and tending to the plants. I love the feeling of being coated in sun and dirt and sweat mixed with the pride of having an outside space that looks and feels so much more beautiful and inviting.
Posted in Life, Monthly thingsTagged blacklivesmatter, Goals, happiness, learning, Life, lifestyle, millennial, yoga
The last couple months were stressful. A family health scare consumed most of my time and energy, but things have leveled out now and I’m able to think more clearly again.
I took two weeks off of work for the holidays and to rest my brain. I returned yesterday, still a little unclear about my direction, so I spent most of the day thinking about goals for this year. They mainly revolve around making/saving more money to move to California, which isn’t all that exciting, so I decided to spice things up and create a new daily goal for each month of the year. Every January I do Yoga with Adriene’s 30 day yoga series which always adds a little excitement to the month. I was thinking about how to apply that new year energy to the rest of the year and came up with daily goals for the remaining months:
September: Take 1 photo every day
October: Do some art every day
November: Write every day
December: Listen to 1 new album every day
Hoping I can build some new, good habits in the process and add some positive energy to each day. I tried to make all these habits really doable so I wouldn’t set myself up for failure. I’m a little nervous about June—my sleeping habits have always been pretty erratic—but waking up early is something I’ve been wanting to train myself to do for a long time, and this seems like the right opportunity to work on it. I’ll report back on how this all goes.
Posted in Goals, LifeTagged 30something, Goals, habits, happiness, Life, lifestyle, newyear, yoga