Thursday Thoughts: What Makes Me Feel Peaceful....

1. Mornings in those few moments when you are still comfy and snuggled in the blankets. When the world is still quiet.

2. Journaling

3. Snuggles with Kyra

4. Smell of the cold air

5. Hot Cocoa

6. Fall Leaves

7. The pups- Kiya, Arya, and Luna

8. That first sip of coffee

9. Meditation

10. Waves

What Makes you peaceful? 

This was part of Alyssa's Back to Blogging series! Be sure to check out more like it!

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April 2016 Goals

1. Workout- In an effort to shake the slump and get things going I've decided that I need to get things going. Namely I need to get myself going. So I am shooting for at least 30 minutes a day but honestly even five minutes is better than nothing! 


2. Read- My reading took kind of a hit lately and I've got a huge stack of To Read books that I am more than ready to get into. 


3. Write- I need to write. Even just a paragraph a day. I need to get writing again. Whether it is actual writing or just journaling my thoughts. Writing is writing. 


4. Bedtime- I have a great night time routine for my face but getting to sleep is a whole other thing. I need to start getting into bed at a normal time.


5. Meditate- I was doing so well with this but once I hit the slump I was so not in the mood to listen to meditations and trying to do unguided ones just resulted in me worrying about things instead of relaxing. So once again I will start from the beginning at three minute intervals and move forward from there. 


What are your goals for the month? Anyone else going through a bit of a slump? I feel like the whole blogging world has been in one.

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Morning Rituals

Wake up early- I attempt to get up before Kyra so that I can have a little bit of time to myself. Sometimes it is just long enough to have a cup of coffee and sometimes it is long enough for me get my coffee, a couple loads of laundry done, blog posts done, and meditation done. 

Meditation- I try to do this in the morning. It makes me feel more relaxed and focused during the day and it helps me to process what I really want to get done during the day. 

 Silence- I don't turn on music, the TV, or even speak before Kyra gets up if I can help it. I love the silence and it is great for meditation. Mostly however it is just nice to not have to hear the noise of the world. 

 Bullet Journal- I usually write down what I want to get done the night before but if I think of anything else to add then I add it now. Also I try to prioritize what I think I can actually get done and what absolutely HAS to get done. I am still new to this system but it has really helped me to streamline chores and obligations. Also it is helped me accept that sometimes I'm not going to get anything on the list done that day. Some days are just like that. 

Yoga- This doesn't happen every day. However the days that I do get it done I always feel better. I love morning workouts much more than evening ones. There are too many ways to get out of evening workouts. Tired, busy, etc., but I find very little excuses to skip a nice morning session. Plus yoga is quiet and quiet is good because it doesn't wake Kyra up! 

Shower/Skin Regimen- I don't always get a shower in the morning but I always take care of my skin. I'm 31, my skin is super important to me (as it should be to everyone!) so I always cleanse, use a serum, followed by moisturizer!
 

That's it! Basically that is my normal morning unless of course it has been a bad night or if Kyra wakes up early and we immediately jump into breakfast/playtime. (She is either a bouncy ball of energy in the morning or a grumpy kitten.) 

Do you have any morning rituals? Are you thinking of starting one? Anything I should add to mine? Let me know in the comments below!

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Hello March

It's hard to believe that we are already three months into the year. 

March is a pretty busy month around here since we have about a million birthdays this month. On top of that throwing in Easter this month will make it even more interesting. 

But even though it's going to be a busy one I still have some goals that I want to accomplish this month! 


Wake up Early- I wake up fairly early as is but I want to start waking up at least an hour before Kyra does. Most of the time I just let myself lie there in bed until she wakes up but here lately I've been getting up and getting a few things done before she is even out of bed and it makes a world of difference to my day! 


Yoga- I am starting the 30 Day Yoga challenge this month. I love the stretches in yoga and I always feel so much better after I do it so I'm going to attempt to make it part of the daily routine this month. I want to increase my flexibility and make some extra time for myself. 


Meditation- I have been doing this daily pretty consistently these past few months but I want to continue. It really has helped to clear my mind and focus on the things that are really important. I also want to try new apps for meditation because it is really fun to switch things up when you are having a hard time with one in particular. 


Outside Play- When the weather is nice I am going to try and get outside more. Kyra loves outside and playing in the dirt and mud. I'm not really an outside person but I don't want her to miss out on it just because it's not my thing. Plus it makes it ten times more fun to see her so excited to play and run and jump without a care in the world. 


Planning- I've been "officially" using a bullet journal for about a month now and I really love it. I love the lists and I love having a planner that actually works for me. This month I hope to continue to make progress in planning extending it to meal planning, savings planning, and finding systems that work for me! 


What are your goals for the month? Do you do yoga? Any tips or favorite videos on YouTube? Let me know! 

Happy March Everyone!

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Meditation App Review

I posted on Tuesday about how I've started Meditating and I mentioned that I would let you all know what apps I have been using and what worked for me. I was actually planning on posting this next Tuesday but since I had so much interest in what I was using I bumped it up! 

All these apps are "free" apps that I found by searching the app store and also from reading meditation/mindfulness blogs. Reviews are my own and are not sponsored in any way.

So here's the list: 

Stop. Breathe. Think.- This is by far my favorite meditation app. It asks you to check in each day and identify just what emotional state you are in. You select emotions from a lists and then it generates a list of meditations that will go along with what you are feeling. Whether you need to simply do a body scan to release tension or you simply want to find some gratitude for the things you should be grateful for, this is a really wonderful app. It has several selections for time and should you not like the generated list you can select a different option. 

I also like that you get rewarded for checking in with a daily counter of your meditation streak. I'm a gold star kind of person and I love seeing my progress each day. Also you get stickers for completed meditations and time spent meditating which of course I love. 

This app does have the option to purchase packages with more meditations but the packages run you around .99 cents. This doesn't bother me too much as I am still working through all the meditations that are free and I've been doing it since the beginning of January. However 99 cents isn't that much and I will most likely end up purchasing a few of the packages in the future.

Headspace- I really enjoyed this app. I love his voice. I love the ten meditations and how he explains how thoughts work in a way that makes sense to me personally. There were also animations that were very helpful and fun to watch before certain meditations to prepare you for the mediation itself. The app itself is free as are the first ten meditations. 

This is where I get a little irritated with this app. The first ten meditations were amazing and free but you have to subscribe in order to continue. The subscription is $12.99 which is out of my budget for a monthly subscription. So while I very much enjoyed the app I won't be continuing with it.


Calm- This is also a guided meditation app. It is a good app if you just want to do a body scan and focus on each part of your body in order to release the tension in each step. Very relaxing right before bed though I will admit her voice isn't my favorite. I also like the option of changing the scenes if you aren't the type of person to close your eyes during meditation.

 This app is good for when you just want to shake out the tightness in the shoulders and neck and back...that is if you tend to carry your stress in those places like I do! It also has the option of the 7 days of calm which is a great intro into meditation. I am still working with this one as it is the newest of the apps that I have started.


Take a Break- This app is not a guided meditation app and will link you to other apps. Not my favorite but the sounds are relaxing if you are into a white noise sort of meditation. It does have settings for length which would make it more ideal for breaks at work. I kept the app but I rarely use it. I might use it more if I were still working in an office setting however. 


I hope you all found this review helpful and hopefully you find one of these that will suit you.

If you do end up trying them please let me know what you think! Also if you find one that you like that I didn't mention I would love to know and try more! 

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Meditation and Mindfulness

At the beginning of the year I decided that I would start carving out more time for myself. I have always enjoyed listening to relaxation audios and so I thought that I would go ahead and start a meditation routine. I wanted to start small and I wanted a guided meditation to help since my mind tends to wander and it usually wanders to stressful places. 

So I did a little research and downloaded a few free apps to see if it was for me. I was doing well and enjoying myself as I took 5-10 minutes for myself. Then of course my miscarriage happened. 

That week I was obviously a wreck and did not feel up to any sort of meditation but the following week I tried again. I will be honest and tell you that it was really hard at first. I cried and cried through each sessions but slowly it got better. It got easier. I was finding a calm inside myself. I was dealing with my grief in a different way but more importantly, for me at least, was that it gave me permission to simply stop thinking. I didn't have to think about it for 10 whole minutes. I could focus on my breathing, on my posture, on the feeling of being connected to the ground beneath me. That feeling of being on solid ground helped so much. 

Now I look forward to my daily meditations. I am more mindful of my emotions and am able to breathe through a great deal of my daily frustrations. It's a habit that I am happy to have formed. 


Do you meditate? Have you been considering starting a meditation routine? Let me know in the comments! 

Also I am doing a post on what meditation apps I have used and which ones were awesome and which ones just weren't for me!

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