Pagine

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Simple Pleasure - Reading



These are my new purchases from my local bookstore.  I usually use the library to save money, but I didn't know if I would finish a library book before we move next week.  Rather than use Amazon or Target, or get something on Kindle,  I decided to support my local bookstore.   http://www.indiebound.org/

To be honest, sometimes reading relaxes me more than yoga or meditation.  Sometimes my mind just needs to go somewhere else.

Here are some of my favorite reads:




Pictures courtesy of http://www.indiebound.org/

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Time - Having It All Part Two


Drink eight glasses of water, meditate for twenty minutes a day, spend quality time with your spouse and family, do aerobic exercise, lift weights, do yoga, read, keep up on the news....

Recently I wrote about "having it all".  What about "doing it all"?  If we added up all of the recommended items out there it would add up to a week, rather than a day.  It has only been in the last few years that I became OK with not doing it all.  That doesn't mean I have given up completely, I've just set more reasonable goals, and made broader categories.

Reasonable Goals - Gretchen Rubin who wrote The Happiness Project helped me with this a lot. She suggests setting small, meaningful goals and tracking them.  The tracking really helps.  My teacher friends will understand this.  It is similar to having students keep a reading log.  Here is an example of my goal log:

Breathe/Meditate 10 minutes day







Yoga at least two times week.
Other workout two times week.







Read – three times week.







Relationships Activity two times per week









Broader Categories - You will notice that I don't do yoga everyday.  I do try to do something mind/body everyday, however.  For example, if it is a day that I am walking or working with weights, I try to meditate longer. Sometimes meditating is just cuddling with the cat and listening to her purr. For the sake of full disclosure, meditating ten minutes a day has been the hardest goal to keep up with.

Weekly goals work best for me, but I  just found this great infographic that I may try out:

12 Tips On Staying Inspired
by 24slides.
Explore more infographics like this one on the web's largest information design community - Visually.