I started doing yoga at home quite a while ago. I have to admit I am a yoga lover, I have been doing yoga since I was a kid and I love it. I love the way my body feels, I love the way my mind focuses and I just love how relaxed I get when I am at the end of a class.
A few years ago, I started doing videos from the Yoga with Adriene YouTube Channel. I finished my last video from her channel, I had done them all. As I look back I want to reflect on what I learned. Be present with where you are. This applies to life and yoga, do not evaluate yourself based on yesterday. Do not judge and add more toxic thoughts to your life. Accept where you are. I used to think it was about getting the pose. I was so proud when I was able to do crow pose. I even had my husband take a picture (as you can see above), but the truth is I have since lost that ability. I will grow and may get it back, but whether or not I can do it does not ultimately matter. When I stay grounded and present in the experience I am happier with the results. Consider your soul. I have found through checking in with my yoga practice I am more aware of what I am feeling and able to be more present. I judge less and experience more. I notice when I feel something is lost and I search. Checking in with yourself is important, I find it as a way to see who I am and who I am becoming. I slow down and consider my steps. I make choices that are good for my spirit. Yoga is not a competition. This idea connects with the first one. Keep your eyes to your own yoga mat. Sometimes it is easy to compare to blame to judge yourself based on others. Recently I noticed that tendency within myself. I was judging someone else not based on anything in reality but based on my perception. This led me to be upset with a person who had done nothing to me. I realized I had to look within myself and treat this person with love. I did not know them well enough and this was a sign to slow down and take the time to get to know the people around me. Abraham Lincoln once said “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.” I find for me approaching life this way improves my outlook and I am slowly teaching my brain to see kindness rather than anger. Gratitude is everything. Our lives are much better than we realize. Shifting our perspective to appreciate what we have, our working bodies, friends, family, community, shelter, even timely buses are things we take for granted and by seeing them for the privileges they are we are able to be more content with the life we have, without anything actually changing. I hope some of these helped you. I would highly recommend Yoga with Adriene, I have recently started another Yoga YouTube Channel and I will check back in and share how it goes. If you have any yoga suggestions, comment below. I would also like to say that when it comes to yoga, like all things in life there will be styles and formats and teachers you connect with and some you don't, meaning if one style is not for you but you want to like yoga you can try another and have a new experience.
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Every month I like to share things I have been reading recently that I enjoy.
In the past month I read two books that I enjoyed.
I listened to The Book Thief on audio. A friend of mine recommended it to me years ago, and I finally got around to picking it up. This book is a story of a girl during World War II and I found this to be more of a novel take. The book is narrated by death, which just makes for an interesting writing style. I really loved this and the characters became people who I genuinely cared about. Book Rating: 4/5
Last month I read the first book in the series of the Lunar Chronicles. The first book is called Cinder. This book continues the series of what I would describe as dystopian, futuristic fairytales. I love how the author adapted them enough that I was unable to predict what was going to happen and wove new characters into an existing story. I also found she did a nice job of providing a bit of closure at the end, which seems to be a challenge for many authors. Book Rating: 4/5
What have you been reading this month? Any recommendations would be much appreciated! Please leave them below. Sometimes you want to stroll through the market, leisurely picking out produce and enjoying the atmosphere. For most of us this is not the way we shop, so when we have to shop in a hurry, a few key tips help to keep us less stressed.
Sometimes other people have the ability to see you more clearly than you see yourself. One of these times happened last summer. I had a friend visiting and she was there for our weekly grocery store trip and I realized, I am a little intense when I shop. If I am being honest, I am a little intense about a lot of things. This though might be helpful if you do not enjoy shopping and want to make your trip quick.
I love taking the time each week to focus on gratitude in an intentional way. These are specific things that I am loving this week. I would love if you shared yours in the comments Small Yoga ClassesI have been going to yoga for a bit over a week and I love the way a small class is with the teacher having time to give attention to all the students. I have felt really appreciated by that. HugsWhen things have not gone my way nothing is quite as good as a hug to make me realize how lucky I am and how loved. I am not sure what it is about a hug, but I just feel calm and safe. I think hugs are the best. PastaA few months ago I was over pasta with a little butter, cheese, salt and pepper. I am living to take back those words. This week I have been loving pasta! My Supportive SpouseI often think my husband is the first one who was supportive of me more for myself than for him. I am glad that he helps me to accept me and help me to explore those activities that I love. I am glad to have him as my cheerleader. Video CameraI have been trying to document more of my life and I am glad that I have video camera that makes that possible and I feel confident about what I am filming. I am enjoying the whole process and have a new motivation.
What are you grateful for lately? One of the things I am slowly learning is that fear cannot be the lens through which I see the world. I have spent much of my life living from a place of fear, cautiously trying to plot out worst case scenarios to be avoided. Planning for the worst but hoping for the best. For quite a while I truly believed this was serving me, but in fact it was slowly driving me insane. When you live your life from a place of fear you are constantly suspicious, even when you have no reason to be. My level of fear does not match the situation and most of the time provides an inaccurate view of the world. The truth is we are less in control than we want to think we are. Learning this, odd as it may seem, has helped me. I cannot control what others will do. My actions will not lead to security and safety in an ultimate way. I cannot stop someone from chopping down my door and killing me in my sleep. I can lock the door and know that that is enough. Whatever else comes will come. I cannot control it. I cannot control my life. I can control how I choose to respond or act in it. I am slowly but surely making steps to live my life from a place of love and a place of hope.
After reading the work of Emily Freeman, I noticed that the shift from fear to love is not always easy. Personally, I am moving from a place of blame to a place of understanding especially with those closest to me. I have a worldview that all people are doing the best they can all the time. When I remember this and live from that place, my life is better. I am more compassionate and I look to see their point of view too. I need to believe this and consider the intent rather than the effect. Most people are trying to enjoy their lives and my negativity doesn’t help them or me. My lack in this area comes from the unkind and judging place. Mostly, it comes from the belief that there is not enough. The world is not enough. When really, it is enough. I have enough. I am enough. Part of this means I need to slowly retrain my brain and lean more on my intuition than my learned habit of fear. In the small areas I have made progress my noticeable effect has been more hope and optimism. Rather than looking at my life as a series of problems to be fixed, I am able to be more present and enjoy it for what is. Choosing to love feels tricky. It does not seem to be the default choice for most, but choosing love changes everything. Choosing love, helps us to connect, helps us to trust and helps us to care for others. We are able to get out of our head and realize that our narrative is not the only one. We are able to attach less to outcomes and enjoy the process that is love. So today, and many days to come I am choosing to love and choosing to trust and choosing to let go of fear. I am find as I let go of the future, I am able to embrace the present. I am able to be where I am and God seems to be meeting me there. God is trusting me and loving me and showing me that I can let go of the fear and just exist now and see where it takes me. I am pretty sure this is not something most people feel. When I see the word productivity, my brain lights up and I think yes. Now the culture of America would probably say this is a good thing, great productivity, produce produce produce. This is in fact the problem for me. I want to produce continuously without purpose. I want to seek and find without end. I want to do all the things. This is partially my natural inclination, but also this is a coping method. I avoid by doing. I numb by doing. I see the world as a number of tasks to be completed and checked off. And when I say I do this I mean I do this with everything, purpose of a bath- cleanliness, purpose of reading- to finish the book. The world is filled with things and at some point I started to believe it was my job to do them, to do all of them. I have only recently and slowly started to realize, I can’t do them… all. It is hard for me to even type the words. Part of this comes from the ego that I need to be better than everyone, and part of it comes from a lack of self confidence and as a way of proving myself to myself. This as it turns out is a vicious cycle, with the trigger word being productivity. I am sure this is not the story for everyone, my husband does not have this same issue, but I have started to become wary of the word productivity. I question productivity to what end, to what purpose. Why? I am still working on finding the answer to this question.
This idea of a checklist of productivity comes into play in many areas of my life. Vacations have been times I need to remind myself to slow down. I get into this checklist mentality where I want to do all the things, and then my vacation exhausts me. The best example of this is on my honeymoon, I realized doing it all was exhausting and I ended up spending an entire day in a hotel to recuperate. I have to learn that I cannot do all the things and instead be present with what I am choosing to spend my time on. My brother-in-law once said that he sees people taking photos and mentally going check, done, moving on. Got it! Check! Clearly, I am writing this because it also applies to me. I have some standard place photos, like my Hoover Dam one above. I need this as a reminder as well. Our society encourages productivity, more more more. Instead I think we need to come to terms with the idea that we will not do it all. Would we rather check the boxes or enjoy what we are doing and be where we are? I understand the struggle of not appreciating where we are in life yet. We think after I finish ______ that is when life will start, I do it too, but when I stop and reflect I realize that is not the case. I have a good friend who says that we are doing life now, THIS IS LIFE. All of it, the mess before the thing the mess after the thing. Each moment is part of how we are choosing to live our life. I think if we deeply understood that we would live our lives differently, spend less time impressing others and more time being ourselves, and the world would be a better place for it. So if you need my permission you have it, slow down, do less, but be more present, be more aware and realize this is life we are living every moment. I find this to be a good reminder that I am not only as important as my last accomplishment and not doing what was planned does not make me a failure. I can exist in the now and listen to my body and knowing what is right for myself without looking to outside source for help. I have always loved cooking, but not until we moved into Iowa did I become a person who decided to forgo eating out in favor of eating homemade food. One of the things that Gretchen Rubin says about habits, is that a big change is often an easy time to add or adjust your habits, because everything is changing. I found this to be true. I started cooking the way I previously had and shopping for one meal at a time. I went to the grocery store multiple times a week and only knew the next thing I was making, not much further than that. As I slowly started to meal plan, I heard a podcast say that when you meal plan you are in effect batching your tasks. This means that rather than wasting time wondering the grocery store multiple times a week you just go once, it is more efficient that way. This was obvious to people who are more like my husband, but I am someone who enjoys going grocery shopping and this idea had simply never occurred to me. At first meal planning feels overwhelming, it seems like just another task to complete. There is another way to go about it, and that is to figure out what foods you eat most often and just stock those, that is what I mean when I say find your staples. When I think of our cooking staples, I think of the things I could use to get me through if I was unable to shop or we were traveling and didn't want to buy any more food. They can include a variety of categories and types of food that you often eat. Grains- Beans, Lentils, Rice, Pasta, Polenta, Bread etc. Consider what you like to include in your meals that fits this category. I typically have dried and canned beans on hand, pasta and I always freeze my bread or tortillas so that last for a long time. Protein- This can include beans and lentils, but it also can include nuts, eggs. and meats. This is what in your meal will fill you up. I usually have on hand beans and lentils, nuts (stored in the freezer so that they last longer), frozen chicken breasts, eggs, and many different nut butters. Vegetables- What vegetables do you or your family enjoy eating? My staples include things like potatoes, onions, carrots and celery. I also have frozen corn, and peas, but beyond that I typically buy what I need for a specific recipe. I also have started buying things that are easy to eat without much prep work, based on what looks good in the store these can include cucumbers, snap peas and grape tomatoes, I sometimes will chop up the aforementioned carrots and eat those too. Sometimes I keep romaine on hand and I chop it at the beginning of the week for easy salads. Fruits- My husband is the king of this category. He basically loves all fruits. We always have bananas and frozen fruits for smoothies as well as something seasonal.
Baking Supplies- Flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cornmeal, chocolate chips etc. If you bake regularly it helps to have these ingredients to be able to bake when the mood strikes you Spice Ingredients- This for me includes both dried spices as well as fresh. We keep on hand fresh garlic, ginger, scallions and usually some form of fresh herbs. Dried spices that are staples for us include cumin, chili powder, oregano, everything bagel seasoning, Lawry's Season salt, and garlic salt. Fats and Oils-These are what you will most likely use to prepare your foods they range from butter to olive oil to coconut oil to many other forms of oil. This can include avocado or nut butters as well. Fats also help you feel full and are good to include in your meals. We usually have many forms of fats on hand typically butter, toasted sesame oil, and olive oil, but I have a nicely stocked pantry so if I run out of olive oil- like I did a week ago, I can just use something else- in this case corn oil. Dairy- Butter, milk, cheese, butter milk, cottage cheese, sour cream. We usually have some form of cheese, Parmesan, milk and butter on hand. I find for me dairy is something I frequently enjoy in my meals. Sometimes thinking this through helps you to be prepared when something goes awry or your plans change. Also I find that these may change as your style of cooking evolves. We are not static and your cooking staples may not be static either, you may buy different things seasonally or you may go through a phase of really using one ingredient and it becomes a staple. What are your cooking staples? Does this help you prepare meals easily? I love pie, as you can probably tell by my banner. One thing I have considered lately is pie derivatives. Foods that are pie like, but not necessarily pie. These include crisps, bars, tarts, and hand pies. All the following is my own thoughts and definitions, I am not describing anything official, just sharing my thoughts and ideas for other pie like ideas to give inspiration for both me and maybe you as well. Crisps usually have a fruit base similar to some pies. Instead of having a crust they rather have a granola like topping that is cooked on top of the fruit. Bars are usually have a thicker crust and a crisp like topping and a thinner layer of fruit or jam in the middle. Tarts in my mind have a thicker crust base and it usually is less flaky they also are shallower. Hand pies are effectively individual pies. They are small and can be eaten by a single person rather than needing to bake in a dish they can usually be baked on a baking tray as the dough encompasses all of the filling.
What do you think? Do you love pie best or one of these derivatives? Happy Thursday! Today I want to share with you thinks I have been enjoying recently. Trader Joe'sWe finally got a local Trader Joe's and I am enjoying grocery shopping again. I really appreciate the lack of choices and yet the variety of food. I find that for what I want to cook, Trader Joe's has almost everything. TravelThis weekend we went to Vermont. I had never been there before, but I love the adventure of exploring a new place, be it a new state, a new town or just a new area. TechnologyI am grateful for the ability to connect with friends and family near and far, through Voxer and Facetime and phone calls, oh my. I am able to stay in touch with those people who I care about but do not live close. SunshineThe weather here has been quite varied, but the sunshine has been present even when it is cold. I love the way it encourages me to just go for a walk outside. Unbreakable Kimmy SchmidtI am behind on watching this show, but as I catch up I remember how much I like this quirky character and all of her weird adventures.
What have you been loving this week? What things small or big are you grateful for? I considered calling this post "How To Kick Your Salad Up a Notch", but I figured honest titling would help people find my post. I have spent a lot of time recently reflecting on food and my relationship with food. When I think of food I think of community, love and family. I realize that sometimes in practice I mix up the message with the messenger. I think that sometimes I overeat food because I want the feelings that go along with it. I have started to recognize that food may bring people together but eating more food does not give you those emotions, those feelings. I am slowly finding my way to eat mindfully and enjoy my food more. The reason I have been considering this is because these croutons remind me of home. When I was little, my mom would often make us salads. She would prepare them before dinner so when we were really hungry we would eat our salads because they were ready and there. One lesson I learned from my mom, that was passed down from my dad's mom is that the small things matter. Love can be shown in small acts, chopping up a carrot, kind hugs, encouragement, recognition, space, time, freedom, and homemade croutons. My mom said when you cut up the vegetables or make homemade croutons it is a way to communicate to others that they matter, taking the time to do it well matters. Croutons encapsulate all these things. Also they are easy, but beware once you make homemade croutons you may not be able to go back to boxed croutons. I know for me I do not care for store bought ones anymore. I find them to be too crunchy and dry. I also have baked croutons on a baking sheet numerous times, but I find the skillet ones get more evenly browned and just crispy enough. Homemade Italian Croutons |
About MeI'm Sarah; a wife, traveler, foodie, and adventurer. Archives
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