A Short Post Today - Meditation Took Priority - LOL

I felt the need for an extra long meditation this morning (of course if I had realized I was three pounds over my preferred weight, I might have shortened the meditation time). Nonetheless, I took that extra time for a bit of mental steadiness, and then switched clothes and hit the treadmill. Since I had done the meditation longer than usual, I cut my usual 45 minutes on the treadmill down to 30 minutes. 

I didn't do my full 45 minutes on the treadmill this 
morning, but I still got a solid 30 minutes, so I'll 
consider that a win/win. 

I brought a beadwork repair home to try and get done over the weekend - not that I really get much of a weekend - we're spending every spare minute at the shop - but I can give it a try. Chickie was going to repair it, but she's really not much of a beader and I would prefer it to be done a bit more professionally. So, it's on my desk in front of me right now. At least if I need any beads, I have LOTS of them here in my private stash. 

Beaded medallions are a common beading project in Native 
American tribes using beadwork. They're pretty easy to do, 
and always attractive. The one I'm repairing is only two 
colors - dark blue and white. It's broken at the usual point - 
where the strap attaches to the medallion. 

So, since I indulged at 3:00 am, I'm a bit tight on time at 6:30 am. I'm going to grab some breakfast and head over to the shop to assemble a frame that I picked up on Wednesday. Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the week (hopefully after a more standard 45 minutes on the treadmill). Enjoy your day! Slava Ukraini. 

Positive Thoughts - I'm Trying to Focus on Those

Short and sweet today because I'm running a little late. It's a swimming day, else I wouldn't have a deadline, but the gym doors unlock precisely at 5:00 am and I want to be in the pool very shortly afterward. I'm not thrilled with the book I'm listening to just now, but I want to get through it to start the next volume in the series. I think it's more a matter of not liking the supplementary characters very much that's making it a harder listen. Still, it's a long series, and one little blip won't stop me from listening to all of them in sequence. I don't recall how many books there are total, but I still have quite a few more in the list. 

There are a LOT of colors of Swarovski 
crystals. These are the available colors of the 
4mm round size. I carry rounds in this size, 
as well as smaller and larger. That's not counting 
the bicone, square and specialty shapes. I have 
a LOT of Swarovski inventory and I'm trying 
to get this efficient so that we can actually 
sell it "easily" during a clearance sale. 

I was pretty busy with customers yesterday, so didn't get anything done on my Swarovski Sale project. I'm pushing that sale up to end of April, maybe even end of May. There's just so much prep work to be done. The methodology of how I'll need to run the sale is coming clear - or at least a bit clearer - but the actual nuts and bolts of organization are all on me. When I'm dealing with customers, quarterly taxes, and the general maintenance stuff to keep the store going, I don't have a lot of time to devote to specials like our Swarovski Sale. Still, it will happen. Just not on my timeline (obviously). 

I love my morning meditation time. I'm a bit crunched 
for time on my swimming days, but it's worth it. 
There's just something about sitting and meditating 
first thing every morning that just starts my day out 
on an excellent note. 

Meditation this morning was delightful, however, so that makes up for lack of sleep. I ended up getting to bed almost a half-hour late last night because I had to fight with the federal taxes website to get my monthly withholding tax paid and the receipt printed out. Still, I got it done. Then, this morning, I realized I hadn't plugged my phone in for charging, so I only had about 20% for my morning meditation exercises. Oops! I actually had to plug in for most of them, meaning the sounds were not pulling in through headphones. It's the single disadvantage I can find with my Google phone - the power and the headphones connect through the same portal, so to use headphones, I can't be charging the phone. Still, it's a minor inconvenience, and it's happily up to almost 50% already, despite having been used for my morning routines. 

Have a simply glorious day. It's one more day on this 
fabulous earth, and one more day to enjoy the wind, 
the weather, the clouds, the sounds of the birds, etc. Make 
it one of the best days of your life. 

So, I'm off to the pool. I hope all of you have a splendid Tuesday, I know I have every intention of having one on my end. I'll be back tomorrow and wish you a glorious day. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Today Will be Wonderful, But Tomorrow Will be Busy, Busy, Busy!

Tomorrow's schedule is already turning into a VERY busy day, so today I'm going to try to focus on work and tasks that need to be done at the shop or on the laptop, and worry about how to fit everything into tomorrow, on Wednesday. Today, I'm on time, I slept well, and have already gotten all of my morning meditations in, so it's going to be a good day. I'm determined - LOL. 

I shifted my schedule a few years ago to make sure I could 
include my morning meditation every day, as soon as I 
awakened. I've been pretty good about keeping to that 
schedule over the years, and find it very helpful for my 
day ahead. 

DH and I finished up our ribs yesterday for dinner. They were wonderful, but not something I can eat often. Over two days, I put on 2-1/2 pounds, and it's solely because of fat-rich pork. I'm fine with it, I know I'm still within my range and I'll have it back where I want by the end of the week, but it's annoying. It always seems to be easier to gain weight than to lose it - LOL. So unfair, right? 

There's nothing much tastier and easier to 
cook than ribs in the crockpot, and that's what 
DH wanted for Sunday/Monday. So, I set 
up my crockpot to do our two ribs, his with 
his BBQ sauce, mine with mine, and we 
had a lovely dinner. I was happy to finish my 
ribs last night, though. NOT a low-calorie 
meal - LOL. 

I'll be back in the pool today, and that will also help. I feel like a slug when I don't get regular exercise, and where I was walking the State Fair with Sharon, I was getting 10+ miles a day on average. Sitting at my desk or helping customers in the store doesn't nearly come close to that mileage, and sitting just puts my weight into my ass and hips. Not what I want. So, activity is screaming at me. "Go! Get going! Swim, run, do SOMETHING!" Does your mind scream "be active" to you too? Mine can be quite strident! 

I enjoy being active, and end up sedentary all too much 
on a daily basis. There's nothing active about working 
at a computer screen. *sigh* Of course, I could get 
a walking desk, but that would be one more piece of 
stuff to get rid of or have no room for. No. My level 
of increased activity has to come before I head to work 
and computer screens. 

Tomorrow's schedule, at least the morning schedule, is looking a bit like a bear too. With morning appointments, my pool time, and the necessity of going to my co-op to pick up collagen on their monthly sale day, I'm going to be packing a TON into the morning, and having a rather open afternoon to work on computer work or holiday cards. I'm not in high gear on holiday cards yet, but I'm working steadily on them. I know I'll have some crunch time because my "spare" time simply isn't there this year, but I'll do what I can. I may have to put off my insert until next year because of time, but that wouldn't be the end of the world. I can't let a single day go by without doing SOME work on them, though. 

My co-op offers an additional 10% off 
my preferred brand of collagen on the 
second Wednesday of each month. I 
usually will pick up a large container if 
I'm getting low. I use a generous scoop 
of this every day to help my bones and 
I like it. It dissolves well. I also add it 
to my weekly Ogre Juice batches. 

So, I'm wrapping this up because I'm looking at all I've listed and all I have on my mental "to do" list, and getting a bit stressed. Which is ridiculous. If there's anything I've learned in my life, it's flexibility. I've got to shift when needed, and when I can do that, all things are possible. I'll make it all work, one way or another. Have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Going To Be a VERY Busy Day Today

I'm looking at the room around me and sighing. Although it's a "day off" for me, I have a LOT that I need to get done today, and my desk is overflowing with items that need to happen today. I have bills that need to be paid, an experiment for some products we found to attempt, three loads of laundry because today is laundry day, I want to try an experiment for my Holiday cards, and between all of that, I'd like to continue working on DH's website since I haven't had any time for it for the past few days. Oh ... and it's trash and recycling day. I'm exhausted just thinking about it all - LOL. 

My morning meditations are essential to me. I really 
hate it when I get into a time crunch and have to 
skip a day. Fortunately, that's rare. Just that quiet and 
solitude helps me to keep my balance. 

I awakened at 2:00 am, and decided to just stay awake and do my morning meditations. It gives me a bit less than five hours of sleep, but I'll be fine. Maybe tonight I'll get closer to my optimal 6 hours. How much sleep do you need to be functional? I've always operated on approximately 6 hours, but I'm curious. Share in the comments, if you care to. I'm not sure why I operate on 5-6 hours of sleep most nights, maybe because I can't bear to miss anything - LOL. 

Not my pool, although the steam looks like yesterday 
morning's steam. Still, no mountains in the background 
for me up here in the Frozen Northlands. Any mountains 
we had were worn away during the last Ice Age. 

The outdoor pool was very kewl yesterday. We're in the mid-50's now (12.7 C), and the steam was rising from the pool water - shades of "Terror from the Black Lagoon". Beth (our lifeguard) almost had to push out the opening because she couldn't see completely across the pool (it's a safety thing), but by the time we all trooped out there, we were good to go and a lot of the steam had already evaporated into the air. Today is a Wednesday, usually our most crowded day in the outdoor pool, so we'll see if I can still have half a lane to myself or not. I don't like to chain, but if I have to, I'll tolerate it. 

Let's not allow ourselves to get so busy that people fall 
by the wayside. Keep in touch with family and friends, 
even if it's a simple text like "Thinking of You". 

So, it's going to be a really busy day today, and I'd better get to it. Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Belly Laughs, Endorphins and Hockey - My Life in a Nutshell

I'm running really late today, but meditation ran a bit overtime, thus my tardiness. Therefore, this will be a shorter than normal post. But, hopefully a good one. I've been taking a multi-day challenge on Insight Timer - a challenge for helping handle stress and change the body's reaction to stress. Today's lesson was actually quite wonderful, and very do-able for anyone. It was that deep, almost exhaustion, you get from a good deep belly-laugh. 

A good belly laugh can release endorphins 
into the body, which are feel-good 
chemicals made by the brain. Endorphins 
are a really good thing to get, so try having 
a good belly laugh today and see how you 
feel afterward. I'm sure you'll feel better. 

The instructor had us exhale to our maximum, then give a good chuckle to finish out the exhalation, then pull in the breath deeply after the lungs have been totally emptied from the laugh. Result? Endorphins flooding the system. Totally happy time. I'll be trying this. I know that people laugh differently - I've known people who bray, people who chuckle, people who sound like a clown, and people who are totally uninhibited when they laugh. But pushing the air out, and then laughing three belly laughs before taking a breath can do wonderful things for the body and the mind. Give it a try. You might be pleasantly surprised. 

Endorphins are very positive things for your 
body and your health. Try exhaling all of the 
air you can, and then chuckling 3 belly laughs 
before inhaling. Do this several times. You'll 
feel much better. 

This week will be a busy one, tomorrow's schedule starts out at the gym, then I go to the Orthodontist for my next adjustment, and then, finally I can dive into my "day off" which is packed. So, tomorrow's post will probably also be a minimal one, but that's really OK. As long as I'm checking in, I'm not dead yet! LOL No ... I have a LOT more to do in this life, so no time to die. 

Our hockey season is on the line right now. We 
have to win tonight's game. Go Wild! 

So I'm going to wrap this up and get ready for the swimming pool. The Wild play their next game tonight, and the series is tied 2-2. We're not the only playoff tied 2-2, but four groups are actually at a 3-1 - Toronto, Boston, Carolina and Las Vegas lead their series 3-1. No real surprises there. But, New Jersey is tied with New York, Houston is tied with Los Angeles, Colorado is tied with Seattle, and Minnesota is tied with Dallas. So our four groupings are on the line here. Of course in the playoffs, all games are "must win" games, therefore, tonight's game is essential. It's a "best of seven" series, but we want to progress to the next round. 

So have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow - equally rushed, I'm afraid - LOL. Enjoy your day, smile and be happy, do something nice for a stranger and Slava Ukraini. Peace! 

Meditation - Stress Isn't Good 24/7 and An Overview of the Insight Timer App

Today it's back to swimming for the next three days, so short posts because of time constraints. Still, it's so wonderful to be back in the pool - no objections from me at all. DH has been really nice, lately. Although I can hear what's going on in the war in Ukraine at work, at home he's been plugging in his earphones so that I don't have to listen to it 24/7. That's helped my stress levels get back down to a more normal level. Thank goodness! The human body isn't made to absorb stress 24/7 for long periods of time. 

Stress can be good, but stress all the time is not. The 
body simply can't cope with stress 24/7. It overwhelms 
the body completely. I know - I've had that experience 
and it was extremely uncomfortable and I don't 
want to go through that level of stress again. 

The current meditation course I'm taking (instead of the course on Tarot I had originally intended to be deep into right now) is called "Protect Your Body from Daily Stress". It's something that we all need, and I might just listen to the full course again when I'm finished, to get it pounded through my brain a bit better. I do tend to live in stress more than I should, and I know that's not healthy ... but it's hard to let go of habits, good and bad. 

I meditate every morning, first thing in the morning. I'm 
not outside greeting the sunshine. It's COLD outside, and 
I'm not willing to settle on the ground in my parka and 
boots to meet the sun (which usually isn't coming up 
until I'm leaving the gym anyway). But, I do make sure 
to get my daily guided meditation in first thing every 
morning. I find that it starts my day in a good way. 

I find most of my meditation courses on "Insight Timer", a lovely no-charge app for meditation that I found when chasing one of my favorite meditation guides through the World Wide Web. I wanted to hear more of his meditations, having found him on Omvana (the MindValley meditation website at the time), so I started searching for him. I finally found him on Insight Timer, and joined. Since most of their meditations are no-charge, it was exactly what I wanted, and I've found some wonderful teachers in the more than a year I've been using it. 

I use "Insight Timer" for my guided meditations 
more often than any other meditation website 
I have boodmarked. It's got a huge number of 
teachers, several of which I'm totally following. 
A good meditation teacher can be tricky to 
find because everyone is a bit different and 
who appeals to me might not appeal to you. 
Here's a link to a review of the Insight 
Timer app. Read it to find out more information 
if you're interested. 
https://www.choosingtherapy.com/insight-timer-review/

I get a great deal of value from my daily meditation and it's made a huge difference in my life and lowered my stress a great deal. It's not perfect, I can still get overwhelmed by stress if I allow myself to, but it's a vast improvement over the past months. It's definitely a practice I'm continuing. On that note, I'm finding photos and getting this posted. Have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Night Owls vs Early Birds, Bliss and Blog Backups

I haven't turned on the news yet this morning, although DH was watching until midnight or so. He's the night owl, I'm the morning dove. Sometimes it's a wonder we have anything in common at all - LOL. 

DH is a total night owl - he's rarely asleep before 11:00 pm, 
and often is up later than that. I, however, awaken at 
3:15 am, so I'm totally an early bird. 

I did take advantage of Curious Wombat's suggestion of BlogBooker (blogbooker.com) to do a full backup of my LiveJournal accounts on Sunday. I have two accounts on LJ, one for my daily blog and one for mu fiction. I haven't posted to my second one for quite a while since I don't write within the Tolkien universe any more and that's what I had focused on for it, but I'm up to almost 4000 Live Journal blog posts, so the backup did take a while. I'm glad I did it. It allows me to breathe a little easier. 

BlogBooker, a French company, isn't going to work 
for everyone, and it costs money, but it did a great 
job backing up my LiveJournal locations. It took 
a long time - I had more than 4000 posts and a lot 
of photos. But it did manage to do the backup 
without a hitch. 

As I said above, I haven't checked what's going on in the war yet today, and I probably won't for a few more hours. Right now I'm focused on getting to the gym and into the pool in slightly over an hour, and then I'll shift into a broader awareness. But it's a swimming day, and that always makes me happy, despite what might be happening outside of my little encapsulated world. 

One thing of value in today's meditation technique was 
the fact that the brain doesn't distinguish between a current 
blissful event or a past blissful event. It reacts the same. So 
thinking of a very positive experience in my past is as 
valuable to the brain as one that might be happening 
immediately. A good reminder, because the same thing 
happens with negative thoughts. So keep your 
thoughts positive for your mental and physical health. 

Today's meditation technique focused on the brain and bliss. Think about an experience or time when you were happy and carry that thought. The brain doesn't know whether it is happening now, or in the past, it just reacts by sending out positive signals to your body. It's a rather nice thought, so I'm passing it along. I'm not going to make it part of my regular meditation, but I can see how it can be very useful in changing the body's chemicals and external viewpoints. 

One of the best things I heard yesterday was that 
FIFA (Federal International de Football Association) 
kicked Russia out of the Association and pulled the 
finals away from Moscow, moving them to France 
instead. Bravo FIFA! Lots of soccer fans in Russia 
won't be happy with this news. Blame Putin for this one. 

So, I'm plugging in photos and getting this going. Swimming days are always quite busy and I can't linger. Have a truly wonderful day and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Balancing - Chakras and Life - It's a Challenge

I hope all of you had a good weekend. We started our day out with hockey, then moved over to football for the remainder of the day. I slept in late, getting almost 11 hours of sleep, so I'm caught up for a few days - a very good thing. I also went to bed early last night. So, of course, I also awakened early. That gave me a rare opportunity for a week day - I was able to take an hour for my morning meditation. It was delightful to work with two of my favorite trainers and expand my horizons a bit more. I feel very balanced now - LOL (at least my chakras certainly are). 

I enjoy my morning meditation and try to get at 
least 15 minutes in every morning. Today was a 
treat. Because I awakened so early, I allowed myself 
to do almost a full hour of meditation. I'm feeling 
very grounded and quite happy. 

I've been working on my Christmas gifts list for DH. I know I won't get half of what I put down, but I'm willing to dream a bit. We're working most days until Christmas, now that Thanksgiving is over, and I'll take any opportunity to relax that I might have available. to me. I'm trying hard to find the perfect gift for Sharon. I know I'll find it eventually, but I haven't located it yet, so I need to increase my efforts. 

I came across this grown-up Christmas List. 
I must admit, I totally agree with the 
sentiments. I hope it comes across large enough 
to allow you to read it too. 

I did finish gluing the interiors of my cards together yesterday. I hope to finish the interior of the actual fold-over card this morning, but it is a swimming day, and that means I have a bit less time to work on things at the shop than I would on a non-swimming day. But it's a swimming day, and that's always a glorious thing - so no real complaints here. 

Swimming days are hard exercise, but absolutely lovely 
days. I adore the pool, and it's so wonderful to be back 
in the water again. I missed it horribly while Covid 
kept all of us home-bound. 

I'll start printing out the envelopes this week during my evenings. I use my home printer for those. I'm also making a few decisions that will allow me a bit more speed. It's almost December and some design sacrifices must be made because I got such a late start on my Holiday Cards this year. Ideally, I'd love for them to be mailed by the end of the week. Realistically, it's going to be next week sometime. It's good to have goals, but reality does tend to stick it's foot into the door of idealism. LOL

I tend to be a bit heavy on the Idealism 
side. DH tends to be heavy on the 
Realism side. It makes us a good team, 
but also means we butt heads often. 

Have an excellent Monday. I'm going to play Drowning Guppy for an hour and then hit the ground running. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Fear and Anxiety Was My Lesson For Today - Sharing With You

Today's meditation dealt with the subject of fear and anxiety and how they can, with practice and a bit of bravery, turn into an open door to increased strength and possibilities.  That was a strong lesson, one I really need to take hold of like a dog will grab a favorite toy. Grasping it firmly, shaking it until it succumbs to my attentions, and then settling down with it to explore it in more detail, and finally, making it my own. 

There's nothing much cuter than a puppy with a chew 
toy, but when translated to your own life, you want 
to be the puppy, not the chew toy. Fear and anxiety 
can switch the roles for you, and suddenly you're 
the one turning into a mushy, wet, and torn mess. 

Do you have times when you suffer from fear and/or anxiety? I'm sure you've had times in your life that just stopped you short. Times when you looked ahead and could only see darkness, times when you couldn't choose the pathway to walk, among the myriad of choices. How do you choose to get through those times? 

The oncoming train of fear and anxiety cannot, and will not, 
stop for you. It's up to you to jump off those tracks of 
despair and watch the train pass through. Then, look 
carefully, and move onward, listening to and learning
from the lessons the fear is trying to teach me. 

I've had times like these in my life. I know the approach I would take today would be much different than the ways I tackled fear and anxiety in my past. In the past, I stood in the middle of the railroad tracks and dared the train to run over me. Often, it almost did, as I jumped out of the way at the last moment. Now, I work at understanding that fear, and accepting it as one more lesson in life. I walk with that fear, not as a friend - fear is incapable of friendship - but as a companion for the moment. And I listen to that fear. What is it trying to teach me? What can I learn from it that I can bring to my life from this point forward? 

The old saying is "Those that do not learn from the 
past are doomed to repeat it". Try to learn the lessons 
that the Universe throws at you today. If it's a good 
lesson, maybe it will be like that old song and you 
can dance. If it's a lesson poorly learned, however, 
it will repeat and repeat until you finally acknowledge 
it and learn from it. 

Lessons learned - whether harsh or smooth - are lessons that must not be forgotten or they will be repeated again and again until they are finally acknowledged. Don't turn your back on your fears. Don't accost them either. Let them have their space. Listen to them, learn from them, thank them, and then let them shrink more and more until, at last, they are so minimal that they are barely there, if at all. 

There you go - the lessons I learned today from my daily meditation. Have an excellent day, I'm heading out to the pool in about half an hour and I'll read everyone's postings and reply when I return home. Namaste and Mitakuye Oyasin. 

Schedule Changes Ahead - I Want To Get Back to the Pool Again

I want to get back to the swimming pool. Among other things, as I was doing shopping and errands yesterday, I spotted my favorite "Gate Gargoyle" (YMCA employee who checks us in at the door) having a quick cigarette at the end of the long driveway in to the building parking lot, so I pulled in, parked, and we chatted for a little bit. It was lovely to see Ed again - we've been friendly for years and I've missed my "Y" crowd a lot. I asked if they were still taking reservations for morning swim (yes), and if they were still limiting number of people per lane to one (no), and what the best way to get reservations would be (from the website instead of the app). I told him I'm planning on getting back to the pool in October for three days a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and that I'd purchased all new gear since I lost 45 pounds and was "swimming in my swimming suit" - LOL. Now, I've made that public commitment, I have to make sure I get this done. I'm really looking forward to getting back to the water again. 

I love swimming in the pool. I was trained to swim almost 
before I could walk, and I've always felt very comfortable 
in the water. I haven't been in the pool since early last 
year, and a lot has happened since then (broken foot, 
COVID closures, vaccination, and WildFit, to name 
just a few). It's going to be one more step towards a 
"normal" life again to return to the pool and my friends there. 

Going back to the pool for the 5:00 am swim time also means my schedule for my blog will shift a bit. I'll probably post first thing in the morning, then catch up with emails and comments for other people's blog posts after I get to the shop and turn on the laptop. It'll be a bit of adjustment for everyone. I know I have to be able to leave the house by 4:15 on some mornings (if it snows, I have to shovel before I can leave), and I still want to make sure I get at least a half-hour of meditation in before starting my day. I've been finding my morning meditation extremely important for my personal balance. 

Wouldn't a location like this for morning meditation be 
an absolutely wonderful thing? I'm not quite so elegant. 
I meditate in my living room, usually around 3:30 am 
(long before dawn actually happens), but I've been doing 
this regularly for months now, and I find I miss it on 
those rare days when I can't start my day that way. It's 
really a soothing and wonderful way to start my day. 

So I'm apologizing in advance because things may be a bit clunky for the first few weeks while I'm establishing a new routine. I'm not 100% sure I'll start this coming Monday, but I'd sure love to. If not Monday, then still sometime next week. No time like the present, right? I guess I'd better study my new Duo Underwater MP3 Player directions and get it loaded up. I'll probably start with music, but I know myself. I'll switch over to audio books rather quickly - I swim better with a good book than a good tune. 

Schedule changes always take a few days, or a 
week or two to get used to, and I'm only going to 
be swimming three days a week, so that's going 
to be different than my previous every-day 
pool time. I'm determined, however, to also 
keep up with my treadmill mileage, because I've 
been finding that helpful as well. So, lots of 
changes coming up within the next week or two. 

It's funny. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow, when I'll unwrap my new swimsuit and try it on. The order arrived a couple of weeks ago, but I was busy and didn't get a chance to do more than make sure everything I ordered was in the package. Now I guess I'll have to actually be brave and hope the suit fits properly. It would be sad to realize it will be too small to wear - LOL. 

I hate tumbling around on schedules. I'm 
a rather structured person, and I'll feel 
as if I'm running in place for a while 
until I've settled into my new routine. 
I hope my schedule changes won't be 
hard to adapt to, for me or for you, 
my readers and friends. 

So, I've rambled on enough for any single day. Have a truly excellent Thursday and last day of September and I'll be back tomorrow. And please, be kind. Spread positive influences through those you interact with today. Those tiny ripples can pay big dividends. 

Density Disappointment and A Very Rushed Single Day Off

My bone density test results weren't as good as I had hoped. I won't hear from my doctor for another day or two, but the test results were released to both of us at the same time yesterday. My lower lumbar region in my spine actually improved by 0.8%, so that was one positive, but my left femur decreased another 0.5% and, more worrying, my right femur decided to join the party and decreased 2.3%. I already take calcium and other vitamins, I think I'll add a glass of almond milk to my morning routine since almond mild actually has almost double the calcium of dairy milk. At any rate, it can't hurt to add it to my regime. 

Hip fractures are among the most common breaks 
for the elderly, and they can derail an active life 
in seconds. A weakened femur, the top of the 
thigh bone that fits into the hip socket, is a 
recipe for disaster. Now, both of mine are 
weakened. NOT happy. 

I got a new/different pedometer from Amazon yesterday. The only reason I purchased it (I own others and have never been happy with them). is that it claimed it didn't need to be calibrated. Calibrating pedometers is a total PITA. Having one that didn't require that, that recognized your movement by being worn around your neck or within a pocket was a total "Yes, please" from me. So I picked up the CS1 Pedometer from OZO Fitness and added it to my latest Amazon order. I've had it for a few hours now, and have to say, I rather like it. It seems to be tracking steps well, coming quite close to what my fitness watch displays. 

I ordered my pedometer in green because I tend to lose 
things on my desk unless they are bright colors. But 
after having worn it for a day, I rather wish I had 
opted for a darker neutral color instead. I like the 
pedometer itself, though, and it was very affordable. 

I only get one day off this week - Chickie is on vacation on Friday and Saturday. That means I have to crunch a lot into today. I probably won't get much cleaning done which is a total bummer, but I have some kitchen stuff that needs to get done, I need to go grocery shopping, and I have an 11:00 am Zoom call (postponed from yesterday because the moderator was on an airplane during our usual time slot). I'll be leaving the house early today to squeeze everything in and still make that Zoom call. 

Even though I'm very rushed this morning, I still started 
my day out with 30 minutes of meditation and 1.75 miles on 
the treadmill. There are some things I'm not willing to 
rush through. 

So there you have it - good news/bad news. I'm quite disappointed in my test results and will have to keep a very close eye on things. Unfortunately, I can't get another bone scan until 2023, *sigh*, so I'll just have to hope that whatever I do will have some positive results by then. Have a glorious Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Self Improvement is Hard Work - Or A Lot of Classes

I'm approaching the end of my WildFit class, and ready to start my life Living WildFit. Many of the "Tribe", along with me, have set up a separate Facebook account so that we can keep in touch with each other and support each other past the 90 days of the program. We've established friendships through our weekly Zoom calls, and many posts. We've shared recipes, success stories and the occasional failure (lessons learned) or experiments. Having that secondary group is going to make leaving the active group much easier to do. We have a safety net - something that I'm not sure any other group going through the WildFit program has ever had before. I have a strong Tribe. 

WildFit wasn't my first Mind Valley program. I've been taking 
"Be Extraordinary" for a while, but put it on hold while 
dealing with WildFit because WF is extremely time 
consuming and intensive. I'll pick BE back up again at 
some point. There was a lot of great stuff in that course. 

It's going to be a bit scary - leaving the structured program after tomorrow's video lesson and Zoom call and striding out into the big wide world of food choices without immediate answers and guidance from a Coach. Several members of our group are planning to move on and learn how to be Coaches. Although I've been encouraged to do the training, so far I'm content to not pick up a new career at this point. I want to retire and actually play with my art. I've had imagery and design pieces coming through to my inner eye and I want to fire up my kiln, pull out my copper, and start working with enamels and gemstones again. 

I've been enjoying "The M Word" and actually 
think it will go far in helping me with my 
meditation practice. I love starting my days 
out with meditation. I'd always wanted to 
do that, but real life got in the way. Real 
life tends to be sleeping at 3:30 am when 
I settle down to meditate, so I'm actually 
successful for a change. 

Because I am focusing on self-improvement, I decided to broaden my scope of a few other side-tracks at the same time. I've been meditating every morning since the early part of the year, usually for at least 30 minutes at a time, often for longer. I've been using a method called "guided" meditation, where I'm listening to a particular teacher guide me through a series of thought processes to shape that day's meditation. There are some teachers I really like, others that I'm not as fond of, and one that I liked so much I chased him through several apps to find a spot where he had uploaded more than 40 of his meditations to work with. 

I've also started working with "Chakra Healing". The workbook 
she has made available to all of us is more than 100 pages of 
pdf. Since I like to actually look at pages for reference, that's 
a lot of pages to print. The printer is up to the task, but I'm 
almost out of paper. So ... guess I'll hit Target on Friday and 
get some more printer paper. 

But I want to fine-tune my meditation. I know it can be a tremendous tool for self-awareness and universal rhythms and intensities. I decided to take the course on Meditation from Mind Valley, and while I was at it, I also decided to enroll in a course on healing my chakras. It seems to me that the two programs will work quite well together. When I combine these with the "Energy Medicine" class I started a few weeks ago, I should be in great shape - physically and mentally - by the time I get done with all of this. At least that's my goal. We'll see how successful I really am. 

I'm behind on my "Energy Medicine" class. There's a lot 
to learn here, and I haven't given it the time it deserves. 
The beauty of a Mind Valley class, however, is that you have 
full access to your classes for as long as you're a member, 
so the individual lessons, which are on-line anyway, are 
mine to watch in my own time. I need to truly understand 
meridians, how energies flow through the body, and how 
best to help them along. 

It's like I'm housecleaning my body and soul. Something that probably badly needed doing (we won't talk about the physical housecleaning that also needs to be done - LOL). I'm excited about the possibilities opening up, and the fact that my creative side seems to finally be waking up once again. Now I need to start aligning things, get the rest of my weight off, and begin the next phase of my life. It's looking like it'll be a lot of fun, and I'm certainly enjoying my Mind Valley membership. On that note, I'm out of here. Have an excellent day, be kind and stay safe. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Wednesday was Hectic, But WildFit Is a Brilliant Success

My Wednesday off was the usual hectic day, although I skipped the co-op and only shopped at my local grocer. That shaved a good hour off my morning tasks, so it was a welcome change of pace. I'll try to shop at the co-op one or maybe two times a month. They have lovely produce and a spice selection that's unmatched, but it's a 40-minute round-trip drive and some days I just don't have the time. As it turned out, my usual lack of brain/thought/luck played through again, and I realized at 5:30 pm that I had forgotten to buy the lettuce for my nightly salad. I had to take a very quick drive over one more time, buy my lettuce and get back home. It's a good thing my local grocer is only a mile from my house. 

The produce section at my local grocer is huge and very 
well staffed/maintained. They have almost any vegetable 
or fruit you could imagine. I've expanded myself through 
WildFit, trying fruits and veggies I've never had before, 
and that's been a real treat. 

Monday starts the final week of WildFit and I'm going to miss it. Although many of us set up and joined a separate Facebook group so we could stay in touch with each other as a Tribe, it won't be the same. I think there is an after-program option also available called "Living WildFit" which I'll look into joining. That would offer monthly calls and lectures along with the ability to call on the coaches for help when/if needed. I can see some real benefits to that. 

I absolutely love the logo of WildFit. They have 
shirts available with it, and I think I'll indulge in 
one. I'm not sure if I want short sleeves, long 
sleeves, or maybe a hoodie. I'll have to think about that. 

I haven't done my "final" measurements yet, I'll do those tomorrow. I know I've lost inches, it's quite evident in how my clothes fit me as well as what the scale is telling me. But the photos and measurements are everything. According to the scale, I've lost 15 pounds since I started WildFit, and I'm quite pleased about that. I had been unable to work below a 5 pound loss for more than five years - just bounced in that weight range time after time. I've finally broken through that floor and continued down. It's been hard work, but it's also been very worth it. 

I have this class, "The M Word", starting on 
Sunday, the 16th. I probably won't really have 
time to watch anything until Monday, but maybe 
I will. It's hard to say. I'm not sure exactly what 
I'll learn in this class, but if I can improve my 
meditation techniques and breath control, 
I'll be pretty happy. 

I'll be glad to get through the final week, though. I have other programs starting up - one for meditation, and another on Energy Medicine that I've been taking for the past four weeks (although not with the attention it deserves because WildFit is so time consuming). I'd also like to continue on with the course that started it all - :"Be Extraordinary", which I stopped half-way through. I'm still meditating every morning - love it SO much - and all-in-all, the "whoo whoo" of MindValley and their classes is right where I want to be right now. I just don't have enough hours in the day to learn everything I want to. 

I've been taking Donna Eden's "Energy Medicine" class, and 
it's got some incredibly valuable techniques and ideas in 
it. I haven't had the chance to fully concentrate on it, though, 
and that's on me. Fortunately, once enrolled, I can always 
access everything on-line, and I'll be going back, with a 
new notebook, and working through this one in depth. 
There's so much to learn and she's an excellent teacher. 

On that note, I'm out of here. I think I'll treat myself to a nice cup of Roiboos tea this morning, something I rarely indulge in. I hope you have a wonderful Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. As always, please be kind, stay safe and wear your mask. (And no, I didn't get to knitting yesterday, despite my saved time with grocery shopping. Oh well.)