Making Time for Yourself

There are 24 hours in a day. We sleep, on average, 8 hours a night, work for 8 hours, and commute for about 1 hour. That leaves you with about seven hours to deevy out between laundry, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of loved ones’ needs.

You have seven hours. That one hour your friend has available to spend with you seems much more valuable in this light. Those ten minutes it takes to read a bed time story to your children are so much more precious that you’ll find you’re okay with reading But No Elephants more than twice.

We put so much pressure on ourselves and each other in our society that we forget that time is a social agreement. Yes, the world spins, the universe expands, but right here, right now, is what matters. Stop counting and allowing anxiety of only having ten minutes to ruin the breaths within those moments—the life force.

Make it all count. If you must pay bills and clean the house, set a timer for yourself. Instead of cleaning while doing other chores, for those 30 minutes you must clean just clean with all your heart. Use cleaners that are kind to you and the Earth. Breathe. Then, when the timer is done, put the cleaning stuff away. You may not have gotten every dish or every hair on the floor, but there will always be more dirty dishes and more dirt to sweep. Let it go and relax knowing you did what you could.

Time measures nothing but itself.

Put On Your Sunday Clothes, There's Lots of World Out There

Last night I started watching Outlander. I was expecting to be disinterested and bored but, to my surprise, the show is quite captivating. The sequence of time is, of course, already mixed up but in addition to this is a unique style of story telling-- a kind attempt at considering the viewer's questions (such as, how does it feel to time travel?). Claire, the main character's, personality is charming and spunky. As a nurse, everyone has a reason to like her-- even those in the time displacement. When she thinks of her husband, I find myself looking to Alex as he sleeps. It must be a terrible thing to be ripped apart from such happiness. Claire has already recognized mortality as she has lived through WWI but to be displaced in time? That is a true separation for nothing short of magic can get you there and back again.
In light of the Sunday before the fall semester begins, I reflect on what is most important to me. There was a time with school was of the highest priority but now I see that it is merely a necessary burden put upon people of our time to make their way through life comfortably. We devoute a quarter of our precious time to school and much more than that to work-- all for small yet very precious amounts of time with those we love, marveling at the beauty of the universe.

The Child Within Us

by moodyisajerk (dA)

When we become adults (accept responsibilities, work, pay bills, etc.) we forget an aspect that is nearly inherent in children: an understanding that we don't have all the time in the world-- that an extra five minutes painting and coloring really does have value. You might not be able to get much more done in those five minutes, but you have them and you use them as much as possible. Splash on that  paint, get aggressive with the brush, move the pencil faster. As an adult we want those extra five minutes, we want to run around with friends after school, paint our hearts out, but we allow the daunting load of responsibilities to hold us down. I'm not saying let someone else do the laundry (because there is no one else unless you live with your mother); I'm saying that don't let it consume you. Don't do the laundry and allow yourself to be 'stuck' on the computer because you have that chore to do. Open your mind to what there is to do while you're waiting for that washer to quiet or the dryer to shout.
Kids understand that they need to pick up their room, but they play while they do. When I was little I would pretend my toys were putting themselves away-- which was sometimes terrifying because at one point I thought my dolls needed oxygen so I made sure my Barbie box was cracked open so they could breathe.
When we're little we hold precious the time we have and we make the most of it. "Mom can I ride my bike with Lisa?" "Yes but only for fifteen minutes. Dinner is almost ready." "Okay!"
As adults we often groan at the thought of limited time.
As kids we understand the limitation but we let it go so we can fully enjoy what we have. Perhaps it's comfort in knowing we are given everything we need as a kid. Doing finger painting? Mom bought our finger paints, the paper, the towels, and lined the table with newspaper. She made sure we didn't wear our nicest clothes. All we had to do was show up and stab our fingers in the paint and start swirling.  When everything is there, as kids, we take full advantage. Yet, as adults, there is a delay: we are concerned about a mess, about the bills-- we are absent in that moment when we should be enthralled the way a child is when they get to go to the zoo for a first time.
We forget to believe in the now and we lose something when we don't submit to the child within us-- we lose fun.

Tears Are Release

I'm going to be entirely honest and just admit that these past two weeks haven't been the greatest for mine and Alex's fitness challenge (i.e. Race to abs). There have been numerous days where I haven't been in right mind... I don't know what happened but I've been struggling with some form of depression. Now I have no good reason to be in this state. Alex makes me so happy, I live comfortably, and while my friends and family are all distant, I know they care for me. Usually what I call a case of the blahs only lasts a day at most but this... It lasted longer and I kept feeling like I was falling in. Like I was being sucked into nothingness... And since the first step of getting over your fears is to admit them, I admit that I'm afraid of feeling nothing: of death. It's a legitimate fear but it is one that you can't blame me for neglecting to bring up. I thought if I kept pushing it away it would go away but instead it clamped on and I have been feeling so heavy.

Alex is wonderful and just being with him has been helping. It's possible that these feelings have been brought on by lack of significant interaction. We have both been so busy with work and school that it's been tough to get quality time. 

One night when he thought I was irritated with him I apologized and started crying because I wasn't mad at him; I was drowning in my own thoughts of nothingness. A hug is a truly powerful thing and tears... Tears are such release. Tears aren't weakness; they take off some of the weight of our sorrows. Like a juice bag, if you stomp hard on it, it will explode but if you gently snip the corners it will flow out, the bag emptied but still structured enough to hold air.

After that, I noticed as soon as I just started being more and listed what I value, I started to come up out of the water. I got into Pokemon with him and two of our friends and the silly simple card game has helped. With a new game comes questions and opportunities to discuss and play together.

Another thing that has helped was an article by Erica, an Elephant Journal writer I have grown fond of. It was a repost of what she believed was one of her best ones: an article about what she would say to her 22 year-old self. It was so powerful and struck me so much that I was brought to tears. "I'm 22," I told myself. I have the choice to make my life how I want it. The right now is happening and I don't want to waste another moment worrying about something that is not present. I don't want to waste any of the precious time I have here with Alex and the world. I want to truly live.
So please accept my apology, whoever you are reading this post; I will do my best to keep moving forward with this Race to Abs challenge and update you on this as well as other endeavors. No measurements for last week but I will make sure to get them up this week. I'm thinking I'll do them earlier since Thursdays are so busy. We shall see how it goes. I've probably gained some weight. Going to confections and sweet treats for comfort along with not going to the gym don't help. Yoga helps a little since I've changed up my music.
Monotony is dangerous. So is loneliness.

I hope everyone is staying warm and that you enjoy the sunshine every moment you can.
Namaste.

Here Is Your Moment, Breathe In... Breathe Out... It's Gone

Tonight you don't get to see a picture of me. I took my measurements this morning and I just finished laundry so the only excuse I have for not taking a picture for this week is being busy and slightly lazy. This week I incorporated weighted ab exercises and I actually like them-- they make my sit-ups easier and I can feel the muscles there whenever I'm active. I like it. I like feeling the changes in my body-- something that wasn't welcomed during puberty.
Since I don't have my own original photo to share, I've shared the one above because it is one of the moved re-pinned ones on my Pinterest. It's very simple but says something peaceful yet adventurous. I don't say adventurous because she more than likely has no bikini top on; I say it because the calm world around her and her open arms suggest it. When we open ourselves to the world around us, anything can happen. If we close ourselves off and allow our fears to take over our decisions and our life then we have no adventure and not much else to call a life.
Yoga has taught me so much and there will always be so much to learn but right now I feel it's just time... time is something to be embraced because once we spend this particular moment or that particular second, it's gone. In my undergrad at FSU I took a literature class with Timothy Parrish. I did my best to keep up with the readings and contribute to class discussion but what I found was most important was listening. When I listened closely in this class, I found my own words being voiced by others. We all understand that time is not something that can be grasped; the moment we say we are in the moment, that moment is over. With yoga I am in the moment but also transcending it because I do not limit it to itself. I realize that while we cannot grasp a moment, we can take advantage of now.
I've been having a hard time lately just really focusing myself on school work. I want to be active and do stuff; I don't want to be confined to sitting down and reading materials unless I am able to immerse myself (it doesn't happen often other than with Disney Infinity and a really good book). I really want to go out and do more but I know I also need to work on disciplining my mind. I need to be able to focus on something, while being mentally present, without having a panic attack that I'm not doing anything.
I can do this. I know I can. I just have to keep trying.

So enough of my shpealishness, my measurements this week are:

39.25" shoulders
9.25" biceps
31.75" chest
29.25" underbust
26.75" waist
36.25" hips
36.75" butt
21.75" thighs
13.5" calves

Still going strong with my workouts. I haven't been able to squeeze in weights more than twice a week but I'm doing my best to be active every day. I really have to become more strict with everything though. My bridesmaid dress for my brother's wedding will be here the month of June, the deadline for the Race to Abs, so I have another reason to keep in top shape.

I hope all of you are doing well and you're going strong with your goals.

Namaste.