My first "Mood Board"

So, I've been an insomniac for as long as I can remember. I am also super busy like ALL.THE.TIME.

Often, by the time I'm rolling into bed, I'm exhausted but not sleepy. I historically have lain in bed for sometimes hours before falling asleep and that's really not good. 

What can a person do? Besides actually getting OUT of bed until such time one is ready to sleep, there are a couple of things I have found work for me. These things are the subject of my first "Mood Board". Mood boards are also called Inspiration boards and can for just about anything! 

So, what IS a Mood Board? According to Oxford Language, Mood Board is a noun that means: an arrangement of images, materials, pieces of text, etc. intended to evoke or project a particular style or concept.

Businesses use them to envision their branding, interior designers use them to create a colour wheel for a particular room. Why can't WE use them to inspire us, or even just to remind us of things that help our well-being? We CAN!

This mood board seen above is my first one. It is a small collection of the things I know have helped me in the past with my sleep issues. Having this printed out near my bed helps me remember... instead of being frustrated when I can't sleep, get up and make some tea, smell some lavender... hold my amethyst for a few minutes while calm breathing, put on my water soundscapes. 

But, couldn't one just remember what works without the help of a mood board? Sure, maybe some could, maybe you could sometimes, but... when we get into that "nothing is working" mindset, it is so easy to overlook pretty much EVERYTHING in order to wallow. The mood board close by is a VISUAL FOCAL REMINDER to get out of that "can't do" attitude and take care of your mind/body/soul WELLNESS!

It's easy to make and Canva (where I made mine) has a number of free templates to get you started, just search "mood board"! I would love to hear about yours, comment and tell me about them!

Working My Zen

 Hey all! So it's been about 2 weeks since my last post and I still haven't done the hula hoopy thing again, HOWEVER, I AM drinking more water (which is a huge deal for me because I historically did not like plain water), I am working on avoiding the fast food whenever possible and cooking nearly every night (we tend to go out or get take away once every two weeks- unless we do our Sunday Waffle House then once a week).

I have not been doing the hula hoopy thing because, well... maybe TMI, but my body is like "Oh hey! She's doing more healthy things, time to DETOX!" I don't think I need to explain that, but I haven't really been feeling up to sloshing my insides, not until the natural detox is done!

I've been busy though! I've been doing a LOT of market research, putting together some more ideas for products AND working on my own self care! 

I don't know if anyone reading this has experience with the following 2 apps but I just started on them and I'm excited to see what they are all about. The first one is called Finch: Self-Care Widget Pet. Finch is super cute and you can set goals and such each day. (You get to name your Finch too. I named mine Jubilee)

Then there's 21 Days: Life-Changing Habits. Each challenge is 21 days long and you can pick one already listed or make your own.

Both are available on Google for Android (not sure about Apple). I'll let you all know what I think of them once I've used them a bit more.

#ChoosePositivity

Namaste tha Latcho Drom! ~Serenity

Broken Promises?

 We made some promises to ourselves on New Year's Eve, so how many of those promises have you already broken?

Hey, it's okay to admit it if you have! In fact, I have already sort of messed up one of them.

So, let's talk about this. I told myself I was going to do 15 minutes of cardio, twice a day, every day my husband was at work (5 or 6 depending). I got one of those hula hoopy things- the new popular ones that fasten around your waist and have a ball that moves in a circle around you as you "hoop". I planned to NOT do this on days my husband is off, because it's kind of loud and my husband has sensory issues with repetitive loud noises.

I started off strong... 5 minutes to the left, 5 to the right and 5 minutes of squats alternative with arm work with 2 lb weights and a 20 minute walk after dinner. Day two I did 7 minutes left, 7 right and finished up with squats with weights then an 18 minute walk after dinner... today?

Well today I did not exercise. Ok, I did the walk, but I did not hoop, I did not squat, I did not pick up my weights. To be fair though, I was cleaning literally ALL DAY. My first of the year PURGE. I moved furniture, I swept, I swore, I sweated... so I mean, I did burn some calories. 

Do I give up? Fuck no! Imma go grab my hoopy thing tomorrow and get back at it. That's the beauty of promises to yourself. If you break it, you can fix it. You just have to go do it.

So every one of you who have already fucked up a little, it's okay! You're human! (well most of you are) and you just go and start it up again.

You got this! I got this! We got this! Now go do it! <3

Until next time,

Latcho drom and Baxtalo Nevo Bersh! (Happy New Year)