Out Like a Lamb

Lambs are cute... and always seem to be having fun. I'd like to be a lamb more often, as I'm super busy right now! I don't know about you and what's going on in your life at the moment, but for me, my days and nights are full! I'm not only producer for an independent film (which wraps up principal photography in mid-April), but I'm also acting in the film! I'm also hustling with my husband (we do Grub Hub and others), I'm a full-time mum to two feral boys, homeschooling, writing my books, doing tarot and tea readings, lifecoaching, writing classes to teach, writing this blog, learning a language, and a number of other things at any given time. Free time? What's that?!

So, let's talk a little about ways to take care of yourself when you're super busy!

1. SLEEP! Make sure you're getting enough sleep for YOU! Different people need different amounts of sleep, but YOU know how much you need to function well. Myself, I easily get by on about five hours, maybe six. My husband on the other hand, needs eight or nine! (I've read somewhere that Gemini need more sleep... I don't know if that's true, but MY Gemini sure does!) So yes, get yourself to bed with enough time to get in your required hours of sleep every night!

2. Eat Healthy! Eating healthy meals is better all around, and you'll feel more energised!

3. Take a Bath! Not just any bath, light a candle, put on some relaxing music, light some incense and have a cup of tea. Put your favourite essential oil, or bath salts in and let the stress melt away in the warm envelope of water.

4. Pamper Yourself! Do your nails, try a new face mask... whatever makes you feel pampered. Even a small thing might be enough... you took time for yourself! YAY!

5. Ask for Help. There's no shame in asking someone to help... help you clean one day, take the kids for a couple of hours, help you cook up a week's worth of food to freeze so you can pop something in the slow cooker every day, reducing the amount of time you have to spend each night in the kitchen preparing the evening meal. I actually used to do this thing with a friend, two days a week, we'd clean. One day at my house, one day at hers. We called ourselves The Cleaning Amigas. I know, not extremely inventive, but it worked for us. I actually LIKE doing dishes... she hated it. She actually LIKED doing sweeping/mopping... I hated it, so we each did the parts we liked at each others houses, and everything ended up getting done. You may not have two days a week to exchange like that, but the point is, you can ask for help. It's really okay.

How do YOU take care of yourself during your busiest times? Comment below!






Namaste & Latcho Drom

In Like a Lion

Here we are, March 1. There's an old saying that goes: [March] comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb. One of the earliest citations of this saying is found in Thomas Fuller's compendium of 1732 Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs; Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British.

It has been said that this means the blustery winter weather (the lion) is still evident at the beginning of March, but gentler Spring weather (the lamb) is here by month's end. Where I live, in the Appalachian Mountains, this likely means more rain, and more rain, and more rain. I'm not complaining mind you, I LOVE the rain!

Rain can be especially healing in a number of ways both to humans and to nature. The droplets wash dirt and dust from the plants, trees, buildings, cars, and everything else that it touches, making these things clean again.  It creates puddles of drinking water for small animals or replenishes ponds. When I was younger I would take every opportunity to play outside during a rainstorm, letting the water drench my clothes and body, as it was such a spiritual experience for me. My mum gave up trying to get me to stop after a time, figuring the worst that could happen is I'd get the sniffles!

I know for me, and maybe for a number of you as well, the smell of a coming rain is super relaxing. I close my eyes and inhale deeply, relishing in the scents rain brings. When I was in junior high, every rain storm (temperature permitting), I would grab my notebook and pen, head out to the detached carport and sit at the picnic table under it, writing. I wrote so many stories, and I wish I still had them to develop now into books, but they, unlike my memories of those days, were lost.

The sound of rain is also enlightening to many. I have my Google Assistant set to play rain sounds at night to sleep to. My favourite time to write is while listening to rain with the curtains open so I can see it when I look up from my keyboard (unlike many other authors I know I just can not listen to music of any kind while I write... I start to type the lyrics instead of the story!). This may be a throwback to my earlier days of good memories on the carport. 

Rainwater also appears in a Ayurvedic weight loss recipe, (recipe 2) seen here: Ayruvedic Weight Loss, can be used to cleanse many of your crystals, and in some parts of the world (my part included), is still collected to be used for irrigation and cleaning.



THOUGHT EXERCISE

Think about rain. What sorts of feelings/emotions does the feel, smell, and sound of rain give you? If you like, comment your answers on this post.




Namaste & Latcho Drom!