Tonight at 8 p.m. your time, turn out your lights for one hour!
That's right, gather all your candles because Planet Earth is making a statement about climate change called Earth Hour, created by the World Wildlife Fund. At the Earth Hour Web site, sign up to show you're participating.
In the scheme of everything, isn't it worth an hour?
Saturday, March 29
Thursday, March 27
Thankful Thursday
Focusing on gratitude is a great way to bring more abundance and joy into life. What better way to reiterate this focus but to blog weekly about it, whether it is my own personal list of gratefulness or the value of being thankful in life. And what better day than Thursday? Get it? THankful THursday - again, utilizing alliteration. It's a bit cheesy - sue me.
What I'm grateful for today:
My husband sprucing up our first-floor bathroom. He figured out how to change the light fixture and painted! What a man.
A yoga student telling me last night she had an awesome savasana - yay!
My blog for being a cathartic outlet and a way to share my thoughts, experiences and joy.
Spending Easter with family, including our cute little neice!
My health and yoga - I've had such a smooth pregnancy and I attribute it all to my yoga practice.
Thank you life for EVERYTHING~
Namaste.
What I'm grateful for today:
My husband sprucing up our first-floor bathroom. He figured out how to change the light fixture and painted! What a man.
A yoga student telling me last night she had an awesome savasana - yay!
My healthy baby and all his or her little kicks and wiggles.
Our first baby shower today with my work friends at Bravo - I've been looking forward to it all week.
Baby 101 class, which helped me feel more prepared and confident.
People telling me I look wonderful for eight months pregnant and that I'm so active for how far along I am.My manager Lori, for loving to cook and sharing her yummy morsels with our team. Yesterday was a WONDERFUL egg casserole.
Our dog Charlie for not being hyper last night and chilling like a good doggie.
Hubby landing another radio station production gig yesterday - his business is growing and growing!My blog for being a cathartic outlet and a way to share my thoughts, experiences and joy.
Spending Easter with family, including our cute little neice!
My health and yoga - I've had such a smooth pregnancy and I attribute it all to my yoga practice.
Thank you life for EVERYTHING~
Namaste.
Wednesday, March 26
Baby 101
Hubby and I attended our first baby preparation class last night called "Baby 101" since neither of us has much experience with babies. We've both changed one diaper in our LIVES, so we thought this class would be beneficial and ease some of our worries and fears of the unknown.
It started at 6:30 p.m. last night, so we met right after work and lasted until 9:30 - a little long if you ask me. Especially if you consider about half of it was filled with videos from 1982, and I'm not over exaggerating the outdatedness. One of the videos even mentioned using a mercury thermometer, which the "live" nurse/teacher said was a big no-no (remember those things?).
Within the first ten minutes of the teacher's lecture focusing on the reality of how newborns look, my husband began laughing uncontrollably, causing me to do the same. Apparently, we could be handed a cone-shaped, hairy, bluish purple, pimpled little monster in the delivery room! The class also had more right-after birth photos than I anticipated - the hubby doesn't seem to handle this very well. His eyes were very wide and the most uncomfortable look crossed over his face. Plus there were more breast shots than viewed in a late-night HBO movie; thought hubby would actually enjoy that but when it includes a suckling baby, I guess it ruins the fun of it. I was already a bit concerned about how hub is going to handle the one-day childbirth class we're signed up for in mid April, but now I am almost afraid.
On the plus side, we learned how to swaddle, which is the first step in Dr. Harvey Karp's "Five S" system. The nurse teacher swore by this with her 10-month old. I'm going to see if Netflix has his DVD or if the library has his book about this. We also changed a diaper on the little doll baby, how to give a sponge bath and how to clip it's tiny fingernails.
I actually walked out of the classroom feeling more confident about handling a newborn. Taking care of baby is definitely not rocket science, and now I feel like I have some good step-by-step information on how to handle the whole thing. One step closer to being a new mom.
Inhale, exhale! :)
Pregnancy yoga for the day: Arm exercises for pregnancy (almost 6 minutes)
It started at 6:30 p.m. last night, so we met right after work and lasted until 9:30 - a little long if you ask me. Especially if you consider about half of it was filled with videos from 1982, and I'm not over exaggerating the outdatedness. One of the videos even mentioned using a mercury thermometer, which the "live" nurse/teacher said was a big no-no (remember those things?).
Within the first ten minutes of the teacher's lecture focusing on the reality of how newborns look, my husband began laughing uncontrollably, causing me to do the same. Apparently, we could be handed a cone-shaped, hairy, bluish purple, pimpled little monster in the delivery room! The class also had more right-after birth photos than I anticipated - the hubby doesn't seem to handle this very well. His eyes were very wide and the most uncomfortable look crossed over his face. Plus there were more breast shots than viewed in a late-night HBO movie; thought hubby would actually enjoy that but when it includes a suckling baby, I guess it ruins the fun of it. I was already a bit concerned about how hub is going to handle the one-day childbirth class we're signed up for in mid April, but now I am almost afraid.
On the plus side, we learned how to swaddle, which is the first step in Dr. Harvey Karp's "Five S" system. The nurse teacher swore by this with her 10-month old. I'm going to see if Netflix has his DVD or if the library has his book about this. We also changed a diaper on the little doll baby, how to give a sponge bath and how to clip it's tiny fingernails.
I actually walked out of the classroom feeling more confident about handling a newborn. Taking care of baby is definitely not rocket science, and now I feel like I have some good step-by-step information on how to handle the whole thing. One step closer to being a new mom.
Inhale, exhale! :)
Pregnancy yoga for the day: Arm exercises for pregnancy (almost 6 minutes)
Monday, March 24
Meditation Monday
Happy Monday! Many of us returned to the "grind" today and truly dread it; maybe even allow it to ruin Sunday. I catch myself doing this at times, and I like my corporate-day job. But there's something about Monday...
Unfortunately, many of us operate as illustrated above in Cathy. We can't seem to stop the tornado of thoughts, questions, worries, doubts, etc. in our minds. So in honor of making the most of Monday (and maybe even Sunday), I've declared my Monday blog posts to be focused on meditation, calling it "Meditation Monday" - I love alliteration!
I found this guided Wayne Dyer meditation. I'm listening to it as I type - let me know what you think.
Sunday, March 23
The power of now will set you free
"There is no fear of the cycle of birth, life and death for when you stand in the present moment, you are timeless."
~Rodney Yee, YJ's Yoga for Relaxation and Meditation dvd
Armed with two bags full to the brim with at least twenty pounds of books, I ventured to our local-used bookstore. And yes, probably not smart of me to carry so much weight since I'm almost eight months pregnant, but I'm nesting and need to make room for baby! This must have been the first time I actually sold books at this particular store because they totally jipped me.
"Your total trade in is $7.50," said the store employee.
"Uh, so what books aren't you taking?" I inquired.
"That's for all books..." he replied. In my mind I wanted to FREAK out about how they were taking advantage of the process, but then I reminded myself of the heaviness of the books and lugging them into and out of my car. Not to mention how much room getting rid of them would save. After taking a deep inhale, I said, "Thank you" and took my pathetic amount of cash where I spent it times four in the store. BASTARDS! I need to open my own used bookstore, man!
Enough of my self pity, however notice how I practiced presence (kind of) and didn't allow my pain body to show up (if you're reading Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth you'll know what I mean). Let's return to the quote at the top, which I heard in one of my purchases at the used bookstore - yoga dvd "Yoga for Meditation" with Rodney Yee. Even before I began reading A New Earth, I wanted to dive deeper into the seventh limb of yoga, meditation or dhyana. But due to the words in Tolle's book, I am convinced of its power. Here's a quote from A New Earth that really conveys the potential behind being present/meditation:
'"Be aware of your breathing as often as you are able, whenever you remember. Do that for one year, and it will be more powerfully transformative than attending all of these courses. And it's free."'
~ Eckhart Tolle
To make meditation a daily habit (now doing three to five times per week), I'm exploring various ways to instill the practice into my life. This morning I watched Yee's "Yoga for Meditation" and am a bit disappointed it doesn't allow to skip through the various yoga and seated practices Yee includes to get to the specific parts you want. However, if you are just beginning meditation and want to try different seated positions and are looking for a very easy-going yoga practice prior to the meditation, it's a good start.
After practicing the first segment "Mountain" and viewing a few of Yee's seated postures, I ended the practice with "Wind" and "Sky." At the very end, he said the quote above, and it really struck me because the last few days I've begun FREAKING out that I'm not prepared for our upcoming arrival in late spring. Up until a few days ago, I think (maybe that's the operative word) I was doing relatively well staying present and stress free about the whole thing. Yet now it's two months away (or less!), and I'm starting to feel very worried about finding daycare, finding a new car so I won't wrench my back from putting the baby in its car seat within my two-door vehicle, etc.
But what's worry going to do? Both Yee and Tolle reminded me there's nothing to fear, even childbirth, if I remain present ... life will continue to be. Not that I should neglect finding a new car (hopefully not a minivan!) or a daycare or whatever need there is. However, I need to return back to the now with the aid of my breath and focus on what can be done now versus focusing on what I didn't do in the past or about what possibly can't be done in the future. That will get me nowhere but into a negative space.
So take a deep inhale with me in this present moment - "All is well." ~ Louise L. Hay
Below is a brief video (not the same as the dvd mentioned above) with Yee on meditation.
Namaste.
~Rodney Yee, YJ's Yoga for Relaxation and Meditation dvd
Armed with two bags full to the brim with at least twenty pounds of books, I ventured to our local-used bookstore. And yes, probably not smart of me to carry so much weight since I'm almost eight months pregnant, but I'm nesting and need to make room for baby! This must have been the first time I actually sold books at this particular store because they totally jipped me.
"Your total trade in is $7.50," said the store employee."Uh, so what books aren't you taking?" I inquired.
"That's for all books..." he replied. In my mind I wanted to FREAK out about how they were taking advantage of the process, but then I reminded myself of the heaviness of the books and lugging them into and out of my car. Not to mention how much room getting rid of them would save. After taking a deep inhale, I said, "Thank you" and took my pathetic amount of cash where I spent it times four in the store. BASTARDS! I need to open my own used bookstore, man!
Enough of my self pity, however notice how I practiced presence (kind of) and didn't allow my pain body to show up (if you're reading Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth you'll know what I mean). Let's return to the quote at the top, which I heard in one of my purchases at the used bookstore - yoga dvd "Yoga for Meditation" with Rodney Yee. Even before I began reading A New Earth, I wanted to dive deeper into the seventh limb of yoga, meditation or dhyana. But due to the words in Tolle's book, I am convinced of its power. Here's a quote from A New Earth that really conveys the potential behind being present/meditation:
'"Be aware of your breathing as often as you are able, whenever you remember. Do that for one year, and it will be more powerfully transformative than attending all of these courses. And it's free."'
~ Eckhart Tolle
To make meditation a daily habit (now doing three to five times per week), I'm exploring various ways to instill the practice into my life. This morning I watched Yee's "Yoga for Meditation" and am a bit disappointed it doesn't allow to skip through the various yoga and seated practices Yee includes to get to the specific parts you want. However, if you are just beginning meditation and want to try different seated positions and are looking for a very easy-going yoga practice prior to the meditation, it's a good start.
After practicing the first segment "Mountain" and viewing a few of Yee's seated postures, I ended the practice with "Wind" and "Sky." At the very end, he said the quote above, and it really struck me because the last few days I've begun FREAKING out that I'm not prepared for our upcoming arrival in late spring. Up until a few days ago, I think (maybe that's the operative word) I was doing relatively well staying present and stress free about the whole thing. Yet now it's two months away (or less!), and I'm starting to feel very worried about finding daycare, finding a new car so I won't wrench my back from putting the baby in its car seat within my two-door vehicle, etc.
But what's worry going to do? Both Yee and Tolle reminded me there's nothing to fear, even childbirth, if I remain present ... life will continue to be. Not that I should neglect finding a new car (hopefully not a minivan!) or a daycare or whatever need there is. However, I need to return back to the now with the aid of my breath and focus on what can be done now versus focusing on what I didn't do in the past or about what possibly can't be done in the future. That will get me nowhere but into a negative space.
So take a deep inhale with me in this present moment - "All is well." ~ Louise L. Hay
Below is a brief video (not the same as the dvd mentioned above) with Yee on meditation.
Namaste.
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