Om
Meditation. No no, shhhhhhhhhhh shhhhhhhhhhh…trust me on this one.
I was once a non-believer. I was once like you. Couple of years ago I started having anxiety attacks and once a tsunami of realization hit me, I needed to make some monumental changes to my life. To deal with this I began expanding my social and activity circles, was up for trying anything new to relieve stress and introduce myself to new experiences, new techniques and their ilk. Slowing down my world. I was going warp speed.
So, every Wednesday, I went to a free meditation class at a local yoga studio. Me and some other granolas sat there and were guided through breathing. Every bit of breath accounted for, methodic and purposeful. Which was nice but all sorts of memories, reminders and general junk floated in to my mind when I was supposed to be relaxing. All I could concentrate on was the streetcar noise as it passed the studio, the traffic honks and general downtown audio ambiance.
This was not relaxing.
So after class one day I asked the instructor how does one cease all thought in order to meditate? Surely this was impossible! But there is a secret, a way around the dilemma; excuse those thoughts and memories and reminders. Just choose to not delve further in to them. Yes, you need milk but now is not the time. Acknowledge, dismiss, back to feeling your nostrils. It’s so simple, you never stop thinking but you consistently ground yourself and return to your breathing. You can’t eliminate the thinking.
And yes turns out there are apps for that…and this. Some people prefer Tibetan Singing Bells as a background to meditation, some say classical music is the way but for me or nature sounds and spa music are the best.
And speaking of which here’s a great article on Meditation Vs. the Iphone while we’re on the subject.
I choose to love both but I only use Ipaddington to meditate, the second app I provide above has a nifty timer. Typically I meditate for ten to fifteen minutes only, sitting up, legs folded, comfy clothes, most often in bed. If I lie down I fall asleep and this defeats the whole purpose. Contrary to popular thought, I also meditate mornings. I feel it’s a good way to greet the day and these 15 minutes do not make me sleepy, it’s all zen.
Here’s another article I found on the topic of beginning meditation. Very interesting point of view here as well, great idea to gradually extend the time. Wish I had thought of that.
Living Quarters Visionboard #2
Beautiful! Look at everything so well organized and all that storage space…swooners.
Naturally, for the meowies.
I have girl wood for a good bed. I have one of those cheesy bed nets, oodles of different duvets and covers and an Ikea frog thing that is gigantic and has an air pocket inside guarding my bed alongside my Alec rabbit and Corrina, my childhood cabbage patch. Bed is good, I enjoy sleeping, it can cure all. And a romantic bed to Internet, read and snuggle in (amongst other fascinating activities) always makes my heart leap a little.
If you live in an old boxcar does that indeed make you some sort of new-age hobo? I once saw a fascinating fight in the middle of an intersection between two homeless people. The dude standing beside me (I was not a spectator, I was merely attempting to cross said intersection) was so excited about this fight, he wanted to take bets like it was a futuristic version of railroad scrapping hobos.
Which is why I can never live in one of those above houses but can admire from afar.
Best Accidental Salad Ever
I adore Kale. It’s a green leafy bunch of goodness but it’s not just you run of the mill leaves. Extremely hearty, almost meaty and very flavourful just on it’s own. This salad is full of protein, antioxidants and can be thrown together last minute for a great lunch and eaten warm or cold.
Kale, Chickpea and Quinoa Salad
1 Bunch Kale
1 minced medium sized garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1 Cup rinsed chickpeas
1 Cup cooked Quinoa
1/2 cup pomegrante seeds
1/4 cup raw almonds, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Dressing: 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 2 teaspoons clover honey (it makes a difference I assure you), 3 tablespoons canola oil, 1 tablespoon Chia Seeds.
Remove stems from Kale and wash thoroughly. Rough chop those leaves and add to a wok with about an inch of water in the bottom along with the garlic and chili flakes. Steam on medium heart until kale is tender, about 10 minutes and drain if any water remains. Put aside to cool.
In a medium bowl combine the lemon juice, honey, pepper, oil and Chia and whisk until combined. The Chia can make the dressing a little jelly like in consistancy but never fear that’s just one of those marvellous Chia type things and this will assist in abosorbing any extra moisture your Kale brings to the bowl.
Here is the tough part…add all the remianing ingredigents including the cooled kale in to the bowl you just whipped your dressing in and toss to coat.
Turning Point #3 – Diet
As my metabolism seems to sputter, clutch its chest and drag itself through the days I have come to the realisation that I badly need to make some changes in the name of health. Grab the foodie reins and pull back. I’m in my healthy granola stage remember, eliminating all toxins, being a dirty hippie, vegetarianism, drum circles, growing my hair super long, wearing a lot of flowy cotton etc.
So I put on my investigative/determined face and promptly sign up for My Fitness Pal to find out exactly what I put in to my body daily.
I may never recover from the findings of such research.
First, it’s a great system. Conveinently and easily you can track your daily diet, water intake, exercise and I have yet to stumble upon a food already not entered in to the system. So for a solid week I record everything I digest. I double check nutrients on the labels of everything I intake to ensure my results are as accurate as possible. I eat a candy, that gets recorded, every calorie counted, no gram of sodium left behind.
And it turns out…I am a hummingbird.
Hellbent on sugar and water and buzzing around until the inevitable 6:30 p.m. crash, curled up like a shrimp on the sofa, mouth agap. Attractive I know.
Sugar and I have been friendlies for many a moon, we’re a team. In fact so much so that it was my number one preferred crutch. Nicotine a close second. This sweet tooth of mine is a long time project of mine. But I didn’t realize just how badly over my limit I was…especially on a daily basis.
Thanks mostly to a trip to Bulk Barn and their Jordan Almond selection I was a total of 51 grams OVER of my daily limit of sugar on the very firts day recording. Over, not under, OVER.
17.5 grams of fat and 350 calories, 30 grams of sugar. $1.97. Let’s say good bye to our good friend the Golden delicious apple chips that I eat at least twice a week for breakfast or a snack. Those numbers are for the whole bag, at 2.5 servings per bag however someone with as little self control as I have might want to shy away from such goods. That’s 10 more grams of sugar than my daily allotment!
And our good friend sugar does many things to ones body;
* supresses the immune system (oh look I have walking pneumonia)
* it can cause you pancreas to have a freak out otherwise known as diabetis
* it ruins your teeth (candy is dandy but sex doesn’t rot your teeth – wisdom from mother)
* it slows your digestional tract
* sugar makes Tinka fat and emotional
I know I’m sweet enough without it but something I also noticed thanks to keeping tabs on my foods…I don’t touch the amount of protein or fat I require on a daily basis. Instead I load up on carbs and sugars. I go low-fat or even non-fat often enough but also without eating meat forget about our friend protein. And protein is awesome for you and your muscles, tissues and cells.
So…
Turning over a new dietary leaf. No pop, no chocolate, no junk. Eliminate the processed and properly nourish self. I shall miss you more than you will ever know Sprinkle-Donut-Eating-Your-Feelings-Day Tonight I made a killer Kale, Quinoa and Chickpea salad…expect lots more recipes on here as I try to cleanse my diet.
Any tips darlings? Exercise or diet suggestions hmmm?
Turning Point #2 – Time Wasting
Oh I’m a pro. I am in the top percentile of those who can live and breathe for an entire day yet not have anything to show for it.
I can accomplish some typical actions without assistance. Remove self from bed, begin the day with a bath. Put on some yoga pants and a cat centric t-shirt, grab a coffee. Even go as far as to write down a to-do list. But then things take a drastic turn after sustenance and usually because of the cosmic pull of Iphone, Ipad, Television things go awry. I can Internet for 14 hours straight and magically accomplish not one thing of notation.
And that throws off the entire balance of my life.
Best therapist in the world had a great way of getting me to gauge every situation in my life. Sailboat. How does _________ effect the ballast of my emotional sailboat? I am tits deep in the water and the lifeboats are deployed? Or are we even on both starboard and port side gliding across the blue. Or whats happening here? Well this time wasting bullshit generally Titanics my little boat of measure each and every-time.
And what do I spend all that time doing?
Internet: Muppet Youtube videos, Wikipedia-ing ummmm everything, online window shopping, trolling Ebay for deals.
Television: Re-Watching movies (I’ve seen Mean Girls about ten times at this point), real estate or debt related reality television, british soap operas, shows about storage units, repossessing vehicles, old Seinfeld episodes.
Iphone/Ipad: Bejewelled blitz, Hootsuite, Pinterest pinning.
All good things, all in moderation.
Not being sucked in and thinking over and over I should be detailing my car, fixing my favourite necklace that broke in NYC or otherwise accomplishing something useful. I don’t even make the time to regularly read my favourite blogs, look in to crafts I want to test drive, finish blogging my NYC pictures or organize and backup my pictures. It’s just me and Kermit trying to justify another dress.
Silly! I’m a grown-up!
So, how do I fix this? Well, schedule and prioritize and create a space conducive to concentration and accomplishment. If I had easier access to my sewing machine chances are I would find a couple of minutes to repair my vintage leopard coat that’s had a seam come loose…two years ago. Or show you all my NYC pictures and further regal you with tales of what’s it’s like to live with Marty the cat.
So. I’m going cold turkey on Muppets and Youtubes and Ebays and window shopping online. I am giving myself an hour an evening to Internet, still holding myself to the resolution to post 365 times this year on this very bloggingtons. If anything I will forgive myself almost immediatly for not buying all those things from Forever21 I don’t really need and the time I save myself not justifying those things to myself will be put to good use.
I’ve had the dream catcher crafting supplies for over a year, it’s time to grab the bull by the horns.
Turning Point #1 – Enabling
Got yelled at.
I probably needed to be yelled at.
I leaked. Partly because everything she was saying was true. I care sometimes a little too much and someone had to tell me.
Caring is good but often I too easily morph in to a sitter for grown adults. I worry and plan and fret over holidays and how to make every occasion special and accommodating everyone over myself. It’s easy to lose sight of the actual occasion, the true purpose when I am the one frantic over making everyone else happy. Or putting up with someone or something all in the name of being a ‘good person’.
In fact, it’s complete and total bullshit to waste time on people who don’t waste time on you.
No longer is it my problem to ensure that everyone is together on special occasions. Or that they receive nice presents and/or thoughtful cards. I am surrounded by adults and therefore it is not my diligent duty to make sure everyone remembers a birthday or organizes the date and time or the party or the food, otherwise overachieve the whole shindig. If I want to make someone feel special on their birthday or at other such occasion then I only need to be concerned with my contribution.
I am not the camp counsellor in charge of keeping it all together.
And while we’re on the topic, the toxics. We all have them or had them or are still dealing with them. Value add. That’s what the people around you should have, we all bring a special something to the table of our relationships and friendships. Except sometimes with some people. And this is another thing I am done with. I can’t pretend any longer, it’s not the norm to have a group of people whom are around you in which you know are not honest, loving, kind or reciprocal.
Again, I call bullshit.
I will however waste a ton of time on the people that matter to me. So look at me being 30 and cutting out the crap.
Tebow Love
I’m not one for the religious types but I read this article on ESPN and the only thing I could think of is that the world seriously needs more Tebow(s).
” Here you are, about to play a game that the world says is the most important thing in the world. Win and they praise you. Lose and they crush you. And here I have a chance to talk to the coolest, most courageous people. It puts it all into perspective. ” – Tim Tebow
Monday Night
He’s eating pizza and I made myself a Quesadilla.
I had the brilliant thought of buying salsa some weeks ago when it was on sale, knowing it just had to be in stock for when this magical night arrived. I should have put the pizza actually on the pizza pan but instead went straight to the racks and things ended messily. Spent a lot of time hacking off pieces of crust from the bottom of the oven and the rack itself. Then karma got me and my dinner took slightly longer than expected because there was an incident involving Coyote and is microwave.
It was love…sparks flew. And then just like a woman she got comfortable and stopped working.
So my dinner was baked instead of nuked.
We may not replace the Microwave. Currently crushing hard on this ‘hippie-love-and-eliminate-all-toxins-and-put-the-cats-on-a-raw-diet’ kind of phase. As I get older I get more granola. This comes naturally and genetically from my mother who has been ahead of the curve environmentally for years.
I may need to get the cats a fishing boat to catch their own food.
We also need to move to a lake then.
Just last week we stumbled upon terrifying facts regarding Blistex and we all immediately ditched our medicated lip balms for their natural counterparts. This then snowballed in to a ban of parabens, petro products and sulfates. In times like these kids…read the labels. And google incessantly. And watch your recycle bin fill up with toxic castaways.
I have to get an x-ray tomorrow…chest congestion. I make art everytime I cough.
Isn’t that a nice romantic way of looking at it?
How was your Monday night?
Weave + Me = Friends #firstworldproblems
First World Problems. Sorry. I’m a brat.
I have been a bathroom chemist now for months, all in the name of preserving and proper parenting of my weave/hair extensions. I have saran wrapped my head and blown multiple weekly spending allowances on hair products more times than I will ever admit. Mesmerized by the promises of smoothing, damage reversal…miracle claims in their own right.
All in the name of vanity.
And writing this article specifically. No no really, I do this all for you and vanity, first world problems to the point where I need to begin a weekly monetary charitable donation to offset my karma and make up for all this drivel.
So without further adieu, things my scalp and I have recently learned;
1.) Moroccan Oil, Macadamia Oil and Argan Oil, serums our weave saviours. I douse my weave at least once a day, usually before bed and brush through thoroughly. The only downfall is getting this on my already grease-prone hair so I concentrate exclusively on the weave itself top to bottom and the ends.
2.) Brush, brush, brush, brush, brush. What are you doing later? (You better answer brushing.) Brush that hair ten times a day, I use a paddle brush and flip my head upside down to ensure I am getting the hair under the weave, beside the weave, on top of the weave and so forth. I find also wearing some collars, hoods and hats and wind damage to really take the life out of lengths so brush every chance you get.
3.) Satin scarves and pillowcase = good thing. Make like a Baba and babushka overnight to avoid any friction between weave and pillowcases of the non-slippery variety.
4.) The evening before the wash. This is a big one, a very integral time in the saga that is weave ownership. Block off a good half hour just before slithering in to beddies and arm yourself with deep conditioners. Apply generously to lengths of hair and work through with fingers. Your hair should be saturated. Tie that mess of greased up tresses with coated no-metal hair wraps and spend some quality time heating up your melon with the blow-dryer. Quickly now after the dryer has warmed up your noodle, saran wrap your head. Add a terry cloth turban for even more help (the heat generated from your big throbbing brain will help this process) and get in to the sack. Start counting sheep and sleep.
5.) Washing; Shampoo as usual. I lather up twice a week, sometimes only even once with just a conditioning rinse halfway through the week to freshen everything up. Again, conditioning is everything, in my experience the best way to get these puppies all conditioned up is run the conditioner through the length of the extensions with your fingers, no brush, no comb, just meticulous application of conditioner from root to tip using pinched fingers.
6.) Once out of the shower squeeze as much water out of your hair as possible somewhat gently. I then apply my oil, concentrating on the ends and then wrap in a microfiber towel to dry as much as possible before blow-drying. The more it air drys the better, the less heat styling and your weave will thank you.
Some products I reco, a lot of these are great too for severely damaged hair;
Moroccan Oil, I find the regular (not light) variety to be best for the extensions.
Living Proof Restore Shampoo and Conditioner as well as the mask treatment which is worth it’s weight in gold, the perfect thing to use before bed.
A super good paddle brush, there is nothing better to assist in blow-drying that weave of yours in to full lengthy glory.
So there you have it, instant vain gratification all wrapped in a pretty oily babushka.
Gingers
Couple weeks ago Coyote and I picked up a gingerbread house kit. It’s festive and delicious, our two favourite combinations.
I’ve done this before but this was Coyote’s first go at the gingerbread construction. He also ended up eating most of it shortly after the building inspection was complete.
Serious cookie business.
Things were going well but we kind of didn’t give the icing time to fully harden and just went ahead and started the roof. It never fell completely but things became ajar quickly. It didn’t matter it was still quite delicious and full of calories which is great because we both have gotten fat.
Lots of leftover icing….use your imagination.
Merry Christmas!