Valentine's Is Coming!
My very favorite holiday is coming up this Saturday! My hubby and I will be making history by going to a couples yoga party at Lotus (the studio where I practice). And by the way, my yoga hiatus is over. That didn't work...at all. The new information/discipline it takes to do live differently while I recover from adrenal fatigue (among other things) overwhelms me regularly and my thinking got pretty negative when I wasn't practicing. Yoga equals four hours a week that I practiced positive self-talk. I heard myself saying like, "I can't do this. This is too much..." In yoga, we change that to, "Maybe I can. If not today, someday." Do you hear the hope in that? That's what I was losing. I felt hopeless with no obvious improvements in my condition, I was having a hard time believing they would come.
So I'm back on the yoga wagon - just avoiding the power yoga that used to wipe me out. I started going once a week and now I go twice. I choose the easier pose sometimes. I take a resting pose when I'm tired and so far, I haven't left feeling like a limp rag or the headache that won't go away. I noticed a benefit during my first day back. I was in crow pose, feeling focused and steady. I thought, "I'm strong!" I had forgotten. And that's when I knew I could do all the things I needed to do to get better. I'd been telling myself I was too weak, but it wasn't true. Just like a yoga pose that you think you'll never do, one day you do. Yogis call it "finding" the pose. It seemed out of reach forever, and now it's just there. Maybe this is how good health will be. Donald Miller talks about how the middle of a process is like canoeing across a body of water. At first the shore recedes quickly and then you get to a place where both shores are just freakin' far away. The progress you make becomes imperceptible to yourself and it's easy to be discouraged.
Well, I've buckled down and I'm rowing away. I'm following a low-glycemic diet (eating every two hours to regulate blood sugar), meditating five minutes every day, sticking to an hour-long, screen-time-free bedtime routine and going to bed at ten every night. I'm still saying "no" to all new volunteer opportunities and trying to save energy for my immediate family. This is all made possible by a little extra Effexor and counseling sessions from time to time.
Needless to say, Valentines will be low-key compared to last year. With it being my favorite I like to go big, but there's a time for everything. If you're looking to make the day special for the people you love, you can make a craft like this or find something that fits from my list of less traditional options. If you're broke...anyone? Check out these cheap options from the year we were No-Spending in February. Because all you need is love!
This year our splurge will be getting Bibles for our kids. They both want one to call their own now that they can read. It's a little cheesy but we're going to play up the fact that it's God's love letter to them (because if you know any second-graders, cheesy is where it's at.) They've wanted them for a long time, so it should be pretty exciting. I ordered them on Amazon last night so hopefully they make it here for the actual day!
So I'm back on the yoga wagon - just avoiding the power yoga that used to wipe me out. I started going once a week and now I go twice. I choose the easier pose sometimes. I take a resting pose when I'm tired and so far, I haven't left feeling like a limp rag or the headache that won't go away. I noticed a benefit during my first day back. I was in crow pose, feeling focused and steady. I thought, "I'm strong!" I had forgotten. And that's when I knew I could do all the things I needed to do to get better. I'd been telling myself I was too weak, but it wasn't true. Just like a yoga pose that you think you'll never do, one day you do. Yogis call it "finding" the pose. It seemed out of reach forever, and now it's just there. Maybe this is how good health will be. Donald Miller talks about how the middle of a process is like canoeing across a body of water. At first the shore recedes quickly and then you get to a place where both shores are just freakin' far away. The progress you make becomes imperceptible to yourself and it's easy to be discouraged.Well, I've buckled down and I'm rowing away. I'm following a low-glycemic diet (eating every two hours to regulate blood sugar), meditating five minutes every day, sticking to an hour-long, screen-time-free bedtime routine and going to bed at ten every night. I'm still saying "no" to all new volunteer opportunities and trying to save energy for my immediate family. This is all made possible by a little extra Effexor and counseling sessions from time to time.
Needless to say, Valentines will be low-key compared to last year. With it being my favorite I like to go big, but there's a time for everything. If you're looking to make the day special for the people you love, you can make a craft like this or find something that fits from my list of less traditional options. If you're broke...anyone? Check out these cheap options from the year we were No-Spending in February. Because all you need is love!
This year our splurge will be getting Bibles for our kids. They both want one to call their own now that they can read. It's a little cheesy but we're going to play up the fact that it's God's love letter to them (because if you know any second-graders, cheesy is where it's at.) They've wanted them for a long time, so it should be pretty exciting. I ordered them on Amazon last night so hopefully they make it here for the actual day!
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