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It's a special kitty video Friday, today! I walked in the bedroom and caught one of our kitties kneading on the big fluffly belly of another one- they were just having a good ol' cuddly purrfest all by themselves. It was just too cute, so thought I would share!
Happy Friday to you and hope you get some cuddles in this weekend! <3 jena
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...and the mister, around the neighborhood we feel so lucky to live in, on a crisp and clear Autumn evenin'.
No, this wasn't today- today is a total sogfest, as is Portland most of the time during fall. But that just means when the sun decides to peek itself out, it makes it all the more magical.
Dang.
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So you may know that I love to meditate to help clear my mind and get present. And I can vouch that it really does make you feel happier overall the more regularly you do it.
I am getting back into a regular practice myself, and so when Mayi from Heartmade asked me to say a little something about gratitude for her Life is Messy Bootcamp members, I thought about what would be most helpful from me to really get people into that state of thankfulness?
And so I put two of my loves together and recorded a guided meditation on gratitude! I wanted to share it here with you too:
It will lead you through some breathing and ask questions to get you thinking about all that you have, right here and now, within you and around you, to be truly grateful for.
Plus, I recorded some birdies in my backyard and around the hood that you'll hear in the background :)
So before you rush off on Thanksgiving travel plans, or if you need to step out of the thick of stressful holiday seasonness for a moment, I encourage you to take these 10 minutes for yourself to give it a listen. A little bit of thankfulness each day can shift your whole perspective of your life and the world around you!
I plan on creating more guided meditations like this around a variety of topics to have as a free resource for getting mo' mojo into your life! So let me know what you think, and if you'd like to hear more stuff like this!
And I can't leave without saying a big thank you to you all!! For sticking around and supporting me through the many changes on the blog over the past year. Your comments and emails and smiles and thank yous are really what keep me charged and plugging along. I appreciate each and every one of you reading this right now!
Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers and lots of happy gratitude to all of you! See you here next week!
<3 jena
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I have been so excited to show off my new Pansy Maiden bag to friends, and they all love it too! It looks like leather, but it's actually waxed canvas, which I adore. And the style is so very me!
Come check out what I carry in my bag over on the Pansy Maiden blog today. Laura, the lovely maker behind the line, is offering 20% off to YOU awesome readers o'mine with the code "InJenasBag", thru 11/25 only!
And to top if off, 10% of all sales from that code will go to Charity Water. I was introduced to them at the World Domination Summit over the summer and think it's an incredible cause- learn more on their site and buy a bag this week to share some proceeds with their awesome mission!
Thanks so much Laura, for having me on your blog!
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The snuggling season has begun!
I'll pop in next week before Thanksgiving to let you know about some plans and stuff coming up ahead around here! In the meantime, hope you have a snuggly weekend!
<3 jena
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I feel like I've been pulling a little vanishing act lately, cancelling obligations and plans cause I was sick for way too long, and now have been playing catch-up like a mad-woman because of it. But when work is fun and fun is work, I don't really have too much to complain about in the grand scheme!
Part of the fun this week was taking some pics of myself and my new Pansy Maiden bag, along with what I carry around in it, for an upcoming blog post on her site! It'll go up next week- I'll share the link, of course!
After shooting those pics, it had been the first time I really felt any energy in over a week since I caught a nasty cold, and since I had the camera all set up, I felt like playing some more.
I started messing around taking photos using a double flash, while I was dancing and spinning around, and I caught some moments where you could, literally, see right thru me!
Now you see me, now you don't.
I'm half here, half stuck up in my brain tallying up all my to-dos. But one thing's for certain- taking some time out to dance around, play, move yo' bod-ay... it's always time well spent!
Have you taken a movement break lately? If you need a shift in your energy, it's time to get on up and get down!
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{collabo project by my mister and I- original photo by him, @drsmoothdeath}
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A couple of my bedside companions...
Ugh, I've been sick all week! Finally feeling up and around today, but now the Mr caught whatever I got and is home sick too. Phooey fall colds! I forsee much catching-up with work and housey stuff this weekend- whee!
But under it all, I do feel so grateful to be able to just stay home sick if I need, to have a flexible schedule, and flexible clients and a boss that doesn't make me come in even when I'm feeling like crap- yay for that!
Hope you all have a great weekend and I'll see you back round these parts next week :)
<3 jena
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It seems like with every healthy habit, there comes a period of time when we're doing really good with it! Look at us go! And then something in our life situation changes- we get busier, we have to deal with something- there's a shift of some sort. And then suddenly, poof! Our new habit vanishes along with it.
That doesn't just happen to me, does it?
One healthy habit I have found myself falling from is meditation.
I was doing really great at it, meditating almost everyday for over a year. When I was feeling at my most overwhelmed and burdened, meditation is what I turned to help draw me out of that. And guess what? It worked!
It worked so well that the triggers that led me to feeling like I needed meditation in my life, the things that led me to keep up the habit everyday, the stress, sadness and overwhelm- well, they all went away!
The better I started to feel, the less I felt like I needed to meditate, because I already felt calm and happy and present.
And somewhere along the line, I stopped meditating at all. Without even really noticing that it was a habit I had given up- it was completely unconscious.
And now that I realize it's been a couple months since I was meditating regularly, I'm also noticing that I'm getting more easily frustrated, self-doubt is creeping in a lot more, I'm falling back into stressful patterns that I had before and I see- it's because I stopped!
So I now realize, that meditation is a life-long habit I want to cultivate and that just because it seems to be working at the time, doesn't mean I get to stop! That's the exact time when I need to keep going and keep at it.
So, I'm hopping back on the habit wagon! Here's how:
First things first: I'm going to start today. Now is a better time than any to jump back on that wagon. No use wasting time thinking about myself as a failure or wondering why I can't stick to things- I'm just gonna take action and get re-started. TODAY.
2nd step: I need to re-connect with my WHY. My first motivation was very apparent- I felt like crap, stressed out, depressed, and meditation made me feel instantly better.
Now that I'm not in such an overwhelmed state, I need to find a new motivation to keep on going. I know that I want to keep building up that place of presence and calm within me so that it's there when I need it- even if things aren't immediately stressful, I need to feel like I can handle the hard stuff when it comes up, and meditating regularly gives me the strength and clarity to do that. That's a pretty motivating why!
3rd step: I'm going to bring in some community. I have always meditated alone, which makes it really easy to stop if I want. I plan on continuing the solo practice, but also want to reach out to some community activities- guided meditations and groups around town (it's Portland so there's lots of stuff like that :)
To have a chance to talk to and get to know others who are interested in this could really help my motivation, I think. Having some sort of social support around your habit can help you feel more accountable and stick to it!
So those are my steps for hopping back on the habit wagon! I'm going to meditate right after this, and get started!
Is there a healthy habit you've let lax recently? How are you going to hop back on the wagon and get groovin' on it again?
{This is part of our Truthy Tuesday series over at The Maven Circle, where we openly share our struggles and thoughts around a different topic each week. Join us in getting truthy on your own blog, and we'll link up and spread the love!}
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Ahh, it's finally the end of a pretty exhausting week. I'm exhausted from good stuff, but feeling it all the same. Yay for Fridays!
And the sun's out today! It's been pouring here for the last couple weeks so it feels like a nice little repreive. I'm gonna get some good relaxation in this weekend hopefully!
Hope you all have a relaxing one too, and see you round here next week!
<3 jena
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