elisanns

Oh hey, it's the 6th. Apparently time actually moves forward no matter what else is going on. Meditation: Got it done this morning. Actually pretty successful in calming myself down since I had two big meetings today that I was not exactly excited for. Hobbies: Wrote a bit more for a short story contest I want to enter in February. Admittedly not as much as I would have liked, but every little bit counts. I also got a bit of knitting in while watching TV. Maybe I'll actually knit something I can use for once. Yoga: Today was actually pretty challenging and there were a few times in this 22 minute video that I wanted to give up. I'm actually so happy I persevered--I always feel better when I complete a session. It's also a really nice way to transition from work to me time in the evenings.

I am so happy this week is almost over. I could use a nap. Hobbies: Got some knitting in before the boyfriend came over. Meditation: Got this done in the morning. I may start timing myself in a more accurate way rather than just half-heartedly glancing at the clock, just to see if my time is getting better. Yoga: About to do this now. My dentist said a lot of my jaw problems could be solved from relaxing and also working on my posture, so I am definitely going to be focusing on that a bit more, because my face has been pretty sore the last month or so.

Hobbies: Got some writing in before my late evening dentist appointment. Came home to do some cleaning while listening to a podcast, so I feel like I did accomplish something. Yoga: I knew I'd be out today, so I made sure to take a quick break during the work day. Yoga With Adriene's office break video is wonderful for this, definitely a go-to when I know I won't have a ton of time in the evening: Meditation: Got in a bit of this in the morning, and tried a guided practice which I didn't enjoy as much as when I try to do it in silence. It depends so much on the voice, and I found this one just talked so fast and so often that it was distracting rather than helpful.

Following, because Discworld.

Really like this subgoal! Especially for this time of year, when it can be extra hard to avoid snacking.

Thank you so much for the posture advice. I'll definitely try using the wall tomorrow and see if that makes a difference!

...I may or may not have accidentally created a small hoard of candles over the last couple of months. But I definitely don't have a problem. 😅 I like the idea of tying meditation to an action. Right now I still do it in bed right after I wake up, so as you can imagine results have been a bit...mixed.

I have to admit, my first instinct was to go super ambitious and do something crazy hard, but....honestly, with this also being my birthday month along with the holidays, I think I should keep things a bit more manageable, solidify the good habits I'm already working on, and then go from there in the new year. So I'm carrying over the following from last challenge: 💚 Continue to prioritize my hobbies over mindless phone scrolling/YouTube watching. I find this reduces my anxiety over all, plus it has the added bonus of reducing boredom snacking, since I'm actually occupied. Plus, there's definitely a sense of accomplishment seeing that I've made more candles, continued to improve on my knitting skills, or worked ahead on a story I'm working on. Perfectionism can be pretty paralyzing for me, and making myself dive into something regularly is really helping with that overall. 💙 Continue to work on meditation I do notice a difference when I do this in the morning before work, but I won't lie and pretend like doing this every day was easy for me. Between accidentally falling back asleep, discovering just how annoying the noises outside really could be when I focused hard enough, and day-to-day anxieties, sitting/laying still every day can sometimes be very frustrating. It adds up, which is the things I need to remember. And in terms of adding something new: 💜 Do at least 10 minutes of yoga every day I'm really good at doing yoga five days a week, but once the weekend rolls around I can get lazy. While I don't see myself doing a full routine the way I do after work on weeknights, a shorter/lighter routine before bed would be a really great place to start expanding my practice and making in into a larger habit.

Meditation: done this morning, went pretty well though I did fall asleep immediately afterwards Journaling: About to do that now Hobbies: Made another candle. Did some knitting. Watched the first episode of Yellowjackets.

Meditation Done this morning Journaling didn't feel the need to do that today. So many people took today off work that not much happened to impact my stress levels. Hobbies Boyfriends came over, we watched a few more episodes of Arcane. Did yoga after he left. All in all, a good night.

Meditation Did that this morning and it went well for the first time in the last few days. Journaling Did a bit this morning. I also may do a bit more tonight. Hobbies I don't have the energy to write tonight, but I have continued to work on knitting my scarf, so I at least feel like I've accomplished something.

Meditation: Done this morning Journaling: Done during my lunch break Hobbies: Got a lot of reading done, which was very nice. Also took a bubble bath, which isn't a hobby really, but incredibly relaxing which is almost the same thing.

Meditation done this morning. Actually woke up weirdly early for once, so I felt like I had some time. Journaling Did this in the middle of the day when things were getting stressful at work Hobbies Wrote a little bit of my new story and continued knitting.

Meditation Did a bit this morning because I woke up absurdly early for a Sunday Journaling Got in a bit after watching a sad movie. Wanted to get my thoughts out. Hobbies Continued knitting and actually drew something for the first time in a while.

For yesterday: Meditation: I got in a little bit before work, which was a nice way to collect myself since I got off early that day. Journaling: I did get some of this in during the day because I was feeling a bit anxious. Hobbies: Does cleaning count as a hobby? I got a lot of that done, which definitely helped my mental state. I did start a book I bought a few months ago but never actually opened. Today: Meditation: Got some in this morning. Wasn't at home, so I couldn't keep track of how long I meditated for. Journaling: Today was a good day, and my mood didn't really make me feel like I needed to. Hobbies: Continued working on the hat I'm knitting.

Meditation this was a challenge this morning. There was lots of truck action outside and I definitely didn't give it the focus I could have. Journaling was a big help today, particularly went I had a bit of a panic attack later in the afternoon that I felt the need to get over. Hobbies: I did some more research into candle creation and may have found a course to take that was reasonably priced. I'm definitely trying to get better at this before I start making them for people to test out and report back.

Does anyone else find it much harder to breathe deeply while sitting up? I try to keep my back straight and breathe into my stomach the way every video/podcast/etc suggests, and yet somehow it never feels right. I almost always have to do it lying down....where I run the risk of falling asleep! Am I missing anything?

Meditation: got in around 10 minutes this morning. I definitely fell back asleep 😒 guess I should make sure I fully wake up first before I go into meditating. Journaling: was feeling pretty low after work, so I wrote down some of my concerns. Admittedly not all of them, but it was still nice to get some of it down. Hobbies: I worked a bit on my story before getting to the journaling part. Maybe didn't get done as much as I'd hoped, but some is still better than nothing.

Meditation: managed a couple of minutes this morning, but then had to move on to... Journaling: I was weirdly anxious about starting my day, so when I couldn't focus I opted to write out some thoughts instead. Hobbies: Not a hobby exactly, but I tried a new recipe tonight. I probably won't make it again because it took longer than I'd like, but at the end of the day I'm glad I tried something new out. I wrote a little bit in that story I'm working on, but admittedly I would have done more had the recipe taken up less time. I also watched Shang-Chi, which I'd been meaning to see so I'm glad to cross that off the list.

Meditation: Managed about ten minutes this morning. I went to bed insanely early the night before, so I was ready to get up and do stuff by the time 7 AM rolled around. Journaling: Did some of that first thing, just to get all my thoughts on paper. Saturday was very "go go go" followed by time with my boyfriend, which is nice, but it didn't give me time to truly process how busy and tired I was. No wonder I completely crashed at 8:30 on Sunday night...there was a lot happening. Hobbies: I started writing the story I was planning out, and even got some meal prep in. I always find preparing actual meals pretty daunting. I'm not so great in the kitchen, but I also want to get in the habit of saving money and making food at home instead of relying on take out all the time. Plus, it is much easier to eat healthier and actually feel full...most of the take out "healthy" options leave me wanting to eat more half an hour later.

Yesterday: Meditation: 10 minutes Journaling: No chance to do that as I had to work all day Hobbies: See above. Boyfriend came over afterwards and we watched movies together, so that was a nice way to end a long day. Today: Meditation: I will do this before bed. I slept in, which I really needed. Journaling: Nothing yet? But the night is still young. Hobbies: Boyfriend left around 4:30, so I will be busting out the knitting after I clean up to continue working on my hat.

Meditation 15 minutes done this morning. Journaling I was far too to do any real journaling beyond a couple of lines, but I also didn't get so overwhelmed by stress today, so overall it evened out. Hobbies Unfortunately missed this. I had to work until around 8:30 pm and was just too wiped to do much of anything.

Another busy day, but was semi-successful in my pursuit of not letting anxiety take complete control of my life. Meditation done and done. About 10 minutes this morning was all I could really do, but it definitely made things easier. Plus I find it helps me become more alert faster than if I just roll out of bed and start my day (or hit snooze a couple of times). Journaling I had to do a bit in the middle of the work day just to really get everything out. It helped me be able to set some issues aside and press on with the day. Hobbies made a new candle! This one will be blood orange scented. It's the first time I'm working with this oil, so I'm curious to see how this will turn out. Everything always smells super strong...until you light the finished product and then it smells like nothing. 😒

I've taken up making scented candles in the last year. Today I got a chance to try making a blood orange scented one...curious to see how it will turn out in the end! Here's everything still melted down.

Well, today was...a day. A very busy, horrible day. Meditation: I did manage to meditate this morning before work. Got in about 15 minutes and even managed to get myself nice and calm before starting the day off. Journaling: I think I'm going to do that right now before bed, because I definitely have some thoughts stewing that I need to get down. Hobbies: Boyfriend came over, so not much happened in terms of hobbies, but I also didn't have a ton of mindless screen time either, so I guess that evens out. Made a ton of progress with the book I was reading last night though, so that kind of makes up for it.