HELP Offered & Wanted!

[Chanda]

Fellow Druids,

Ours is a gentle Guild, we seek balance and knowledge. This post is the place to come to share your knowledge, to ask for help or both!

With Battle 3 came a call to share knowledge and encouragement across the Guilds.

Let this thread be used not just now during Battle 3, but also throughout the whole challenge. By sharing knowledge our knowledge grows, in offering help and encouragement we ourselves find motivation.

Knowing is not enough; we must apply.

Willing is not enough we must do. - Goethe

Fellow Druids, lets us do what we do best!

[Chanda]

In the spirit of things and to give others an opportunity to help out, I could use help with the following:

1. Any ideas on how to tackle my "desk hoard". 16 very tightly packed boxes and 15 "cubes" of stuff? - Burn it all is not an option... and I already know about "set a timer and do 15min at a time".

2. Best exercises to "rebuild my feet" for running

3. Best exercises for core strength also aimed at running

What can I help you with???

[Wandern]

In the spirit of things and to give others an opportunity to help out, I could use help with the following:

1. Any ideas on how to tackle my "desk hoard". 16 very tightly packed boxes and 15 "cubes" of stuff? - Burn it all is not an option... and I already know about "set a timer and do 15min at a time".

2. Best exercises to "rebuild my feet" for running

3. Best exercises for core strength also aimed at running

What can I help you with???

1. “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” -William Morris

Do you have a plan for all this stuff? or is it all there because you didn't know what to do with it or where to put it? Opening up boxes without some idea of where to put the contents is a recipe for frustration. I tend to be a purger. My mother's motto was "If in doubt, throw it out" and it stuck with me.

2. Feet are hard. Is it possible that you have something structurally wrong that orthotics might help? Don't wait until you have arthritis, tendonitis and plantar fasciiitis to consult a Dr. Trust me on this. The site that had the interesting pelvic floor information also has interesting stuff on feet: http://www.alignedandwell.com/katysays/category/foot-health/ It's a site I want to spend more time with, myself.

3. I don't know, but it sounds to me like you're making great strides here as part of this challenge.

[Hermione Gainser]

In the spirit of things and to give others an opportunity to help out, I could use help with the following:

1. Any ideas on how to tackle my "desk hoard". 16 very tightly packed boxes and 15 "cubes" of stuff? - Burn it all is not an option... and I already know about "set a timer and do 15min at a time".

2. Best exercises to "rebuild my feet" for running

3. Best exercises for core strength also aimed at running

What can I help you with???

Hi! I saw this and had some links to drop regarding your feet. I'm not sure to what extend you need to rebuild, but I've been retraining my feet with the help of these links:

Trifuel-overpronation-- So, yes, it deals with the pronation issue, but these are great exercises to help strengthen the foot, too. Since you're a druid, you've got the yoga thing down, I'm sure Otherwise, I've used them all and have seen improvements in foot strength.

These next two are lifting specific (or written with lifters in mind) but I think they translate to druid type activities. Engaged feet, ftw.

Otherwise, you know no issue is an island (did that even make sense?) so while your feet may be problem area 1, it doesn't hurt to do some work on the ankles, knees, and hips.

Here are some of my favorite mobility wod videos. One, two, and three.

Again, I'm not sure what is going on with your foot, exactly, but hopefully something here will be helpful

Oh, and core stuff... I'm not a runner, but I'm inclined to believe any core work will help your running. Plank and its side variations, superman and possibly bird dogs (just to be clear about what I mean). If your feet are an issue in plank (too much pressure or something like that), bird dog is a good sub. Supermans will hit your posterior chain nicely. I generally do them for counts (like planks).

Okay, that's it Good luck with number 1! Again, hope something here was even a little helpful.

[Wandern]

I could use some help with no dairy, no grain breakfast ideas. I like to take my breakfast in to work with me and eat it at my desk while catching up on email, so it needs to be something quick to prepare or that I can prepare the night before, portable, and something that won't stink up the office (no boiled eggs). My favorite is granola with yogurt and berries, but going low carb/paleoish knocks that out. The idea of drinking breakfast does not appeal - are smoothies really that satisfying? Any ideas?

[Hermione Gainser]

I forgot to add that, in addition to the stuff with the ankles, I roll mine out with a lacrosse ball and/or foam roller. I use the other leg as resistance but if you're not an avid roller you may not need the extra pressure at the beginning. I worked up to 2 minutes.

I could use some help with no dairy, no grain breakfast ideas. I like to take my breakfast in to work with me and eat it at my desk while catching up on email, so it needs to be something quick to prepare or that I can prepare the night before, portable, and something that won't stink up the office (no boiled eggs). My favorite is granola with yogurt and berries, but going low carb/paleoish knocks that out. The idea of drinking breakfast does not appeal - are smoothies really that satisfying? Any ideas?

Boiled eggs are a no... pre baked egg monster then is a no? I find it's not too stinky baked with veggies and meat.

Perhaps, bacon and egg cups?

Cauliflower grits with sausage. This recipe is a little intense but you don't need to do all the stuffs. You can steam your cauliflower, puree with salt, pepper, cheese if you're primal, any other spices you like and serve with yummy sausage and/or an egg over easy so the yolk gets everywhere. Delish. And not nearly as hard as it sounds. Reheats well.

Paleo pancakes.

"muffins"

And, the good ol' go to--- whatever you have leftover from the night before. Sure, breakfast food is awesome, but if you can have breakfast for dinner then go for dinner for breakfast

[LRB]

I could use some help with no dairy, no grain breakfast ideas. I like to take my breakfast in to work with me and eat it at my desk while catching up on email, so it needs to be something quick to prepare or that I can prepare the night before, portable, and something that won't stink up the office (no boiled eggs). My favorite is granola with yogurt and berries, but going low carb/paleoish knocks that out. The idea of drinking breakfast does not appeal - are smoothies really that satisfying? Any ideas?

Oh! Oh! Oh! Pick meeeee!

Can you heat things up at work? Is there a microwave? If so, I'd recommend baking some sweet potatoes at home over the weekend, and then take some sweet potato into work with you in the morning along with a spoonful or two of almond butter.

Alternately, grate a sweet potato (use the shredding attachment in a food processor), grate an apple (same), chop up some sausage, add some herbs (rosemary, garlic, whatever appeals) and saute the 'hash' in some coconut oil. Portion into single-serving containers and take one to work with you each day.

When I haven't bothered to put anything together ahead of time, I've been known to have just a few spoonfuls of almond butter. Or, if I'm going to work out that morning, I have some almond butter with a little bit of honey.

Also, there's no particular set of foods that are 'breakfast' foods -- so anything that you could have for lunch or dinner, you can also have for breakfast. (note: I say this, but I don't really live by it; I like my breakfasts to be a little bit sweet, rather than savory).

[Chanda]

Oh this is excellent advise! Thank you Laura and LuckyMe!

For breakfast and portable nothing beats a banana! No reason why you couldnt take carrots, capsicums, some nuts, leftover meat from the night before.

Also dont discount the eggs. Fresh eggs, cooked properly don't smell.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5299653_do-boiled-eggs-smell.html

Oh and go take a look at livingroovy's menu plans on her thread. Lots of great ideas there!

[ScurvySpider]

Here's what you can help me with: where is Battle 3 posted? I see the stickies under 6 week challenge: Druids, for 1 and 2.

I'm trying to play along just like I was in a "real" challenge

thank you, Knucklehead the Spider

[Wandern]

Here's what you can help me with: where is Battle 3 posted? I see the stickies under 6 week challenge: Druids, for 1 and 2.

I'm trying to play along just like I was in a "real" challenge

thank you, Knucklehead the Spider

It's here: http://www.nerdfitness.com/community/showthread.php?19293-Fall-Frenzy-Challenge-Battle-Round-Three

It does seem to be in the wrong thread, doesn't it?

[Wandern]

Boiled eggs are a no... pre baked egg monster then is a no? I find it's not too stinky baked with veggies and meat.

Perhaps, bacon and egg cups?

Cauliflower grits with sausage.

Paleo pancakes.

"muffins"

And, the good ol' go to--- whatever you have leftover from the night before. Sure, breakfast food is awesome, but if you can have breakfast for dinner then go for dinner for breakfast

I had to do some reading about the Big Egg Monster - I know them as frittatas. One of my goals is to be dairy-free this challenge, so no cheese - but that just leaves room for more bacon, no? Excellent, excellent suggestion

Shrimp and Grits is a favorite! Ooh - I may just make that for dinner!

Oh! Oh! Oh! Pick meeeee!

Can you heat things up at work? Is there a microwave? If so, I'd recommend baking some sweet potatoes at home over the weekend, and then take some sweet potato into work with you in the morning along with a spoonful or two of almond butter.

Alternately, grate a sweet potato (use the shredding attachment in a food processor), grate an apple (same), chop up some sausage, add some herbs (rosemary, garlic, whatever appeals) and saute the 'hash' in some coconut oil. Portion into single-serving containers and take one to work with you each day.

When I haven't bothered to put anything together ahead of time, I've been known to have just a few spoonfuls of almond butter. Or, if I'm going to work out that morning, I have some almond butter with a little bit of honey.

Also, there's no particular set of foods that are 'breakfast' foods -- so anything that you could have for lunch or dinner, you can also have for breakfast. (note: I say this, but I don't really live by it; I like my breakfasts to be a little bit sweet, rather than savory).

Sweet potato hash - that sounds really interesting. And the Farmer's Market is full of them right now- great idea!

Oh this is excellent advise! Thank you Laura and LuckyMe!

For breakfast and portable nothing beats a banana! No reason why you couldnt take carrots, capsicums, some nuts, leftover meat from the night before.

Also dont discount the eggs. Fresh eggs, cooked properly don't smell.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5299653_do-boiled-eggs-smell.html

Oh and go take a look at livingroovy's menu plans on her thread. Lots of great ideas there!

You're describing my lunch, Chanda :-) I've been so conditioned to eat a sweet breakfast. Cereal = good; eggs = bad. Such a hard habit to break!

Thanks, everyone for the great ideas! I can't wait to try them!

[Stareyedgirl]

In the spirit of things and to give others an opportunity to help out, I could use help with the following:

1. Any ideas on how to tackle my "desk hoard". 16 very tightly packed boxes and 15 "cubes" of stuff? - Burn it all is not an option... and I already know about "set a timer and do 15min at a time".

I'm a category person, which means that the mess gets messier before it gets better, but when it's better, it's AMAZING. I take the area that I'm cleaning and organizing and sort sort sort - multiple times.

Here is my system:

#1 - Sort it into 3 piles.

Get rid of - this can optionally be separated into throw away and donate/recycle, but be critical when you think of how much you actually need the stuff you're holding onto and be realistic about donating or selling stuff. Are you REALLY going to list whatever on Craig's list or is it going to sit and gather dust? If you're having difficulty detaching from something, put it in a box and don't look at it for a year. If you didn't need whatever was in it, don't even open it back up, just take the box and donate it.

Keep, and it has a place, it just needs to be put there

Keep, it has no place, a place needs to be found

#2 - Throw away or donate everything in the 'get rid of' pile. Put misplaced items where they belong. Set aside the homeless objects for the next sort.

#3 - Categorize the stuff that needs a home and see how much storage space you need for each category. I don't know what your situation is or what is in your desk hoard, so I can't help with specifics, but if you have 50 pens, a storage solution for 5 will not work for you. You need to know how much stuff you have before you know what you need to store said stuff. And sometimes when you realize that you have 50 pens, you might consider not keeping all 50

#4 - Acquire storage solutions for your categories and LABEL THE AREAS (this is important). Then when new things come into the hoard, you'll be like, "Oh. Pens. Here's the pen box/drawer/section, I'll just put that there."

This has worked SO well for my husband and me in the past. We're both always amazed when we need something that we haven't thought about for 3 or 4 years and we actually know where it is. Like watch batteries, or the jump rope that I used for the last challenge that neither of us had looked at or touched in probably 2 years. I knew exactly where it was. It was awesome.

[Hermione Gainser]

Oh this is excellent advise! Thank you Laura and LuckyMe!

For breakfast and portable nothing beats a banana! No reason why you couldnt take carrots, capsicums, some nuts, leftover meat from the night before.

Also dont discount the eggs. Fresh eggs, cooked properly don't smell.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5299653_do-boiled-eggs-smell.html

Oh and go take a look at livingroovy's menu plans on her thread. Lots of great ideas there!

Anytime!

I had to do some reading about the Big Egg Monster - I know them as frittatas. One of my goals is to be dairy-free this challenge, so no cheese - but that just leaves room for more bacon, no? Excellent, excellent suggestion

Shrimp and Grits is a favorite! Ooh - I may just make that for dinner!

Sweet potato hash - that sounds really interesting. And the Farmer's Market is full of them right now- great idea!

You're describing my lunch, Chanda :-) I've been so conditioned to eat a sweet breakfast. Cereal = good; eggs = bad. Such a hard habit to break!

Thanks, everyone for the great ideas! I can't wait to try them!

Definitely! I never use cheese, personally. Lots and lots o' meat, though! mmmmm meaty.

On my way home I also thought of both noatmeal and paleo "cereal"... noatmeal is a little high maintenance to make but if you can make a large batch on Sunday you may be able to eat it for a couple days. Regardless, at some point, I would try it. Because holy hell, it is delicious.

Paleo cereal w/ almond milk or coconut milk--also pretty good

Here are a few links for ideas... Play around and see if you find any combos you like

http://theprimepursuit.com/2012/08/28/do-you-miss-cold-cereal/

http://cavegirlcuisine.net/2012/03/22/honey-bunches-of-paleo-cereal/

http://paleoparents.com/2011/grain-free-granola/

Some may have more carbohydrates than you're looking for, but edit as necessary. I usually do and always end up with tasty goods

[Elastigirl]

Sound like you have some great ideas for breakfast. Here's a few more:

Make and cook burgers from groundturkey,hamburger or sausage. Make enough for several day. You could even do some bacon to go with. Then you can have burger and bacon and maybe even some avocado or gaucamole

canned tuna/salmon/sardines mixed with some oil and vinegar dressing, some spices, andsome chopped veggies

cook up enough meat the night before so you have leftovers

cook a big bowl of soup and have it for breakfast. I love soup on cool fall mornings

[Chanda]

I'm a category person, which means that the mess gets messier before it gets better, but when it's better, it's AMAZING. I take the area that I'm cleaning and organizing and sort sort sort - multiple times.

...

Thats exactly what I would like to do. With my 2 girls its not realistic. Thats my issue at the moment. I would love nothing more than to sort the whole giant mess and keep sorting and purging until it was reduced to the bare essentials. I just dont have the luxury to spread out! Whatever I do has to be contained in a small space and amount of time, so it can be put away when I need to stop. I am sure this is what is holding me back at the moment. Hmmm, this may be a break through of some kind... Thanks !

Yours is an excellent system... Thank you for sharing!

[Chanda]

1. “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.†-William Morris

Thats a lovely quote. I may just print it out and stick it to the wall in front of my desk.

I like to take my breakfast in to work with me and eat it at my desk while catching up on email, ...

I've been thinking about your breakfast question too, in fact I woke up at 3am thinking about it. Something was troubling me about your question and at 3am last night it hit me. You should not be waiting until you are at work before you eat your breakfast! How long does it take you from when you wake up to when you actually eat your breakfast? As far as I know, it is generally agreed and recommended that one should eat breakfast within 30min to 1 hour of waking up! The theory being that waiting longer than that means your metabolism can slow down and you shift into "starvation" mode.

I have the exact same issue. I like to eat my breakfast at work while reading emails. It means I have my breakfast 1.5 to 2.5 hours after I get up.

If you are not sitting at your desk eating breakfast within 30min to 1 hour of waking up, I would like to challenge you to a PVP challenge... lets eat something before we leave the house in the mornings. Within 1 hour of waking up! We can still the rest of the breakfast or just a nice cup of tea/coffee while reading the emails at work!

The bonus: you dont have to worry about stinking up the office with your eggs, or tuna or anything else you choose to eat!

What do you say?

[Wandern]

Paleo cereal w/ almond milk or coconut milk--also pretty good

Here are a few links for ideas... Play around and see if you find any combos you like

http://theprimepursuit.com/2012/08/28/do-you-miss-cold-cereal/

http://cavegirlcuisine.net/2012/03/22/honey-bunches-of-paleo-cereal/

http://paleoparents.com/2011/grain-free-granola/

Some may have more carbohydrates than you're looking for, but edit as necessary. I usually do and always end up with tasty goods

Grain-free granola recipes! You are awesome Thank you so much!

[Hermione Gainser]

Grain-free granola recipes! You are awesome Thank you so much!

You are very welcome!

Regarding eating breakfast: It's okay to wait.

Eating first thing is super helpful for a lot of people but it turns out, not necessary or detrimental like originally thought.

[Chanda]

You are very welcome!

Regarding eating breakfast: It's okay to wait.

Eating first thing is super helpful for a lot of people but it turns out, not necessary or detrimental like originally thought.

An interesting view point. I'd never heard of Leangains. It explains a few other posts and threads I have seen floating around. Thanks for sharing the link, its really clarified a few questions I had.

Having experienced involuntary "intermittent fasting" while growing up, its no thanks for me all the way!

It is a topic we could discuss endlessly and the truth is that how we eat as a lot to do with our lifestyles. Since my last meal of the day is usually at around 6:30PM, when I wait until 9:30 or 10:00AM to eat, it means I am cramming all my food into a 8 to 9hour period.

Having been a "skip breakfast or eat breakfast late" person most of my life, I know one can live and even thrive like that. No problem. I started eating breakfast in the morning (roughly 1 hour after wake up) about 3 years ago (thanks to having to provide breakfast for my daughter). Its made a huge difference to my energy levels through the day. These days having a late breakfast or skipping it means my other meals of the day are also derailed, and I make worse food choices. I am one of the many people for whom eating breakfast first thing in the morning is super helpful.

[spencer_]

Do you have a particular regime you follow to help settle the inner voice and gain a sense of balance and inner peace? I suspect so, since I imagine that's really what the druids are all about, so I guess it's more a question of what you include in that particular regime.

[Chanda]

Do you have a particular regime you follow to help settle the inner voice and gain a sense of balance and inner peace? I suspect so, since I imagine that's really what the druids are all about, so I guess it's more a question of what you include in that particular regime.

Some other Druids may be better at it than me. Either way I think each of us can give you a different answer!

Meditation, yoga, tai-chi and a number of other practices when done regularly are supposed to help settle the inner voice, gain balance and inner peace. I find that I struggled with all of them because my life was too sedentary. Coming home after a 14 hour day in front of a monitor is not conductive to sitting down to a nice meditation session. So for me tai-chi was better. And now I find yoga helpful too (although it is still more a struggle with my body than with my mind).

What I do for inner peace/balance/quiet mind:

1. Regular short meditation periods (I do only 7min per day). When I remember I also do present moment awareness during normal activities.

2. Yoga several times per week.

3. Tai-chi. As soon as I have the time again I will restart tai-chi.

4. A good diet

5. I rarely drink alcohol. Caffeine is at a minimum.

6. Not ignoring the unpleasant things that need to be done (like taxes, etc).

7. I cut out "emotional" vampires from my life as much as possible

8. Don't hold frustrations/grudges/worries in. If something needs to be said/done/let go of then I do it.

9. When my mind is really in turmoil, nothing beats a long walk/run. Sometimes alone sometimes with company, depending on what it is.

10. Time doing things I enjoy, alone or with others.

So I don't do anything fancy. Most of it is common sense. Only the first 3 points are specific practices. I don't follow a regime as such... I just do a bit here and there when I can and find time. Ideally I need to be a bit more disciplined about it all... I am working on that!

For me the things above, when done regularly build up a kind of reservoir of inner peace and resilience. If the reservoir is full I can deal with anything life throws at me, I am strong, balanced and the inner critic is quiet.

This probably sounds a bit strange but if I focus I can usually actually see the reservoir in my mind. It can range from an ocean, river running through a forrest, quiet lake, to a dry patch of sand or small bucket locked in a grey room. I am always surprised at what it looks like... and it usually is a good reflection of my state.

Hope that made sense!

[Hermione Gainser]

An interesting view point. I'd never heard of Leangains. It explains a few other posts and threads I have seen floating around. Thanks for sharing the link, its really clarified a few questions I had.

Having experienced involuntary "intermittent fasting" while growing up, its no thanks for me all the way!

It is a topic we could discuss endlessly and the truth is that how we eat as a lot to do with our lifestyles. Since my last meal of the day is usually at around 6:30PM, when I wait until 9:30 or 10:00AM to eat, it means I am cramming all my food into a 8 to 9hour period.

Having been a "skip breakfast or eat breakfast late" person most of my life, I know one can live and even thrive like that. No problem. I started eating breakfast in the morning (roughly 1 hour after wake up) about 3 years ago (thanks to having to provide breakfast for my daughter). Its made a huge difference to my energy levels through the day. These days having a late breakfast or skipping it means my other meals of the day are also derailed, and I make worse food choices. I am one of the many people for whom eating breakfast first thing in the morning is super helpful.

Glad to share. I was a long time breakfaster for the very reason I've bolded in your statement. IMO, something like planned/scheduled intermittent fasting is best left for people who have a really strong handle on the diet stuff (and the mental stuff that goes along with it) and those looking to cut that extra bit of weight. One of the big reasons breakfast is so encouraged amongst general fitness types is that the majority of people will skip breakfast and then make terrible decisions later on in the day because their hunger plays evil games. I think you need to be actively aware of that to do IF with success. Hunger and all the other stuff that happens changes and decreases when the steps are taken to correctly fast.

I love it, but I definitely don't think it's for everyone. But, the best part of it, really, is that if you can make it from home to work without getting something gross like a donut then you won't suffer the negative effects health professionals originally thought you would if you went without eating.

[Chanda]

Glad to share. I was a long time breakfaster for the very reason I've bolded in your statement. IMO, something like planned/scheduled intermittent fasting is best left for people who have a really strong handle on the diet stuff (and the mental stuff that goes along with it) and those looking to cut that extra bit of weight. One of the big reasons breakfast is so encouraged amongst general fitness types is that the majority of people will skip breakfast and then make terrible decisions later on in the day because their hunger plays evil games. I think you need to be actively aware of that to do IF with success. Hunger and all the other stuff that happens changes and decreases when the steps are taken to correctly fast.

I love it, but I definitely don't think it's for everyone. But, the best part of it, really, is that if you can make it from home to work without getting something gross like a donut then you won't suffer the negative effects health professionals originally thought you would if you went without eating.

My biggest concern is exactly the people that dont have a good handle on a good diet. They hear about something like that and try it with disastrous effects. So I would have to agree with what you say there.

As for me, no donuts in the morning on the way to work... but for awhile there I couldn't resist the chocolate croissants. Those delicious evil things!

[Stareyedgirl]

Do you have a particular regime you follow to help settle the inner voice and gain a sense of balance and inner peace? I suspect so, since I imagine that's really what the druids are all about, so I guess it's more a question of what you include in that particular regime.

Personally, I think we all need to spend time with our inner voices quiet and "settled", but we also have to spend time listening to our inner voice. For me, that's the true balance.

My first step was to really hear the inner voice clearly in the first place. If you pay attention to what the inner voice is telling you and then you can decide whether or not you need to take action or if you can let it go. In my experience, if the inner voice is clattering away, there's usually a reason, and sometimes that reason is crazy nutso and sometimes that reason is very important. However, you can't listen to the little voice all of the time so you just need to segregate some time where you can reflect on that inner voice and really hear what it's saying. If you give it time to shout to the rafters, the rest of your life will be more peaceful. Usually it's something where our body is occupied, but our mind is free to roam about unchecked. Taking a walk without music or talking, doing dishes, folding laundry, chopping wood... jumping rope

Personally, I use a site called 750words.com and every morning while I'm drinking my morning tea, I hop on there and type out 750 words of whatever my inner voice is chattering about that day. When I have something weighing on me, sometimes I'll open it up sometimes in the middle of my day to purge whatever's got it up in arms, but usually doing my 750 in the morning is enough to allow me to focus on what I'm doing and be more in the moment of the day. When I started, it was really emotional, because my inner voice had been stopped up for so long that when I let it off its leash, it said really hurtful things to me, and I had to really think about whether it was right or if I was just being a total jerk to myself. (It was a little of both) I've done my 750 words for 82 days in a row now, and I don't think I'll stop. It's been an enormous help. I'm happier and more peaceful than I've ever been in my whole life.

Once you and your inner voice are buddies, yoga and meditation where you clear your mind and live precisely in the moment without all of that extraneous stuff is so much easier to do, because your inner voice had it's time on stage so you don't have to wrestle with it when you're trying to clear your mind and be present.

That's what works for me anyway.

[Chanda]

Once you and your inner voice are buddies, yoga and meditation where you clear your mind and live precisely in the moment without all of that extraneous stuff is so much easier to do, because your inner voice had it's time on stage so you don't have to wrestle with it when you're trying to clear your mind and be present.

That's what works for me anyway.

That was really interesting. I might try it sometime! Thanks for sharing.

I wonder if your 750words and my 7min meditation are doing basically the same thing using different techniques. I basically try to think of nothing and of course the inner voice starts chattering, so I just acknowledge the topic and then let it go (sometimes if its something really important I actually write it down so I can get back to it later). If I am lucky by the end of the 7min things are starting to settle a bit.

I did forget to mention in my answer that the inner voice, it never really goes away... best we can do is calm it down enough so we have those in the present moments. Just like what you described!