Live Life...Don't Just Exist

After my post on New Year’s resolutions, I got to thinking…aren’t those really actually just ways to get out there and LIVE LIFE instead of just EXISTING in it?

I love living life…and lately, I’ve been kind of existing in it rather than living in it.

I don’t mean I need to go out and do something exciting every night of the week, but I do mean I need something to make all this worth while.

Not all this blogging thing…you guys make that worth while…

I mean all this LIVING thing.

So I got to thinking…what are ways we can (me, you, your friends, neighbors, children, co-workers, etc) LIVE life?

Well, we can start by falling in love if we’re not already there.

If we are already there…we can fall in love all over again with that same person!


We can do everything on my New Year’s Resolution list!

We can also:

Go OUTSIDE! Shut off the television, shut off the video games and GO OUTSIDE! Feel the sun and the wind and even the rain (don’t forget to kiss while you’re feeling the rain).

Create a morning ritual that has nothing to do with getting ready for work. Maybe get up a little earlier and go outside to watch the sun come up. Maybe play a specific song that gets you pumped for the day…maybe…I don’t know…

Take Chances. I don’t know when the last time was I took a risk, but this is one I’m ready to try again!

Find some excitement. When something gets your adrenaline pumping…why not go for it! If you see something that looks totally crazy and FUN, why not join in?

Travel. If I could afford it more, this is how I would live life! As it stands, I do it as often as I am financially (and vacation permitting) able.

Exercise. I know for me, I have more zest and ambition to live that life when I’m pumped from a good workout!

Be positive. What about that for living life? Huh? No matter what happens, look for the cheery in it? That would be cool! (But sometimes I just need to vent…).

Face your fears. I did this once. Okay, maybe more than once. But once I was incredibly afraid of public speaking. I forced myself to give a presentation in front
of about a thousand people (I’m not exaggerating the number here) at work. I was scared out of my mind! But…once I got through it without throwing up or tripping on stage or having my stomach growl through the microphone (yes…I was concerned about that…) I knew I could do it again. And I have. A lot.

Slow down. Well…doesn’t that say a lot…

Volunteer. This is another thing I’ve done a lot of and I must say…it changed my life. And yes…It helped me live.

Play with Children. Who has a better zest for life than children?

Talk to the elderly. Who knows more about living life than the elderly? Who can appreciate the need to do it more?

Learn. Anything.

Watch the sunset. Daily.

Break out from ruts. Maybe when we find ourselves doing the same thing over and over and over…and we’re dissatisfied with that…maybe we need to break out and do something else. 30 days is all it takes to create a whole new habit.

Lose control. I mean lose the need to control.

Throw a dinner party.

Host a wine tasting.

Meditate and / or pray.

Write.

Read.

My personal favorite...SWIM NAKED!

Maybe even make New Year’s Resolutions…

I mean, after all, why wait?

What about you? Ideas? How do you LIFE without simply EXISTING?

Much Love,
Mercedes

New Year’s Resolutions – Why Wait?

I was thinking about New Year’s Resolutions today and I wanted to share my thoughts on that with anyone still reading here.

I’ve always hated New Year’s Resolutions. I actually haven’t really participated in them for a long time (except J and I had two we made together a few years ago. We stuck to them…but they were also two things that were bound to happen anyway so it was really no big deal) and I don’t know that I really will very seriously again either.

J and I quit smoking in December 2009 (before the New Year) just so our quit WOULDN’T be a New Year’s Resolution.

J suggested we have a New Year’s Resolution to start smoking again in 2011.

(We’re a touch tired of fighting it)

But I don’t know about that. We’ll have to see. LOL

I was actually wondering though…if there are things I want to change about my life, why wait? Why should I set New Year’s Resolutions on New Year’s? Why can’t tonight be New Year’s Eve (and I’m more than willing to celebrate hard to ring it in) and start my resolutions tomorrow?

Why should I conform?

So…here we go…

My Resolutions for MY New Year…

1. Go Greener. I’m doing a class on it at work in a couple of weeks. Why not participate a touch more in my personal life as well as at work? And why not participate more at work? (I’m a printing Queen…).

2. Do something new and different every week. I’ve already been working on this some (as you might have read), but can I keep it up? Can I do it WEEKLY? Maybe monthly is a better thought. We’ll see. (Ok…I’ll admit it. These aren’t really resolutions. These are more like “Suggestions for Mercedes to Have a Happy Life”)

3. Once a month I will say “Yes” to something I would normally say “No” to. Who knows…this could take care of number 2 for me as well.

4. Put X number of $’s in my savings account (I believe in the privacy of money matters, so I won’t share the specifics with you, but you can trust me to be honest about whether or not this happened).

5. Take the World Food Tour in Houston. I’ve started already. So far I’ve done American, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Pakistani, Indian, Mongolian, Portuguese, African and Italian. Next up is Lebanese and a Turkish restaurant I heard about…

6. Spend at least 4 glorious weekends away with my love. Doesn’t matter where…all that matters is we do not invite friends and we spend time together in a strange bed.

7. Kiss in the rain at least once. It rains here a lot. Why am I so reserved about getting out in it?

8. Cook something that seems too hard to cook. I’m thinking some of those Pakistani dishes seemed tough…

9. Write for enjoyment (not on the blog).

10. Write more blog articles than in years past.

11. Get back on Body for Life and don’t totally stop once the 12 weeks are up. This is sort of a canned “get in shape” resolution that just about everyone does, but Body for Life is my specific plan and…the gym is a lot less packed now than it is the beginning of January when “everyone” has a resolution to get fit…

Is that enough?

I think it probably is. Especially for someone who “doesn’t do” New Year’s Resolutions.

What about you? Do you make resolutions? Do you keep them? Do you even keep track of them? Do you need to wait? Do you know anything that should be added to this list?

Thoughts and ideas welcome!

Much Love,
Mercedes

Yoga in the Park with J

So last night J and I went to Yoga in the park together. It was the first time he and I had been out together (just the two of us) in a long time…

It has been a long summer that had me behaving (as I said in an earlier post) like a domestic goddess and him…well…not exactly like a doting boyfriend.

Needless to say, I was VERY excited to have him join me. Neither of us has been very consistent with exercise this summer and we struggled though a lot of it, but we did enjoy and don’t have regrets about going.

Whew! (I had so much fun with it last week that I was hoping I would continue the love of it this week too).

Will J go with me again?

I have no idea…I hope so, but he isn’t quite as open to driving into the city after work just for a Yoga class as I am. I hope he goes, but either way, I don’t see me giving this up…

Anyway… that’s not what this particular post is all about…what I want to talk to you about is how much FUN this was for ME.

There was a point in the class (oh…and by the way…it is a combination of Yoga and Pilates with 90% of it being Yoga) where we did Laughter Pilates.

Yes…Laughter Pilates.

The instructor told us we were going to feel a little silly at first because we were going to have to force ourselves to laugh but soon it would be pure, simple laughter.

Picture this…because during Laughter Pilates, you are balancing on your butt (sit bone as she called it) with your feet off the ground and your hands stretched out to the sides…you must have that image in your head to really see what this was like…

Got it?

We’re balanced on our sit bones…

Then…she starts the fakest laugh I have ever heard in my life.

It sounded ridiculous!

I laughed (that pure, simple authentic laughter she was talking about) INSTANTLY.

She kept her fake stuff up.

I laughed harder!

I actually couldn’t stop laughing.

I looked over at J and he had tears rolling down his cheeks he was laughing so hard.

And balancing.

Ever try to balance on your sit bone while laughing your butt off?

It’s HARD…REALLY HARD.

And yet…it was so much fun…so pure and simple and authentic…so natural and real…

When it was over, we had trouble getting it back under control (although she did take us right into a calming meditation which was interesting…one minute after laughing our butts off, the whole place is silently meditating…interesting) but it felt SO good to laugh like that…

Real belly laughter…

With about a hundred or so other people…

And honestly…it was probably the BEST ab workout I have ever had in my life.

My guess is…it worked some additional happiness into my heart as well.

I know for me…I hope she does that one with us again next week!

Personally…I’d love to see a class where Laughter Pilates was constant for at least a half hour…oh the six pack we could create…

Has anyone here ever done Laughter Pilates? I’d love to hear your experience with it.


Much Love,
Mercedes

Eat, Pray, Love & Meditation

The book/movie Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (played by Julia Roberts in the movie) seems to be everywhere these days! I think someone is trying to tell me I need to read it (I won’t watch the movie until after I’ve read the book).

I’ve seen people reading this book in the park, talking about it on blogs, reading/discussing it at work and even referencing it in fitness articles.

So…I felt compelled to do a little research to see what it was all about and would like to comment on the piece of Gilbert’s life that centered around meditation.

Meditation has been (and still is) a very large part of my life and quieting my mind for meditation has been (and still is) the greatest challenge for me during meditation. I believe in the importance and with every attempt, I seem to get a little better, but I believe I will always be a work in progress on this part.

However, I do strive to feel balanced and so I continue to practice and, who knows, maybe one day I will be a pro.

Or will at least be better…

In any case, from a work in progress meditation student…here are the steps I use to get the most out of my sessions. Whether those sessions be five minutes or an hour, whether I’m doing it alone or with others in a yoga class or whether I’m actually focused today or I’m just pretending…

First of all, I find a comfortable place to sit (usually on a yoga mat) with either my eyes closed or focused on a specific peaceful focal point.

Next…I inhale very slowly (3 to 5 seconds) through my nose. My focus is on my breath…following it all the way through my nose and down as far as it goes.

Then I pause and being to exhale very, very slowly with the same level of focus as the inhale and I “watch” or visualize my anxieties floating with every exhale. Slowly sending them on their way.

**Yes…there is a temptation to breath faster to get them out of me faster, but slow and easy is the key…

I continue this for several minutes.

When my mind wanders (and it always does), I gently acknowledge the thought and I refocus on my breathing. As soon as the thought comes in, I give it a nod and bring my mind back to watching myself breathe out all of the problems of the day.

Once my breathing feels natural and I have exhaled the anxieties and have begun to feel the peaceful feelings of relaxation, I allow my mind to take me to a beautiful place (my place in on a quiet beach…yours can be wherever you feel most quieted). My place is filled with love and tenderness. I live in that place in my mind for as long as I can, feeling the breeze, listening to the ocean and the birds, feeling the warmth, swaying softly.

When my mind wanders, I acknowledge the thought with a nod and refocus my breathing before I go back to my place.

And live there for as long as I can.

A few notes:

- Some people find themselves concerned about time or how much time they’ve spent in their meditative state (worrying about what else they need to do and why they can’t meditate too long, etc). If this is you, you might try setting an alarm for the time when you need to stop. This way, you can trust the alarm to let you know when time is up.

- Always sit (never lay down) while meditating because you might fall asleep. And yes, although we do breath deeply and peacefully while asleep, it does not have the same emotional or physical benefits of meditation.

- I like to journal immediately after a meditation session. It helps me to journal from a place of balance, stillness and love. You might try this too. Some of the best journal entries I have follow some of the best meditation sessions I’ve had. You might also try to journal before and after meditation…it is a beautiful way to fully see the benefits of what those few minutes have done to your state of mind.

Tell me…

Do you meditate? Do you have techniques for making your sessions better and better all the time? Do you have ideas for me on how to continue to improve my own sessions?

I would love more than anything to hear your happy experiences!

Much Love,
Mercedes

PS: Yoga in the park with J tonight was absolutely fabulous!

So...the Farmer's Market Was a Bust...

Well...the farmer's market wasn't what I had hoped it would be...but...I guess we could still call it an adventure.

We drove downtown and because J "knows how to get there quicker than I do" we went his way. Then, when we were coming at the park from the opposite direction of where I usually go he asks "Okay...so where is it?"

Ummm...I have no idea...

Eventually, we found the park found a parking spot (not easily done...) and got out of the car into temperatures that were rivaling anything hell could have possibly thrown us. By the time we set off into the park (meaning 20 steps into the park) I was ready to make the most of the many fountains scattered about. Lots of children were busy getting soaked an it looked so very welcoming.

Unfortunatly...I had white linen pants on...

So we walked past the fountains and found the farmer's market.

All 6 vendors.

yes...6...

We didn't want anything we saw and we didn't purchase anything but we did listen to a man explain to us why grass fed beef is so much better than corn fed beef.

Ummm...excuse me?

I'm sort of from the midwest...

Anyway...we left there and found a cute little pub with the slogan "Somewhere between sushi and soul food".

Their building is between a sushi restaurant and a soul food restaurant.

We shared a hot dog and a bucket of corona...

Talk about hitting the spot!

Spent the rest of the day eating and watching movies at home with J...and now I'm posting to you because he simply HAS to get to chapter 8 on whatever the video game is he's so interested in right now...LOL

And...as soon as he accomplishes that, we're off to bed...

Take care everyone...sweet dreams...enjoy as much as I am! I wish happiness, peace and love to each and every one of you!

No adventure planned for tomorrow...if one happens, it will be of the best kind...those spontaneous, out of the blue, how the heck did this happen kind...Ohh...I wish for that.

If it happens, I'll be sure to let you know!

Much Love,
Mercedes