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By Julia Rymut;

How to Get Out of a Studio and Enjoy Outdoor Yoga

Woman in Dog Pose OutdoorsDo you love being outdoors? Have you ever thought about outdoor yoga for a change of scenery from your usual practice area?

More and more yoga lovers are heading outdoors during the spring and summer months to make the most of the weather. But be warned, there is a very good chance you will not want to go back inside to practice once you have tasted outdoor yoga!

Under the sky

For a long time I put myself off the idea, because I told myself that I needed to be in my own ‘private space’ where I could control my environment. The idea of being on display whist practicing my asana’s was incredibly off putting because I knew I would have trouble concentrating if I felt that I was making a spectacle of myself and people were staring at me.

Eventually I plucked up the courage to give it a try and having experienced the freedom of meditating in various outside locations, there is no looking back for me. I now have a few favorite spots depending on weather and time constraints

I discovered that it is a shame to confine oneself to practicing indoors when you could be enjoying the experience and freedom of taking your yoga outside and connecting in a natural environment.

Here are some tips that will help you to get the most out of your al-fresco yoga!
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Stress Relief Tips Tagged With: exercise, happiness, stress relief, stress-free living, yoga

By Julia Rymut;

9 Ways to Make Your Home Tranquil and Beautiful with Bamboo

I enjoy beautiful things.

I love making my home pretty and comfortable.  I love creating unusual decorations that make my home feel like me.

But even my favorite decorations can feel stale after a while.

Sometimes I need to bring something new into my home to keep my place feeling alive and creative.  The new things don’t have to be big or expensive–just fresh.

And fresh home is a perfect home for nurturing creativity.

Today I decided to find fresh possibilities that would make my home feel fresh, creative and tranquil.  I’m a sucker for bamboo so today’s “My Favorite Things” list is all bamboo. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Favorite Things Tagged With: happiness, stress-free living, Tranquil Home

By Julia Rymut;

What’s Your Happiness Project?

In “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin, Gretchen decides that she wants to be happier. It’s not that Getchen was unhappy in her life.  It’s more that she thought she should be happier.  She had a great husband and great kids.  She had money and her career was on track.

So why was she wasting her years kvetching and grumping at the people around her?

Gretchen decided to embark on The Happiness Project.

Gretchen is an ex-law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and she has a very organized, legalistic mind. She makes a calendar of goals and embarks on a year of increasing her happiness.

The Happiness Project fascinates me.

Gretchen’s story brings up a number of questions which have teased me for years.

What are reasonable expectations for happiness?

How committed are we really to being happy?

And how much of happiness is our circumstances, and how much is our attitude?

Creating Your Happiness Project

Gretchen begins by finding 11 key areas in her life which she wants to improve–marriage, parenthood, friends, eternity, attitude, work, play, passion, energy, money and mindfulness.

If I made my own list, my “Things to Work on to Increase Happiness” list would be:  health, spirituality, time to do nothing, creativity, connection with friends, adventure, beautifying my environment, family, prosperity, clothes, nature and love.

What’s your list?  What 11 things would you make a commitment to improve if you knew you’d be happier at the end?

Make Your Commitment

Gretchen took her 11 areas to improve and assigned each of them a month in the next year.  Each month she set specific goals to improve these areas.

When the new month came, she added to her list until finally, by the 12th month, she was working on the whole picture.

When I think about doing that, I come up with a million excuses why I won’t do it.  “It’s too much work.”  “I’ll loose interest.”  “I don’t have that much extra time.”

But how crazy is that?

Why won’t I commit to myself to work in the areas that I already know would help me be more happy?  Even if I’m not more happy at the end of the year, I know I won’t be less happy for working on them.

In my own little mini-Happiness Project, I have been jogging for the last 3 days.  This is a minor victory, not only because 3 days is a short time but also because I used to be much more athletic.

But still, I have run 3 days more than I ran the week before.  I’m counting it.

I am committed to living a life of abundance and beauty and ease and connection.  My commitment must extend farther than just ideas–I need action.

What are your key areas to improve to create an environment fertile for Happiness?

And how committed are you to them?

Filed Under: Stress Relief Tips Tagged With: happiness, mindset

By Julia Rymut;

Thoughts on Stress Free Living

Time management, exercise, nutrition, breathing… Thoughts on stress free living–what is the core of the problem?

Stress involves a cycle of steps; stressors lead to stress reactions which decrease our health and increase our sensitivity to the stressors. Each step increases the effect of the next.

Often we stop the cycle by reducing the stressors in our lives (time management, learning to say ‘no’ to commitments, etc.). Sometimes we reduce our reactions to the stressors (Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, relaxation techniques, etc.). And other times we simply support our bodies to better cope with the stress (good nutrition, exercise, yoga, etc.).

But what is the Big Picture?

Why there is so much stress in modern life?

Yes, our lives are busy. There’s hustle, bustle, crazy deadlines and lots of demands. Still, some people can remain calm and happy in the midst of it all, and others fall apart.

We are disconnected from our true selves.

In our modern lives, we have forgotten our purpose. We don’t know why we are here and we don’t sing our unique melody.

In Tsalagi (Cherokee) belief, one of the causes of disease is to not utilize the gifts you were given in this life.

The discord of how we live our lives and who we really are leads to decisions which are disharmonious. Our lives blast rock ‘n roll while our inner beings hum classical. Since we don’t know our own song, we get lost in the bustle bustle, the materialism and the chaos of life. We travel in a direction which we were never intended to take.

The process of reclaiming ourselves can be long as we untangle the knot of poor choices. In the beginning, it is hard to even know what is wrong and what is right.

To live stress free, we must find enough quiet to hear ourselves, and we must become clear enough and strong enough to act on it. We are both the song of ourselves and the symphony of everything around us. When we receive the vibration of the Divine, and channel it into our own Divine Purpose, we have the energy to do whatever we must, without stress or effort.

Start with your Daily Habits

The easiest ways to start the process of recovering yourself is with external habits which take you from your daily life deeper inside yourself.

  • Meditate–or at least sit quietly. There are many mediation techniques and one can easily get lost trying to find the right one. For now, if you are an absolute beginner, keep it simple. Promise yourself to sit in a chair quietly for 10 minutes every day.

    Just sit still.

    Notice how you feel. Notice what you think about. Don’t sleep. Don’t day dream. Don’t do anything. Just sit.

    Oh–and don’t start to stress. Mediation is not supposed to make things worse!

    Sitting can be a challenge. In no time you can feel bored, frustrated, or your mind will wonder with your list of things to do.Practice sitting.

    If this suits you, then look for some deeper meditation practices to guide you.

  • Woman taking relaxing walk in winter forestTake walks. Commit to a 20 minute walk everyday. No jogging. No talking on the cell phone. Just walk. Breathe. Notice what’s around you.
  • Follow your secret passion. Have you always wanted to dance? Learn the bag pipes? Rock climb? Take up that dream you have always had and see how the enthusiasm of playing can lead you to new possibilities. Living stress free can be fun too.
  • Indulge in little luxuries. As stressed mothers it is especially important to tenderly care for ourselves. We devote ourselves to others so much that it is no wonder that we lose ourselves. Take time every week to do something strictly for yourself, something which reminds you of who you are when you are not a wife, mother, daughter, co-worker or PTO member.
  • Buy the Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, and do the exercises. Julia’s book helps artists re-find their muse through a series of weekly steps. View yourself as the artist creating your own life. Awaken the playful child in yourself, follow your dreams and ignore the voices telling you to stop.
  • Say a prayer. Connect with your Higher Power and let your relationship with the Divine guide you.
  • Make a practice of following your thoughts. Stress free living emerges when you stop torturing yourself with what could, should or would have been and just live quietly in the present. Focus your thoughts on stress free living.

When my thoughts careen out of control, I remind myself over and over:

“Right now, for this moment, I am safe, happy and everything going fine.”

This silly mantra keeps my worries for the future or regrets of the past from ruining my current day. It keeps my thoughts on stress free living.

It is quite revealing to learn how often my problems are from my thoughts. Stress free living is begins when we can master our mind.

I spend relatively little time actually tending to a problem, and when I do, it is usually more stressful thinking about it than doing something about it.

Deeper Peace

These thoughts on stress free living are only the beginning. Once we have quieted our daily lives, and reclaimed our creativity and playfulness, we can begin moving even deeper. Eventually we will be so familiar with the place of peace inside ourselves that the little luxuries and daily habits of quietness become pleasant additions to our lives, but not necessary crutches. We can find peace regardless of the turmoil around us.

Peace in any situation, regardless of the circumstance, is the true core of stress free living.

Filed Under: Stress Articles Tagged With: happiness, mindset, stress-free living

By Julia Rymut;

Humorous Stress Tips for Moms

Tired of time management?

Think you’ll pop if you take one more deep breath?

So bored with yoga that you want to bang your head on your sticky mat?

You may find these reduce stress tips just the ticket.

The Top 10 Humorous Tips for Moms to Reduce Stress

1. Bored at the kid’s soccer game? Take over as team manager and arrange for chair massage at every game.

Laundry overflowing its basket2. Tired of laundry? Every week take your dirty clothes to Goodwill and Target.com send new ones.

3. Sell the dog.

4. Can’t stand to make dinner anymore? Set up an open account at your Thai Food restaurant and have dinner delivered every night. Too expensive? See #5.

5. Worries about money? Take an extra job at Shopko–you will have extra money and you won’t see how dirty the house is.

6. Your career stalling? Quit your job and become an extra in a George Clooney film.

7. Husband forget so take out the garbage (again)? Time for new shoes.

8. Child home for school sick? Eat chocolate. You know–it has anti-oxidants.

9. Both mother and mother-in-law want you at their house for Christmas? Make a podcast of how much you love them and post it on the family website. What’s more holiday than YouTube?

…And the final of the

Humorous Stress Tips for Moms

10. Frustrated at listening to your girlfriend’s dating troubles? Time for new shoes and margaritas.

Filed Under: Stress Relief Tips Tagged With: happiness, stress relief, stressed moms

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