It’s mindful monday ya’ll! Creating a new series on The Foodie Dietitian (TFD) to inspire mindfulness – around food, ourselves, and our daily lives. Check in on mondays to see what mindful musings I have in store for ya.

I usually like to check-in half way through the year on how I’m doing with the goals I set out for myself at the beginning of the year. We may be a little past that half-way mark but there’s no time better than the present to check in on the progress of your goals.  What good are goals anyways if you’re not holding yourself accountable and adapting them along the way?

thailand new years themes

At the start of 2014, I decided against setting so-called “resolutions” and instead declared three “themes” for me to focus on daily. Here’s a reminder for ya:

Mindfulness

– Meditate more. Sign up for a yoga retreat. Practice rose, bud, thorn daily.

Enjoyment

– Spend more time with friends. Cook at home more. Travel.

Learning

– Read more, watch less TV. Learn a new craft. Self-teach Buddhism practices.

I remember when I first declared these themes back in January, I felt a little overwhelmed. How am I going to find the time to be mindful, seek out enjoyment and embrace learning each day on top of tackling my never-ending to-do list? Anyone feel me on the post-goal-setting-anxiety? If you can relate, I have comforting news – this worry shortly thereafter dissipated – and my “themes” naturally started to become integrated into my daily life. The more I focused my energy on these themes as a sort of mantra, the more opportunities naturally presented themselves to me, and the easier daily decision-making came to be.

Here’s an update on how far I’ve come this year so far:

Mindfulness

– Meditate more. Sign up for a yoga retreat. Practice rose, bud, thorn daily.

I’m meditating more than ever and 10 Percent Happier is on my to-read list. I use Insight Timer as my meditation app but also highly recommend Stop, Breathe & Think, and HeadSpace. Meditation has become the norm to how I start most days (so that checking my phone and instagram is not the first thing I do when I roll out of bed). It’s been a really nice outlet for me to set an intention for the day so I know how to focus my efforts and energy. Since starting my own business, I’ve been pulled in many different directions, so meditation has helped me maintain more of a steady focus.

Yoga retreat. CHECK! I went to the most beautiful retreat center in Nosara, Costa Rica with an amazing yoga teacher and even more awesome group of people. It inspired me to get my yoga teaching certification this summer!

IMG_3261

I started off strong with practicing rose, bud, thorn, but then quickly fell off the bandwagon. Since this hasn’t been working so well, I’m going to try keeping a gratitude journal so that I can pay notice to all those little things I can so easily take for granted.

Enjoyment

– Spend more time with friends. Cook at home more. Travel.

Yes. Yes. Yes! I’ve definitely been better about making more time for friends, family, cooking, and travel! And it shows. If you carve out time for yourself to enjoy those things in your life you love the most, then you approach your work with less tension. I don’t have to resent time spent on work if I’m allowing myself enough time to do the things that bring me the most joy (like zip-lining in Costa Rica – pic below!).

IMG_3376

So far this year, I’ve traveled to NYC, Buffalo, Costa Rica, San Fran, and Pittsburgh. This Fall, I’m off to California, Washington, Atlanta, and Vermont! It’s safe to say this travel bug ain’t going away anytime soon. Already scheming for 2015 adventures!

IMG_4002

Learning

– Read more, watch less TV. Learn a new craft. Self-teach Buddhism practices.

I’ve watched so little TV this summer and am on a pretty strong anti-TV kick right now that Steve and I decided ixnay cable at our new apartment we’re moving to at the end of this month. Less time for mindless TV = more time for reading and meaningful QT with Steve! I’ve read a handful of good books this year – check out my Pinterest board to see what I’ve been reading lately.

Screen Shot 2014-08-18 at 12.58.34 PM

My new craft is yoga and becoming a certified yoga instructor. I officially graduated last weekend and am now certified to teach! This comes along with another whole list of goals specific to yoga but we’ll save that for another time :). So excited to teach my first class next week at the California Almond Board Orchard Tour in CA. I learned a lot about Buddhism in my yoga teacher training and via a couple of the Pema Chodron books I read as part of the training. I also read The Buddha Walks Into a Bar during my yoga retreat earlier this year which takes buddhism and breaks it down into more realistic applications for today’s young generation.

photo (1)

It’s pretty cool to see how my themes have manifested this year so far and hope they will continue to throughout the rest of the year. I have a confession though. I’ve been putting off creating goals/themes around my new business, probably out of fear of failing at them. Just a hunch given my type A personality. Gotta keep that fear of failure in check and not let it get the best of me! So, I’m putting it out there that I will create goals for my business by the end of next month. I’m more than halfway through reading The Desire Map, which is a great tool for creating goals based on cultivating desired feelings – goals meant to fulfill us, not drain us. Hoping to finish this book and then get down to some goal business.

Life begins where your comfort zone ends. How have you stepped outside your comfort zone this year? Where are you with your New Years Themes/Goals/Resolutions? I’d love to hear about your accomplishments, successes, challenges, roadblocks, etc. When we share our goals, we get this glorious motivator called accountability. So, share away!

Leave a Comment

Note: Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

3 Comments

  1. The Desire Map is amazing! I also recommend the Untethered Soul. I hope you enjoy Vermont this fall – I can’t get enough of traveling either & am heading to Florida, Atlanta, & (hopefully) Costa Rica this fall/holidays. A yoga retreat is definitely on my bucket list.

  2. I have been trying to incorporate meditation and yoga into my life more this year as well! ๐Ÿ™‚ I have also been reading some Buddhism-related books and find that it helps me significantly in my yoga and meditation practices. I would highly recommend the book “The Untethered Soul”. Awesome book about how we talk to ourselves in our mind. I also love any book by the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. I am totally going to check out the book The Buddha Walks Into a Bar!

    • Hey, Emily! Love meeting fellow RD yogis. I also LOVE your blog – the name is perfect! I just added that book to my reading list – thanks for the reco! Will definitely check out the author you mentioned too. Look forward to following your blog ๐Ÿ™‚