07:30 woken by my 3 dogs, let them out in the garden and make a cup of tea. We all go back to bed and I do word and word puzzles to wake me up and then share with my sisters in other parts of the country - we’re competitive and supportive of each other and are in touch daily.
When my brain’s been stimulated and tea’s all gone it’s time to get up!
I'm currently going to fashion school, therefore I feel like my life it's on wheels. There is always a deadline, very little sleep and when I realize I do have a bit of time, I try to get ahead on any school task. I want to have some time to slow down. I would love a morning walk, some quiet time, but it seems almost impossible as I go through school :-(
I do have Sundays. On Sundays we go to church and then go to eat afterwards. I recently realized I started doing all the cleaning I did not do during the week on Sundays, making it the worst day for me. I decided Sundays was to go to church and rest, whatever didn't get done, didn't get done. Oh well....Life of a Fashion school student who is also a mom and a wife.
It’s really challenging to go through such busy periods. I have them with work, and it can feel really overwhelming. I try to cut myself some slack and just find really small moments. Like if I have a 7am meeting (as I did the other day), I meditate for literally 2 minutes.
I love the idea of a sabbath day, but it’s hard when you’re taking care of a household, and I’m sure much more so with kids!
Sarai all these pictures are BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for taking us behind the scenes of your life a little bit. How has meditation been for you these last 15 years? I'm thinking of starting my own practice soon here. Daily rituals? I don't have too many.. I sit and drink coffee with my wife every morning at breakfast and we play a game of King's Corners. It's a fun little card game that doesn't require a lot of thinking. :) I'm subscribing! I like your style. Have a great weekend.
Hi Thomas! Meditation has made a profound impact on my life. I’m writing more about this soon, but I’ve come to believe that our brains have different modes of experiencing the world, but we tend to get stuck in one particular mode, which is very logical, mechanistic, and superficial. Meditation is practice for me, where I can slip into other modes. It teaches me how to see what is right in front of me in a totally different way than what I’m habituated to.
If you’re interested in it, the thing that’s most helpful for me is not to be too perfectionist about it. Only have two minutes? That’s fine! Two minutes is two minutes. Sometimes I meditate for 5 minutes, sometimes 30. Usually, it’s 15-20 minutes, which is not a big commitment.
Guided meditations can really help, especially if you’re new to it. I really like the ones from Tara Brach. She has a podcast and posts new meditations all the time for free. They’re usually about 20 minutes.
Another good free resource is the Insight Timer app. It’s full of free meditations from respected teachers, and you can even filter by length depending on how much time you have.
Maybe I should write a whole post about this. I seem to have a lot to say! But it really has changed my life.
Wow Sarai! Thank you so much for this in-depth response. I've written all these suggestions down. I didn't know there were such thing as guided meditations, although I feel like I've heard the term before somewhere. THANK YOU!
My nightly ritual is not very beautiful or inspiring, but to help me retreat into myself so I can sleep, I play up to 4 games of sudoku on my phone, and if I haven't already started to fall asleep, read for a little bit and then turn out the light. What's important for me is to not have any interaction that involves talking to other people, but to separate my mind from the day's activity.
I think I like it so much because, in a world full of ambiguity, in sudoko there is only one right answer. In general, I'm ok with ambiguity, but it can be fatiguing, hence, the occasional relief of sudoku!
Its hard for me not to be on go go go mode. As I have gotten older I have been trying to be okay with slowing down sometimes. This winter I have been trying to go outside and go for a walk in the morning/afternoon sunlight. I have also tried mediation but my ADD brain wants to sing The Ramons catalogue instead, I'll keep trying though.
I think that’s what Casper ter Kuile meant by sacred reading, connecting to a spiritual text. Currently, I’m reading Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life by James Hollis. He’s a jungian analyst, and I’m very interested in Jung and what he says about growing older. I’m also reading Enchantment by Katherine May. I’ve started reading Wellness by Nathan Hill for fiction, but haven’t got very far yet.
Me too, every evening my husband and I cook and sit down to eat. But sometimes, I wish I could just continue on and forget supps. But once we connect and get going I am always very grateful for that time. It really is important. Lovely post. Thanks for sharing your wonderful environment. xxxx
Lovely, Sarai - thanks for writing and for sharing photos of your life's journey with us. Many blessings to you and yours.
Thanks Sybil, the same to you.
07:30 woken by my 3 dogs, let them out in the garden and make a cup of tea. We all go back to bed and I do word and word puzzles to wake me up and then share with my sisters in other parts of the country - we’re competitive and supportive of each other and are in touch daily.
When my brain’s been stimulated and tea’s all gone it’s time to get up!
I love this, it sounds like an amazing way to start the day!
I'm currently going to fashion school, therefore I feel like my life it's on wheels. There is always a deadline, very little sleep and when I realize I do have a bit of time, I try to get ahead on any school task. I want to have some time to slow down. I would love a morning walk, some quiet time, but it seems almost impossible as I go through school :-(
I do have Sundays. On Sundays we go to church and then go to eat afterwards. I recently realized I started doing all the cleaning I did not do during the week on Sundays, making it the worst day for me. I decided Sundays was to go to church and rest, whatever didn't get done, didn't get done. Oh well....Life of a Fashion school student who is also a mom and a wife.
It’s really challenging to go through such busy periods. I have them with work, and it can feel really overwhelming. I try to cut myself some slack and just find really small moments. Like if I have a 7am meeting (as I did the other day), I meditate for literally 2 minutes.
I love the idea of a sabbath day, but it’s hard when you’re taking care of a household, and I’m sure much more so with kids!
This is so beautiful Sarai. It makes me want to rewind my winter and redo it better.
I’m sure you’ll have many more to practice with!
same
Sarai all these pictures are BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for taking us behind the scenes of your life a little bit. How has meditation been for you these last 15 years? I'm thinking of starting my own practice soon here. Daily rituals? I don't have too many.. I sit and drink coffee with my wife every morning at breakfast and we play a game of King's Corners. It's a fun little card game that doesn't require a lot of thinking. :) I'm subscribing! I like your style. Have a great weekend.
Hi Thomas! Meditation has made a profound impact on my life. I’m writing more about this soon, but I’ve come to believe that our brains have different modes of experiencing the world, but we tend to get stuck in one particular mode, which is very logical, mechanistic, and superficial. Meditation is practice for me, where I can slip into other modes. It teaches me how to see what is right in front of me in a totally different way than what I’m habituated to.
If you’re interested in it, the thing that’s most helpful for me is not to be too perfectionist about it. Only have two minutes? That’s fine! Two minutes is two minutes. Sometimes I meditate for 5 minutes, sometimes 30. Usually, it’s 15-20 minutes, which is not a big commitment.
Guided meditations can really help, especially if you’re new to it. I really like the ones from Tara Brach. She has a podcast and posts new meditations all the time for free. They’re usually about 20 minutes.
Another good free resource is the Insight Timer app. It’s full of free meditations from respected teachers, and you can even filter by length depending on how much time you have.
Maybe I should write a whole post about this. I seem to have a lot to say! But it really has changed my life.
Wow Sarai! Thank you so much for this in-depth response. I've written all these suggestions down. I didn't know there were such thing as guided meditations, although I feel like I've heard the term before somewhere. THANK YOU!
My nightly ritual is not very beautiful or inspiring, but to help me retreat into myself so I can sleep, I play up to 4 games of sudoku on my phone, and if I haven't already started to fall asleep, read for a little bit and then turn out the light. What's important for me is to not have any interaction that involves talking to other people, but to separate my mind from the day's activity.
Ooh, I just played soduku for the first time in years on a recent plane trip. I’ve lost what little skill I had, but it really does shift the brain.
I think I like it so much because, in a world full of ambiguity, in sudoko there is only one right answer. In general, I'm ok with ambiguity, but it can be fatiguing, hence, the occasional relief of sudoku!
Yes! I think the human brain just loves puzzles, but there are so many in life that cannot be solved!
Its hard for me not to be on go go go mode. As I have gotten older I have been trying to be okay with slowing down sometimes. This winter I have been trying to go outside and go for a walk in the morning/afternoon sunlight. I have also tried mediation but my ADD brain wants to sing The Ramons catalogue instead, I'll keep trying though.
It’s summer over in NZ. My fav ritual is listening to scriptures when I first wake up and trying to open my eyes. Then I do morning pages.
What non-fiction and fiction are you reading at the moment?
I think that’s what Casper ter Kuile meant by sacred reading, connecting to a spiritual text. Currently, I’m reading Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life by James Hollis. He’s a jungian analyst, and I’m very interested in Jung and what he says about growing older. I’m also reading Enchantment by Katherine May. I’ve started reading Wellness by Nathan Hill for fiction, but haven’t got very far yet.
Hi Sarah,
Me too, every evening my husband and I cook and sit down to eat. But sometimes, I wish I could just continue on and forget supps. But once we connect and get going I am always very grateful for that time. It really is important. Lovely post. Thanks for sharing your wonderful environment. xxxx
I usually workout before dinner, so I am always ready to EAT. 😂