A Vital Question!
Before we get to this month’s Vibrancy Bites, enquiring minds (aka, mine) want to know your thoughts on a verrrrrry important question…
I’ve published movement videos just “as is” but also with fancy intros, disclaimers, outros and music (see above).
While I do love kicking around in Canva, my question for you is, is it worth it? Are you more likely to watch if my movement bites (or morsels - still can’t seem to land on a consistent name) are nicely packaged or would you rather just get to the meat and potatoes (still with the needed disclaimer nearby)?
Upping Our Vibe(s)
I feel like everyone’s’ saying, “oh mi gawd, it’s June, where’s the year gone?” Not only am I hearing/reading it but with my algorithm, I’m also getting shamed about not smashing my goals for the year - anyone else?
Let’s keep it simple. How about we just see what easy, peasy things we can do to experience a more vibrant life for the next several weeks?
Are you with me?
Remember I filter life through my seven Pillars of Health
Good ole Movement: See zhuzhed video above. Take a moment to play along with this month’s Movement Morsel. I’m offering a really simple neck and upper back stretch that you can easily do at home with a towel… *disclaimer reminder* take into consideration if you have any neck issues and please know that this is not medical advice but is general in nature.
Relationships & Community: I’m a bit excited about this Pillar of Health - it’s going to get kicked off big time this month because my kiddo is coming over from Perth. My b’day is mid-month and they’ll be here to celebrate my special day. (regular readers will know that these in-person sightings happen at best twice a year so this is a real treat). I also just learned that Dopamine is called the anticipation molecule and is released in our brains when we’re looking forward something pleasurable. I’m recommending that you plan something for this month that you’ll look forward to doing and get those happy hormones firing away.
Environment: Are you like the hubby & me? The kid’s coming for a visit so now all those pesky jobs (painting the front steps, cleaning the fuzzy dust off the ceiling fan blades, mowing the whole dang property) have suddenly come to the forefront. To say we’re working on our environment is putting it mildly. I do love having a reason to get motivated and I always feel so accomplished when I can cross a few things off my list. A good tidy up also makes my nervous system happy. Up your vibe this month by picking a house/garden project and tackling it. Tell me about your project in the comments.
Mindfulness: Remember my Christmas jigsaw puzzle? It’s Starry Starry Night with gold leaf on each and every piece and is one of the hardest puzzles I’ve ever worked on. It’s been on the dining room table under a towel for months and has 100% reinforced the idiom “out of sight, out of mind”. I have literally forgotten it’s there! So, my mindfulness practice this month will include several evenings of puzzling - yay! I consider doing a jigsaw puzzle not only as an act of mindfulness but also of creativity so what is a creative practice you’ll dust off (or in my case, uncover) that will offer you some mindfulness? Colouring? Baking? Journaling? The possibilities are endless.
Speaking of Creativity: one of the things I love to do is scroll the real estate listings in our area and last weekend we actually went to an open house. Are we considering moving? It’s always a discussion if the right place happened to present itself, so sometimes yes, but mostly no. Stay with me now because I see these forays into other people’s houses not only as free entertainment but also fact finding missions to get creatively inspired. I’m always open to gathering intel on other people’s gardens, furniture, and how they use their space. Your mission (should if you choose to accept it) is to find a house online that you’re curious about and either go see it in person or just use the photos to fuel creativity around your abode!
I realise that I haven’t talked about Sleep for a while but really, what is there to say except that we all know it’s very, very, very, very important to prioritise it both in length and quality. Here is a fabulous systematic review for those who like to nerd out down the research rabbit hole. I for one am always working on my sleep hygiene, mostly around my nighttime habits - how about you? Four times a week I get up early either for the gym or to teach. On my “days off” I don’t set an alarm but my body clock is conditioned so I’m still up at about the same time. And yes, sometimes that gives me the shits because I’d love to sleep in. Turns out your circadian rhythm is guided by your wake up time, not your going to bed time so my suggestion for the month is to wake up at the same time every day even if it’s your day off or the weekend.
And finally Nutrition: It’s getting a bit cooler here (June 1st is the first official day of winter), our days are ranging from 5-24C / 40-75F, so we’ve been making yummy soups and dare I say it, “hearty” salads. Here’s one of our fave salad recipes with a strong disclaimer: blue cheese and bacon both feature so it’s debatable how healthy it is. But it sure is yummy and we get great enjoyment out of eating it.
Hey, I just discovered that Substack has this added recipe feature, how cool!
Have a great month! xBec🤎
