One week into Feb, 38 days into the new year... And it only now feels like my year is beginning.
We've sent a little one off to prep, a confident and eager miss seven into grade two and my little miss Ruby {now 21 months} is at home navigating our world with me by her side.
I haven't set a pace so far this year. And that's been unsettling for me. I've wanted a rhythm. But instead strived for a heart-centred hum to our days. We've done beautifully in carving out memories and moments this summer. And when all sense of balance has been thrown out, we've paused, breathed, banded together and started again.
Our first few weeks of January were slow and long in the best way. I found myself nourishing and nurturing my three together, but carving out time with each of my girls alone too. There's something about giving all your attention to them individually that sets my heart alight, as though I'm seeing them with new eyes, giving all my love to just one for a few moments. It's really quite hard to explain.
But today it feels like only now my year is truly beginning, now that school is back, and I can schedule in some time for writing, some time for nurture, time to create and time to be alone. And it turns out that's what I've craved most so far this year. Time alone to write, to breathe, to just be. To reconnect with me.
And so, I've been dwelling on little rituals I can fold effortlessly into my day. Three rounds of salute to the sun in the morning. Ducking out the door for a short morning walk as the sun rises while the rest of the house sleeps. Stepping outside to look at the sky {looking up and giving thanks}. Writing down my blessings. Just writing, anything at all, but mostly for my heart. Reading a few pages of a new book before bed. Reminding myself to breathe, and then breathing and doing absolutely nothing else.
And it seems this is where my rituals begin, with a single breath and a heart-focused intention. So here's to the start of a new year, and gratitude with each breath.
xx
How was your January? Do you carve any mindful or nurturing rituals into your mornings/day? I'd love to know. Elisa xx
~ Sending out three digital prints via my newsletter next month! Finally, they are ready! Plus, some breath-centered mantras and affirmations for you. If you'd like me to send them your way, you can add your email here.
When I began writing weekly gratitude posts the idea of posting for 52 weeks scared me. I didn't think I could do it. And I didn't think I did gratitude well.
I was grateful. But for the big things mostly. And when I needed to be. It was something I was working on. Gratitude wasn't a mindset for me. But that's what it's become.
My first real lesson in gratitude came eight years ago when my health was suffering and I was desperately eliminating foods from my diet and cursing my body for the pain I was in every day.
During that time {although I always believed I would find healthy again} I realised I was much less than grateful for my body and not at all grateful for the {lack of} food choices I now had.
My amazing health practitioner suggested my body may {most definitely would} digest food more easily if I gave thanks for it first. If I was grateful for food. This was an awakening of sorts for me - I realised that I often mindlessly ate, and I simply expected food to be available.
Slowly and mindfully, I changed that attitude. I began by eating my food slowly {one bite at a time}, and really tasting it. I gave thanks before I ate - offering gratitude not just for the food itself but for the nourishment it would bring to my body. I began to cook more mindfully too - conscious of choosing seasonal produce, conscious of the way I cooked my food and I became more adventurous with my cooking style as I steered myself toward whole foods, fresh foods and less grains.
And while this is probably where my gratitude journey began, it took taking part in the 52 Weeks of Grateful for gratitude to align with my heart.
Gratitude has moved from practise to habit to almost effortless. It's taken time. But it's now part of how I think.
And I've come to believe that gratitude is in every moment of every day. If we choose to look for it.
xx
Do you practise gratitude? What are you most grateful for today?
{Linking with the 52 Weeks of Grateful. I've posted and linked up for more than 52 weeks now. Each week I love reading the grateful posts. I've discovered such wonderful blogs and learnt so much about gratitude from this beautiful community over here. For that, I'm grateful xx}
{Oh and I'm creating a gratitude blog roll. So if you're a blogger who posts on gratitude or we've met via the 52 Weeks of Grateful, please let me know in the comments below or via Facebook. I'd love to add you to my list. Elisa xx}
A morning ritual is something I have always sought out.
My perfect morning begins with an affirmation, followed by yoga, then breakfast and a hot cup of lemon tea. It's full of calm, gentle and slow.
It rarely happens. The last time I was pregnant with my second child. She's now 18 months.
Instead I squeeze in glimpses of that morning. A little each day. In-between rushed and chaos.
Sometimes I just say the affirmation. Other times I wake to my two gorgeous girls sleeping beside me, and holding them and watching them as they sleep is meditation enough.
Then there are the mornings where I get woken by a three year old who is screaming and pointing to the window: "Mummy wake up! Look quick! Look outside, it's the morning! See the sun is up Mama!"
Or it's miss 18 months tugging on my fingers pulling at me as fiercely as she can. I take her hand and she leads me to the fridge, a smile on her face.
These times {and most mornings} I find myself bounding out of bed before I want to. My body startled from sleepy to active in a matter of seconds. Bounding to make the three rounds of breakfasts my hungry little people require.
The only real constant on those mornings is sitting {sometimes standing} to eat breakfast. A good healthy one that I give thanks for before my first bite.
It's usually mid-morning by the time I think to stretch or practise a little yoga, and sometimes afternoon before I get that cup of tea. And rarely is it drunk hot.
But lately I've been stepping outside once my girls start their breakfast and taking in a few slow and full breaths of fresh air. My eyes gaze at the sky, witness it's colour and contrast and give thanks for this new day.
Just a minute outside is all it takes for me to reconnect, still and just be. And that bit of calm, gentle and slow right there, that's ritual enough for me for now.
xx
{Gratitude for mornings with my girls - however they may go. For breakfast - and the one I've shared and one I'll be sharing with close family this Easter long weekend. For single whole minutes of stillness and meditation in my day. Elisa x}
~ Linking with two grateful communities: Maxabella's 52 Weeks of Grateful and Rachel's Finding Joy.
Do you have a morning ritual? What are you most grateful for this week?
Gratitude has become more natural, rather than scheduled now. I like it this way. It's effortlessly part of my week.
I'm thinking gratitude most days, but always at the end of the week I'm counting my blessings and noticing all I have to be grateful for. And I love that there's always something {and normally so much}.
Last week I missed the 52 Weeks of Grateful link up. My littlest girl clung to me like a koala for almost four days, teething and miserable.
Reaching for my laptop was out of the question. Actually it was impossible. Even pouring soy milk on my cereal turned out to be a hard task. But despite being so needed and not getting to publish the posts I craved to write, gratitude kept popping up in my heart and on my mind.
Reflecting on gratitude is a little like meditation for me. It slows me down, grounds me and makes me more mindful of my power to choose my day and how the moments play out.
But what I love most is how gratitude has become a part of my days. Effortlessly.
It's got me thinking about all the other rituals {past and present} I want to be part of my every day.
Salutes to the sun in the morning. Meditation each evening. Time stopping to look up at the sky and to notice the trees' leaves. Journaling - pen and paper style. Walking after dinner. Reading fiction books - even just a couple of pages each day.
It's got me thinking about how what starts as a scheduled practise can become more of a ritual and then turn into something that feels natural so easily.
It's got me thinking how the smallest changes can make the biggest impacts on our days.
xx
Any rituals you want to introduce to your days? Do you practise gratitude? x
