Joy in the details

This morning,  I have what my daughter would describe as "got your grump on".  I have woken up tired, with a headache, snuffly nose.  I came downstairs, wandered into my kitchen and I groaned, I hadn't tidied up the kitchen from yesterday.

After breakfast I ventured into my study, and was brave enough to take a self-portrait, no make-up, hair not brushed, teeth not cleaned (good job I'm not smiling), picture quality not that good.

Me with my grump on

So, I'm pleased I had my camera, I started to take a few pictures of all the goodness around me, and immediately my mood lifted.

My flowers following post processing in Pikmonkey

Jasper, wherever you find me in the house you will find him too!

Green smoothie, a good book and a candle

Me and my Dog

Feeling better already, gratitude for all that I have.

What do you do to lift your mood?

A Year of Mornings Wednesday 22nd February 2012

 

"It is more blessed to give than to receive.” - Acts 20:35

Ash Wednesday - first day of Lent.  I am doing something slightly different, as well as giving something up (alcohol) I am also giving something out. (for each bottle of wine I don't buy from the Supermarket, I will save the money and put it into my giving jar. At the end of Lent, I will donate my money to a charity of my choice) as I have been inspired by and signed up to  40 acts/do Lent generously 

 

 

A Year of Mornings Saturday 11th February 2012

My Lemon Bowl

I replaced my first cup of tea of the day with hot water and lemon in November last year.  I'm not sure how many days you need to do something for it to become a habit, but a habit it now is, and, I am now drinking more herbal tea throughout the day because my usual cup of tea (English breakfast and Earl Grey) just doesn't taste the same anymore.

I found 10 tips as to why drinking hot lemon water is beneficial for you:



1. Boosts your immune system: Lemons are high in vitamin C, which is great for fighting colds.  They’re high in potassium, which stimulates brain and nerve function. Potassium also helps control blood pressure.

2. Balances pH: Drink lemon water everyday and you’ll reduce your body’s overall acidity. Lemon is one of the most alkaline foods around. Yes, lemon has citric acid but it does not create acidity in the body once metabolized.

3. Helps with weight loss:   Lemons are high in pectin fiber, which helps fight hunger cravings. It also has been shown that people who maintain a more alkaline diet lose weight faster.

4. Aids digestion:  Lemon juice helps flush out unwanted materials. It encourages the liver to produce bile which is an acid that required for digestion. Efficient digestion reduces heartburn and constipation.

5. Is a diuretic: Lemons increase the rate of urination in the body, which helps purify it. Toxins are, therefore, released at a faster rate which helps keep your urinary tract healthy.

6. Clears skin:  The vitamin C component helps decrease wrinkles and blemishes. Lemon water purges toxins from the blood which helps keep skin clear as well. It can actually be applied directly to scars to help reduce their appearance.

7. Freshens breath: Not only this, but it can help relieve tooth pain and gingivitis.

8. Relieves respiratory problems: Warm lemon water helps get rid of chest infections and halt those pesky coughs. It’s thought to be helpful to people with asthma and allergies too.

9. Keeps you zen: Vitamin C is one of the first things depleted when you subject your mind and body to stress. As mentioned previously, lemons are chock full of vitamin C.

10. Helps kick the tea/coffee habit:  After I have a glass of hot lemon water, I actually don’t crave tea  in the morning.

Tip:  Drink your warm lemon water in coffee cups that has coffee or tea stains.  The lemon water will help remove them.

A Year of Mornings Monday 6th February 2012

Life is a kitchen

"Life is a kitchen.  I don't mean my life is like a kitchen, although it is.  I take the ingredients I have on hand, mix and mash them into the semblance of a meal, and try to nourish myself and others the best I can.  I may not always like the taste of my own cooking, but I've learned that I can toss the leftovers out and start over.  So yes, life is like a kitchen, but that's not what I mean, either.
I mean life is a kitchen, and when you do not yet see that your life is a kitchen, you may not see your life clearly at all.  You are here for one purpose: to serve. Serving others will fulfill you as nothing else will."........extract from hand wash cold, care instructions for an ordinary life by Karen Maezen Miller.

Hand Wash Cold came as a book recommendation by Hannah Marcotti as part of the New Year Cleanse.  I have read to Chapter 9 so far and can't put it down, it makes such simple sense, and I found it slightly magical how this book arrived on my doormat just at the time it needed too.

I love how Chapter 8, entitled full sink is drawn to a close, she writes "in all this mess, I found the ingredients for the next stage in the spiritual journey: the opportunity to move beyond myself and into compassionate care of everything and everyone that appeared before me morning, noon and night.  I found myself in the very heart of life, an ordinary life, the best spot to give and receive pure love.  You won't see it on a plan or a map, but I can tell you how to get there.  It begins when you have the courage to leave home, and it leads no farther than your very own kitchen."

Should you take the time to visit the link to Hand Wash Cold which takes you to Karen Miller's website, I would recommend you watch the short video, simple but breathtakingly beautiful.

A Year of Mornings Sunday 5th February 2012

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future,
concentrate the mind on the present moment. 

 

 

“The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life.” ......Thich Nhat Hanh

A Year of Mornings 1st February 2012

This is the only picture I took today - from my sick bed *cough, splutter, sniffle*

A Year of Mornings Monday 30th January 2012

"Watching the painter painting
And all the time, the light is changing
And he keeps painting
That bit there, it was an accident
But he's so pleased
It's the best mistake, he could make
And it's my favourite piece
It's just great"..........An Architect's Dream by Kate Bush

A Year of Mornings Sunday 29th January 2012

I remember a few weeks ago a post I had written about creating space in my Reiki Room for maybe yoga or mediation or even both.  So I guess I surprised myself this morning whilst the rest of the house was sleeping, I managed a morning meditation and 20 minutes of Yoga.....that all seemed such a long time ago now as I write this post at 9pm.  This is spooky, because after the meditation and yoga, I read my emails. Which included an email from Hannah Marcotti on the Making Space Cleanse, today she was focussing on relaxing, that could include anthing from enjoying a cup of tea, reading, watching a movie, but we have been challenged to do 5 relaxing things - so my "relaxing" start to the day was meditation.  You would have thought that was relaxing...right?.....well, that wasn't the case for me, infact I found quite alot of resistance to the "letting go" concept I found myself with during a guided meditation I was following as part of Andrea Schroeder's Creative Dream Incubator. Resistance to letting go is not a new concept to me but during meditation - I mean, what was going on there?.....little me resisting to the wonders of the Universe - hmmm.....crazy I know. But our fears have a tendency to creep up on us sometimes when we are least expecting them.  But anyway, I digress.  I took a picture of my t-light sat on my yoga mat and I was reminded of this quote:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Marianne Willamson

Me with Marianne Williamson (centre) and my friend Andrea, I had blond highlights in my hair at that time -what was I thinking?

A Year of Mornings Friday 27th January 2012

Orchid

I am really enjoying Hannah Marcotti's   Making Space Cleanse  which I am currently participating in. We have been looking at many things this week, including identifying your Abundance and Love Corner using the principles of  Feng Shui.
According to Feng Shui prosperity rules, the first step toward the abundance is to find the key Wealth spots. They are the  back left rooms and back left corners of your home from entering your front door. 
Purple is the best colour to stimulate and increase your abundance. Hang purple curtains on your windows, put a big chunk of amethyst or tall purple candles on your table.

I already had a citrine crystal in my abundance corner but I have since added a purple t-light holder and and a purple orchid. 

Did you know you also have a love corner?   This can be identified by standing in the front entry, facing into the home. What room or rooms are in the back of the house on the right-hand side? The corners of these rooms are your Love corners.  I was  pretty shocked to see one of my love corners on the gound floor of the home was located in the kitchen, where we place the pots, pan scubbers etc - it was a grim sight to behold this as my Love corner.  Still, I quickly remedied the situation by hanging a red love heart in the window, placed some red heart shaped t-light holders on the worktop along with a rose quartz crystal - I am now working my way through the rest of the floors identifying and "loving up" my love corners (and my abundance/prosperity corners too).

A Year of Mornings Thursday 26th January 2012

There was a brief glimmer of sunlight this morning when I was stalking around the house wondering what on earth I could take a picture of.  It's not the most exciting of pictures, but it was the best I could conjure up before I had to leave the house this morning. Its a chair in my hallway, the sun just managed to catch it, so it could cast an interesting shadow on the wall behind.
Talking of a chair, I did the chair pose in Yoga this evening, it's not one of my favourites but I managed to get on better with it tonight, so that's promising!

A Year of Mornings Wednesday 25th January 2012

This was the only picture I took this morning, it's a photo of the two polaroids I took with my Polaroid SX-70 camera, they have not developed as expected.  I don't know if there is a fault with the camera or whether its a swirly girl error. The cassette only holds  8 polaroids and at £18.00+ to purchase the film, well, trying to trouble shoot this feels costly!

Any polaroid people out there who can help?

A Year of Mornings Tuesday 24th January 2012

Ok.........so here's the thing.......the dilemma.....is it ok to appreciate beauty from something that is toxic? I can appeciate beauty of the colours, the way they flow and merge into each other - it's fluid, graceful, but its either petrol or oil filtering out into the water.

Beauty in the unexpected - oil floating in a car park puddle

A Year of Mornings Monday 23rd January 2012

Just got in from work and noticed the sunlight resting on the sofa, and why not? It's a big, comfortable sofa with lots of room for the family to enjoy.  A real treat is to sit on the sofa in the afternoon and knit, or enjoy a little bit of cross-stitch.  I always feel guilty for indulging myself in these pleasures as there is always something more important to be doing, usually in my case coursework!   Hmmm...there's a thought, I may sit down and do my coursework on the sofa this afternoon.

A Year of Mornings Sunday 22nd January 2012

I had plans for this morning, which included a session on the treadmill followed by a bit of weight training. Unfortunately they have been scuppered by a very painful lower back with what feels like a trapped sciatic nerve. So, feeling a bit sorry for myself today, I'm waiting for the heat patch and the painkillers to kick in, hopefully the pain will ease off  and I may get round to some gentle stretching later.
The excitement of starting Hannah Marcotti's New Year Cleanse today has been slightly dampened by this unexpected setback. Anway, that's enough of my complaining.....here is my contribution for my year of mornings:

A Year of Mornings Friday 20th January 2012

Playing catch up from yesterday! This is my daughter Jenna, getting ready for College, applying her mascara, I like this, it gives me a secret peek into her early morning world.

A Year of Mornings 19th January 2012

 

I snapped this picture from a bedroom window this morning.  The pigeon had flown into the garden and was peeking around to check if I had put food out on the bird platter!

A Year of Mornings Wednesday 18th January 2012

 

Buddha & The Books

As I write this post, I am listening to Graceful Passages, I hear the words " you are part of a love story, you are desired, and longed for.  There are thousands of witnesses before you who proclaim you are held in the arms of love, and I would like to leave you with this prayer:

Oh My God You are here
Oh My God I am here
Oh My God We are here

and always, always, always you love us, always, always, you love us.  May the angels of God watch over you, may Mary and all the saints pray for you, and all those whose lives you touch, this moment and forever more. Amen."