Grateful for new experiences: Day 6

I just finished teaching the 2nd semester of a grad class on Mindful Eating and Nourishment. I love to teach, and it’s definitely been a learning experience for me because it’s so different from all the other classes I’ve taught.meditation bell

I’m grateful for all of the students, and I’ve been grateful for the opportunity to stretch in different ways. Some parts were fascinating and some parts were frustrating; that’s often going to be the case for any new experience.

Teaching enlivens me in a lot of ways. It also inspires me to be a better practitioner, and I learn a lot from the students. I can’t quite sum up why it’s so meaningful to me, but it definitely is.

I’m really proud of myself for taking on a new experience, because it’s easy to talk myself into a comfy, well-worn rut. For someone who has trouble standing and driving and periodic issues with fatigue, teaching 4 hour sessions (and 15 hours one weekend) over an hour away…well, I’m quite pleased with myself.  I’m also grateful that it’s over and I have a break—as much as I enjoy it, the drives are pretty intense. I do have a stack of papers coming my way, but they’ll be fun to read.

I also am grateful that I’ve been at this “gratitude thing” for 6 days now!

Posts so far:OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

My 30 days of gratitude:

More on the December Sanity Retreat & Contests

The holidays can be a beautiful time of family bonding, celebration and beauty. They can also be an overdoing, overspending, overstressing time of all flavors of excess. For the last 3 years, I’ve been delighted to host the December Sanity Retreat and the July Self-Care Retreat. This is our 6th retreat! I wish I could say it was all about altruism, but honestly, it’s been wonderful for me to have an extra excuse to focus on self-care and rein in my natural tendency to need to bake (at least) 18 kinds of cookies.

I know how powerful it is for me to focus on self-care, and I imagine it’s similar for most of you, so as a gentle extra nudge, we’re doing 2 giveaways.

Giveaway #1: Let us hear your voice!

Prize: a $50 nuts.com gift certificate) they are not sponsoring, I just wanted something with healthy gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free, etc. options (US/Canada)

Comment on any of our hostesses’ posts on the Sanity Retreat, like this one. Leave me a comment on how you cultivate gratitude in your life, OR what you’re most grateful for on this week’s post HERE

Giveaway #2: make the challenge your own!

Blog on your own self-care plans, and a post will be chosen at random as the winner. If you don’t have a blog, contact the hostess of the week and they’ll post for you.

Prize: um, ironing out details–either a gift certificate or a box of self-care books, meditation CDs, chocolate and other fun things from me.big orange flutter

As always, self-care is whatever it means to you. So the December Sanity Challenge can be on whatever YOU need to work on to stay sane during the holiday season

Balance around food * Joyful movement * Sanity & stress management * Making space for art, expression, and spirituality * Connection with friends and family

Or whatever else speaks to you along those lines.

The challenge—post on what you plan to do to make your holidays sane, happy and healthy.  Make it specific!  Not just “I’ll get more sleep”, but “I’ll get at least 7 hours of sleep, 5 days a week”.  Not just “I won’t go crazy making desserts”, but “I’ll make a maximum of XX desserts, and space them out over XX time”.  You know what you need to do to keep this doable, and writing it down will help you get there!

I’m delighted to be joined by wonderful hostesses with likeminded blogs:

I hope you choose to join us, too.  Grab a badge and we’re good to go!

We’ll also be meeting up in our Facebook group for extra encouragement and support. You’re more than welcome to join us there.

About Cheryl Harris

Life played a funny trick on me. I've studied nutrition for years, and much to my surprise, found out that I could manage many of my health issues via diet. I've been GF for years, and I've got a bunch of allergies and sensitivities. But it definitely doesn't keep me from cooking, baking and enjoying my food. Thanks for stopping by.
This entry was posted in cheryl's musings, December Sanity Challenge, self care carnival. Bookmark the permalink.

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