Grounded and Happy
I know I've mentioned how important I think perspective is, but I think that's what keeps us grounded. What do you do to keep yourself grounded? I would consider myself a pretty grounded person. I try not to get too far out of balance with anything. I think that's important. You have to take care of yourself and all that you value.
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I tend to gauge how grounded I am with my level of happiness. If I get grumpy, cranky, testy, short-fused, I try to reel it back and do something that I value to get back in line. Sometimes I just need down time to do nothing and veg. When the well runs dry, I feel like I have nothing more to give.
This past week, blogging got bumped several days due to sheer exhaustion. Too many things in real life were slowly grating away, and I needed a little break. On those days, posting would have been just another chore to get off my list. I always want it to be enjoyable and to share myself in a meaningful way, so I just abstained. I'm back and feeling much better now, though!
(The title is from Sweet Home Alabama, which was playing in the background tonight. You can have roots and wings. That's a pretty great definition of grounded!)
Exercise
I worked in quite a bit of exercise today. It felt fantastic!!! My body feels loose, relaxed, refreshed, and strong. I dragged my tired butt out of bed and started with stretches. From stretching, I moved into muscle strengthening. I do as much as possible without machinery or equipment. I worked my abs, arms, legs, and pushed myself further on the splits. I need to try isolating the upper half of the stretch (I think it's the groin and hip flexor area) because I'm hitting a point where my knees are tweaking to go lower. After breakfast, we went walking. I can tell things are blooming by my allergies, but we made our whole loop without a niagara nose from either of us.Food
I had a tasty breakfast smoothie this morning after my long workout. Almond milk, flax seed, 1/2 avocado, spinach, nooch, cocoa powder, hemp protein powder, banana, apple, cinnamon, natural PB, and a tiny bit of clove/ginger/nutmeg. It was delish! Irish gave it a teensy little taste and said it wasn't bad but it had something in it that he didn't like. True, but I wouldn't tell him what it was. If you never give foods a try because you think you don't like them, then you can't expand your horizons. You may not like spinach in plain form, but I promise I can figure out a way to fix it where you like it as long as you don't know it's there.
I also had occasion to try coconut butter on cranberry orange muffins tonight for dessert. Divine. They were kind of dry, so I slathered the coconut butter on top. They magically became much creamier and tastier. I'm in love!
Hair
Still detoxing my hair from all the grime. It's gross and frustrating. Hopefully it will be over soon, though.How do you keep yourself grounded? Do you feel refreshed by exercise or is it just a necessary evil to you? Are you willing to stretch your food horizons?
Irish and I were talking earlier today about how much muscle looks good for a woman. What do you think? As I build more muscle, I like seeing it more and more. That visible sign of progress, those tight abs, that's sexy to me!
