This year...

Oh, hey there. Look who fell off the blogging bandwagon. Yet again!

Guys, life has been a handful lately. I'm talking reevaluating life, questioning relationships, rediscovering priorities, etcetera and so forth. Tomorrow marks exactly 6 months until I turn 30, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't probably having a helluva time coming to terms with that. Not so much the number or the age itself, but more of what comes along with it.

Am I happy with where I am now? What are my goals? Should I be further along than I already am? Why don't I have my shit figured out? Should I be wanting kids soon? Why can't I get a damn budget in order? Should I move to Colorado? (Seriously.) When will I finally fully love myself?

I probably think about three of these things at least once every day. It's big-question stuff. Stuff that can't necessarily be answered, at least not right away. Stuff that I'd like to address a bit more this year, instead of just pushing it off to the side (because let's be honest, it's so much easier to do that).

So, where do I start?

Well first.. when I took a look at last years goals, I realized I didn't quite do a stand-up job at sticking with them. So some I am going to renew, and some I have changed and added, and will probably keep adding to. Life is all about the process, not the destination... right? Right.

So for 2015:

1. Blog more. (Again.)
I had this as number one on my list last year as well, and all I can say is that I have re-added it for this year and I will do my damn best to stick to it!

2. Read more.
I'm really, really good at starting books and then never finishing them. At any given time, I'm probably about a quarter of the way through 3 or 4 different books, some of which get finished and some of which never do. (There's of course always the random book that I devour within a week, on top of that.) But this year, I am determined to make reading a part of my weekly, if not daily, routine. It helps that I started a mini-book club with a few friends, and also joined another one through my yoga studio.

3. Refocus on healthy habits.
When life gets stressy, I have a bad habit of falling completely off the bandwagon. Nutrition and healthy living is something I am undoubtedly passionate about, but also something that I admittedly struggle with - especially when life gets a bit rough. I've been really focusing on me lately - emotionally, spiritually, physically - and this has helped kickstart a renewed sense of vitality and love for myself. I simply want to continue on that path!

4. Refocus on Gingerbean.
This has been a long time coming. Things are fairly settled with the winery at this point, which gives me much more time to focus on my massage and health coaching business. I really want (and honestly, need) to develop my practice a bit more.. I have dubbed 2015 as the year to do so!

5. Complete my Yoga Teacher Training
More on this soon.. but I have been wanting to do this for quite some time now. My fave studio just released details about their new YTT program this coming fall/winter, and I am cautiously optimistic that I may be able to swing it. Which brings me to..

6. Get better with money.
Long and short of it is I'm really in the weeds, financially. Both Scot and I got ourselves into a bit of a mess, and it's kind of hell getting out of it. So budgeting and sticking with it is actually a top priority, above all right now. And if I can get that in order.. well, #5 might actually happen.

So these are really more like goals, than resolutions. I'm also planning on starting a sugar detox over the next week or so, so I guess that's a "resolution", but I'm not really resolving anything. Just trying my hand at something.

So what say you, fine folks? Any goals or resolutions of your own for 2015?

On Being Healthy

Isn’t that something we all strive for, to be healthy? We eat right, take our vitamins, work out – but yet, something doesn’t always click. On paper, we can sound like incredibly healthy individuals, but in actuality, we still might not feel our best. Something’s still missing.

Health, in its simplest terms, can be defined as “the state of being free from illness or injury”. It’s a term that we’re all familiar with, but also one that comes with a fair amount of ambiguity. What does it actually mean to be healthy? And what does being healthy mean to you?

Think of all the different ways we use the term healthy: we wish to eat healthy, strive to have a healthy body, work to have healthy relationships, try to keep our bodies and immune system healthy.  The term clearly encompasses a whole lot more than just what we put into our bodies and how free of disease we may be – health should, and does, encompass our whole lives.

What about having a healthy career? Or a healthy form of spirituality or meditation? What if what we put into our bodies – what we think of as our main source of nutrition – is actually secondary to all those other things going on in our life?

Think about when you were a child, engrossed in playtime out doors. Your parents called you in for dinner, but you weren’t hungry – you were high on life, and that was fueling you through the day. Or what about a time when you were passionately in love – when all you wanted was to be with the other person all day and all night, and time seemed to disappear.

Sometimes it’s not the food, but the energy in our lives that feeds us.

A good way to look at this is by saying that these things – our relationships, career, physical activity, and spirituality – serve as our primary foods in life. If you can be happy and healthy in these areas, what you actually put into your body becomes second nature, a whole lot easier, and a whole lot healthier.  In turn, our whole body functions better.

It kind of makes sense, don’t you think? To be healthy, we need to be happy.  Not just with certain parts of our lives, but with as much of it as possible. Sure, it takes a bit of work, but it also has a domino effect – small successes in one path can lead to even bigger successes in another.

The best part about all of this is that your health and your happiness are unique to you. What works for you and makes you tick may not work for the person next to you. It’s so important to explore these things in life, to experience different careers, relationships, exercise, and spirituality. Find your groove and be healthy!