Week #10 - Recharged, back to nature and feeling present.

Back from an incredibly powerful weekend in Chicago - participated in the Basic Seminar of Pathways to Successful Living and I'm totally ON FIYAH!! I love the connection I feel and epiphanies I have during these seminars... It's indescribable. We are all humans, learning to live life to the fullest and how to get along together, loving each other from an accepting and compassionate place - and Pathways has taught me so much.  #Falacos wouldn't be happening if it weren't for #PathwaysSeminars.  That was a pivotal, life changing experience for me and I've had a fire lit inside of me ever since.  It's powerful beyond measure and I love sharing it with the people around me.

While in Chicago, we went exploring and I finally got to see "The Bean"!  It was too cool!!

Check in from last week:

• Keep up all routines - meditate each morning for 10-20 minutes, have breakfast of some kind, every day. Off phone and start wind down at 8 pm. Move to bed by 11:15, asleep by midnight.  The bedtime was way off this week but with travel, that was to be expected. Definitely had breakfast - something about exercising the mind and personal growth that makes me HUNGRY! 

• The new activity was to start meditating for 5 minutes before bed because while out of town at the seminar, my days are very full and my body is sometimes exhausted but my mind can't shut off and I don't sleep well out of town. This worked GREAT while I was on vacation - but then stopped doing it when I got home. DOH! That wasn't the goal, this was to be a new thing! LOL Realized this on our call this week and decided to make that my refocus this week going forward.  

I knew when I got home from Chicago it was gonna be GO TIME for my new food truck, Evelyn, and I reeeeeeally wanted to solve my "I need an employee ASAP" dilemma before I left.  Coach Bob advised me to stick with my circle and just put it out to people I know and see what happens.  I wrote out an employee vision describing all the qualities I wanted in a teammate (who I want to eventually run this truck) and posted it all around on some foodie groups on Facebook.  Some people shared it and I got an email from a very motivated individual. Long story short, I interviewed Daniel and hired him before I went to Chicago! YAHOO!!! Daniel totally rocks, loves eating clean and staying fit - and he's bilingual too, which was a bonus on my vision! Thanks, universe!!! :)  Had our first day of training on Evelyn last Friday - we are so stoked and ready to get cookin on this baby!!

Our big OPENING DAY is coming up on April 7th at the Farmers Market in Conroe!! I can't believe we are only a few weeks away!! We are planning to be at every Farmers Market in Conroe this year - always remember first Thursday from 4-8. :)

My birthday was March 15th, the day after I got home from Chicago. I came home to find such a wonderful gift - Benny had been working in the garden and it looks SO FINE!! We are totally gonna have a load of veggies this year and I am really excited about that!!  AND, my wisteria started blooming! Such a great birthday week!!

 

I let Anjali know my schedule is so full right now, I'm hesitant to take on a new task or focus for this week - I want to definitely refocus on the night-time meditation and make that a habit this week. She suggested something simple and awesome, and I've already started.

New goal for this week:

• Notice the end of my day.  If I start my day at 8 am or before and I end it at 6, that's a 10 hour day - and it's totally ok for me to turn it off and start my ME time from 6-10 pm. Again, we are working to get me in more alignment with the Ayurvedic clock, as much as possible. Late nights with Falacos will totally jack that up, but the idea is to just focus and ask myself "can this wait until 8 am tomorrow?" and if it can, TURN WORK OFF and enjoy my personal family time in the evening. I can do this. Last night, I became aware of 6 pm and even told my office mate "it's time for me to go".. however, I had important things to do that really couldn't wait (cuz I knew it was my only day in the office this week) and I stayed until 8 pm.  The PROGRESS for me tho, is that ordinarily, I would have stayed til 10 cuz I could have and there was stuff to do.  But that stuff could be delegated (so I did) or wait a few more days. Talk about growth for me! Today, I spent my day getting my Food Manager Certification for the City of Houston. Was home before 6, spent some time in the garden, jamming out this blog right now and then DONE! Time for family. 

A new affirmation: I own 2 businesses and I have a peaceful life.

Hell. Yes. If it's gonna be, it's up to me! I choose to be present and peaceful.  That's where it's at!

Week #9 - Travelling and new tasks.

Checking in a little early this week - leaving bright and early for Chicago to be of service and on staff for the March Basic class of Pathways to Successful Living Seminars. I will be all tied up on Sunday, so Anjali and I had our call today and I wanted to get this blog out before I left. :)

I love Pathways weekends - a super powerful recharge that gets my mind in alignment and my soul on FIYAH.  What would you do with an inspirational weekend that could change your life?  I was skeptical at first... now? HA!!! I'd pay 3 times the cost and do it all 10 more times, these results in my life are so amazing!  5 years ago, sad, depressed, negative, burnt out... today? LIMITLESS. If you've ever wondered where all my energy and light came from?  Highly recommend Pathways.. it's a game changer for those who are ready!!

Check in from last week:

• Healthy lunches. Well.... planning is EVERYTHING! As I shared in last Sunday's blog, I lacked groceries so I had a protein shake in lieu of lunch for a couple of days, finally got groceries on Saturday, forgot I had lunch appointment on Monday but still ate well - guacamole salad - and yesterday and today, both were hearty big salads for lunch. NO CRAP FOOD! That's PROGRESS!!! :)

In other Falacos news... WE HAVE A REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM!!  Falacos now has the best drinking water on any food truck - and it ain't in plastic bottles!

 

Before our call this week, I was thinking up what would be good for me to have as a weekly goal, knowing I'm leaving town and didn't want to try and implement anything new and unrealistic... found it!

 

New goal for this week:

• Meditate before bed. I am steadily meditating 10-20 minutes each morning, but not at night before bed.  I will need to relax my mind each night during seminar, so this is a great time to start an evening meditation practice.  Anjali cautioned - not to say I'm going to do 10 minutes every night the first week - only start with 5 minutes.  I can do 5 minutes! 

 

This is really intriguing - I wasn't looking for results when I started meditating but I'm calmer now, move slower, less chaotic, quieter mind, more attentive and present... I didn't know these things were gonna happen but I'm super happy about it!!  Now that I've been doing it every morning for weeks to prime my day... things are shifting.  In my head, specifically. I wasn't looking for a certain result - I just started meditating. When I get beyond the voice and stay there for awhile, allowing the thoughts to pass by like dandelion seeds floating in the breeze... it's lovely.

 

 

A watcher. YES. Not the mind and all its thoughts - it's just a bodily function... To be the watcher and nothing else. Getting in the gap is where it's at!

 

Namaste, y'all!

Week #7 - Time for fuel.

This past week was pretty rockin. :) Super charged from my relaxing weekend, I've been feeling more chill, calm, present and happy. AMAZING what can happen when I get off technology and work on connecting with the earth.. it's like magic! We have veggies and herbs and I'm so excited. :)

Check in from last week:

• Morning routine - CHECK! In fact, spent 15-20 minutes meditating some mornings. Not planned but had the extra time, so took it! I love starting my day with a calming wake up time and no phone or email or FB... it sets the tone for the whole day!
• Bedtime alarm for 11:15. While I didn't have the alarm set every night, I stayed very aware of the time and I got in bed before midnight. Getting better sleep!
• Off phone by 8 pm. This wasn't perfect but HOLY COW, I am LOOOVING being off the phone! Just being present with the people in my space is a wonderful thing.. really enjoying being still and sometimes taking moments to think about absolutely nothing - cuz I CAN!!

Had another check in with the food truck, too... which, btw, she has a NAME!! Finally decided on Evelyn, naming her after my grandma - her name is Evelyn Colleen Barton.  She is so precious to me and I have lots of fond memories of us doing stuff in the kitchen together when I was little, so it seemed fitting. The burners are in, decals placed and will be applied, now just waiting on the wooden counter on the outside and it's GO TIME!!!

Will be travelling to Chicago this week, I'm on the March Basic staff for Pathways to Successful Living and I'm so grateful to be going - Pathways is my mojo recharge!! I get to be of service and support a class of students (who I was once) and also have the opportunity to do my own self work and grow over the weekend.  I always learn so much from the folks in the class - know how they say "others are a mirror of us"?  Well... that's very true. :)

New goal for this week:

• My morning routine has been going great and my nighttime routine is getting better - getting offa that phone was #1, such a distraction - so now we are going to focus on fueling my body better.  I've been having some form of breakfast each day, so now it's time to work on LUNCH. I checked my calendar when we had our call on Thursday, to see which days in the next week I already had reserved for lunch - all the rest would be eligible for my new lunch routine. Friday, Saturday, today, Monday and Wednesday were all available.  Admittedly, I lacked proper groceries to have a decent lunch on Friday and Saturday (went to store last night) but I DID have a protein shake both days and that was a new behavior! Better than my usual habit of nothing, lol, so I'm glad to say I got something in my system. Got salad fixins at the store last night so today, Monday and Wednesday are all on schedule for a healthy lunch! Amazing what happens when I plan and get the stuff I need for my goal and just focus on a week at a time. THAT'S MANAGEABLE! :)

Self care has been my focus throughout this journey and I know eating proper meals is a big part of good self care.. I admit - I am lazy when it comes to food prep on a daily basis. LOL... oh the irony - I'll cook for other people but lazy when it comes to cooking for myself. :) This is a new behavior for me and a big deal - I need ENERGY with this new business I got goin on! 

Time to get back out to my garden - daylight is burnin!!