Mindful Movement Mindful Living

Movement, Mindfulness, Nature and Nourishment

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February Mindfulness Challenge

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I am so excited to announce the February Mindfulness Challenge! I decided to create the Monthly Mindfulness Challenge so we can all focus on one intention together each month. At the beginning of the month, I will present the focus for the month and post easy, effective and enjoyable ways to stay mindful of that intention all month long.

Here is the link to my announcement regarding the challenge in case you missed it on my YouTube Channel:

Monthly Mindfulness Challenge Announcement

For the February Monthly Mindfulness Challenge, I thought it would be appropriate to focus on loving kindness as the intention of the month. Throughout the month, we will stay focused on this intention through inspirational quotes, meditation, music and acts of kindness.

To get started, check out my video regarding this month’s challenge:

Monthly Mindfulness Challenge February

Quotes on Loving Kindness

To set the tone for February, here are some inspirational quotes on our intention for the month. I love to post these around my home or set reminders on my phone to stay inspired.

  • “Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” – Mark Twain
  • “My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness. Continue to allow humor to lighten the burden of your tender heart.” – Maya Angelou
  • “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” – Princess Diana
  • “He who sows courtesy reaps friendship and he who plants kindness gathers love.” – St. Basil

Meditation

One of the first meditations that I ever learned (about 20 years ago!) was the loving kindness meditation. There are many variations on this meditation, but they all involve sending kind intentions to both yourself and others. I will be posting this meditation and a stand alone video this month to make it easy to practice.

Music

Music is such an easy and enjoyable way to set the tone for our environment. Because of this, it can be an effective tool to keep us mindful of our intention. I will post some songs and playlists throughout the month to keep us focused on loving kindness. I would also love to hear some of your song suggestions, so please comment with your recommendations!

Acts of Kindness

One of the many benefits of mindfulness is that it helps us to take pause and control how we act. For this month’s challenge, let’s include a weekly act of kindness. It does not have to be an elaborate or grand gesture – it can be something as simple as smiling at someone, lending a listening ear to someone who needs to talk, or sending an encouraging text message.

I am really looking forward to focusing on this intention during the February Mindfulness Challenge. I wish you lots of loving kindness as we begin this month long journey!

A Monthly Mindfulness Challenge!

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I am excited to announce a new monthly feature from Mindful Movement Mindful Living – a monthly mindfulness challenge! Mindfulness is so important and this will be an easy way for all of us to be more mindful in our everyday lives.

My inspiration for creating the content for Mindful Movement Mindful Living is because there are so many benefits to mindfulness.

Benefits of Mindfulness Include:

  • Decreased Stress
  • Letting go of judgement
  • Regulating our actions
  • Experiencing the world more through all five senses
  • Being less reactive
  • Being more receptive
  • Regulating emotions
  • Being more present with intention

For all of these reasons, I wanted to create a simple way for us as a community to practice being mindful. We are all really busy and I know adding another item to the to-do list can seem daunting, but being more mindful can be easy. You don’t need to carve out a ton of time to read books and articles on the subject or attend workshops. All of those are great things, but by no means are they necessary. I wanted to create something that can be done without messing with your schedule or seeming like another big task in your planner. I wanted to create something that is easy, effective and ENJOYABLE.

So, with that in mind, I decided to create the Monthly Mindfulness Challenge where we will simply focus on one intention per month. I will present the challenge at the beginning of the month and post ways to stay mindful of that intention along with some inspiration throughout the month. It will also be a way for us to connect and share ideas.

Here is my video announcement regarding the Monthly Mindfulness Challenge:

So, stay tuned for our first Monthly Mindfulness Challenge – I am really looking forward to beginning this journey as a community!

A Quick and Healthy Veggie Recipe

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As a busy mom, I love a quick and healthy veggie recipe that I can prepare for myself and my family. I am a firm believer that a diet high in veggies and low in processed foods is key to living well and eating mindfully. Because of this, it is essential for me to have a collection of core recipes that can be prepared from scratch without a lot of prep work.

One of my mindful eating hacks for busy days is to spend less time cooking and washing dishes so that we do have time to plate our food, sit down and eat mindfully. To me, this is much more important than preparing a fancy or complicated meal. A quick and healthy veggie recipe with minimal prep and cleanup allows us to be mindful while we nourish our bodies and enjoy our food so we have a chance to recharge both the body and mind.

One of my favorite easy and healthy veggie recipes is my Mediterranean Veggie Scramble. This recipe is packed full of protein and veggies with an anti-inflammatory spice so it is something I really feel good about eating and feeding my family. In addition to being easy and healthy, it is a versatile recipe because you can easily adapt it to use the veggies that you have on hand at your house.

Because it is egg based, this recipe works well for any meal. I often make it for lunch or dinner, but the leftovers work well for breakfast, too. I love having a delicious breakfast ready to warm up when I get up in the morning! On a side note, I also love this smoothie for a quick breakfast option: https://mindfulmovementmindfulliving.com/pumpkin-spiced-smoothie/

To show how quickly this Mediterranean Veggie Scramble can be prepared, here is a short video (I hope you make it along with me!)

I love when I can prepare a delicious, healthy meal in minutes!

To make this recipe, you will need the following ingredients:

  • Six Eggs
  • 1/2 Tablespoon Tumeric
  • 2 Cups Fresh Greens
  • 1- 2 Cups Sautéed Eggplant, Bell Peppers, Mushrooms, Zucchini
  • Fresh Basil (a few leaves to top off the dish)

Begin by scrambling the eggs and adding the turmeric to the eggs. Once scrambled, add them to a skillet on low-medium heat until the eggs begin to firm. Add the fresh greens to the egg mixture and stir until wilted. After the greens are wilted, add the sautéed Mediterranean veggies and stir until all ingredients are warm and combined. Top off with fresh basil and it is ready to eat!

This recipe is so simple that you can easily swap out the veggies in this recipe for whatever you happen to have in your fridge. I often keep a batch of sautéed veggies in the fridge for convenience (another mindful eating hack that I definitely recommend!) so I just toss some of those in to make this meal. Besides being quick, easy, delicious and healthy, my favorite thing about this recipe is that it only requires ONE skillet because less dishes to clean is a huge timesaver!

As François de La Rochefoucauld said, “To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” Bon appétit!

Natural Movement Hacks for the Holidays

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The holiday season can be full of wonder and joy, but it can also be BUSY! To maintain healthy habits when I am short on time, natural movement hacks are essential for me during the holidays. Personally, I just finished a long session of wrapping gifts, so I was reminded to share one of my most useful hacks for this time of year. This hack is so simple that it almost seems silly to write about but it is so helpful that I must highlight its value. My natural movement hack today was to SIT ON THE FLOOR INSTEAD OF A CHAIR.

Reasons to Sit on the Floor (a.k.a. Avoid the Chair!)

  1. More Movement – The floor is farther away, so there is no way to get there (and back up!) without moving more. When we sit in a chair, we are only going about halfway down.
  2. Variety of Movement – While there are technically several ways we can sit in a chair, most of us default to the standard way of sitting in a chair. This offers us minimal variety in our movement. When we sit on the floor, we have lots of options for seated positions – the floor is sort of like a blank canvas for movement!
  3. Frequency of Movement – Again, we tend to maintain the same position when we are in a chair, especially if it is a comfortable one. On the floor, our body will naturally urge us to shift positions much more frequently. All of these shifts in position equal more frequency of movement, which is great for our bodies!
  4. You don’t even need to sit on the floor to get a benefit. If sitting on the floor doesn’t work for you, just choosing something other than a chair to sit on (such as a bolster, pillow, or small ottoman) works, too. You are still adding variety and more range to your movement.

You can check out my video below for more on this topic (and to see my gift wrap station on the floor:

Of course, my favorite thing about this natural movement hack for the holidays is that it is simple and takes no time at all! Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving Song Playlist

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I embrace any chance to celebrate and be present in the moment – Thanksgiving is no exception, so I have a fun Thanksgiving song playlist to share! I find that music is such an effective way to set the tone and focus on a theme. There certainly are not tons of people singing Thanksgiving songs on the radio, but with a little creativity you can find plenty of music to fit the occasion!

As a mind-body movement instructor, I find so much joy in the fact that music can be used to lift our spirits and inspire us to get moving. This Thanksgiving song playlist consists of music that I use in my classes during this time of year (I LOVE a fun theme!) I also use these songs during movement breaks, walks, runs, dance parties with my children and other “non exercise” types of movement like doing housework (music is a perfect accompaniment to so many activities!)

To me, Thanksgiving is a time to focus on gratitude and my family. Because of this, I am always mindful about staying present and aware of what the holiday means to me during this week, despite the fact that it is such a busy time of year. Playing music that reminds me of this theme helps me to stay grounded, lighthearted and present in the moment.

If you would like to see a quick “chat” with me on this topic, check out my video below:

Gratitude, mindfulness and movement all hold a special place in my heart and I am so appreciative of anything that reinforces that for me. As G.K. Chesterton said so perfectly, “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

I am thankful for so many things and I hope this Thanksgiving song playlist helps you to also focus on joy and gratitude!