I’ve kept a journal on and off for my entire life but about 3 years ago I started journaling frequently and have kept up the habit of journaling several times each week since then. I think the reason I’ve stuck with it this time is because I completely relaxed any rules I might have had in the past for what should and should not go into my journal.

These days it’s a catch all of everything: long rambling writings, mementos like ticket stubs and programs, cards and letters from friends, lists of things I have to do, goals for things I plan to do, travel logs, drawings and paintings and more. My journal of choice is a Studio Oh! coptic-bound notebook that’s 192 pages. When I fill one up I start another. I don’t worry about starting a new one on a particular date, I just move on and at this point I’ve got a shelf full of full journals along with the one I’m currently using and an empty one to go to when that one gets full. In other words: I’m prepared to continue and I like the continuity of them all being the same format.

The benefits of journaling are widely accepted. It can help with stress, anxiety and depression. It can improve memory, creativity, optimism and problem solving. Truly, keeping a journal is an amazing tool not jut for reviewing your life but for enhancing your life, too. I think there’s something magical about putting pen to paper and, as a writer, there’s just no better way for me to process my feelings than to write them down and read them back to myself. And clearly, I’m not alone. A quick search on Pinterest will produce countless prompts and ideas, netting everything from keeping track of your spending and moods to deeply personal questions to ask yourself and then write about.

Keeping a journal is a great way to practice self care and I encourage you to give it a try if you don’t currently have a journaling practice. If you aren’t sure where to start I would suggest writing a list of things you are grateful for and go from there. I think you’ll be amazed at what you discover.

 

Hello! Don’t be confused, it’s still Saturday. It’s also November and that means it’s National Blog Posting Month or NaBloPoMo. What does that mean? It means that I’m making a commitment to post for 30 days in a row, from November 1st until November 30th. I don’t generally post on the weekends but for this month I will be and on Saturdays I’m going to share the things I do regularly for self care.

For today, let’s talk about meditating.

There’s me. And that’s what I look like when I’m meditating. I’m not actually meditating in the photo, of course, because you can’t take a selfie and meditate at the same time. But when I do meditate, which I had been doing before I took the selfie, this is what I look like.

I have been meditating (mostly) daily for almost 3 years now and it has changed my life. When I started meditating I was dealing with some serious acid reflux. I was taking prilosec every day and it wasn’t helping much if at all. I was chewing up rolaids and tums like a squirrel at a bird feeder. It was bad. So bad, in fact, that I had an endoscopy to see if there was something actually wrong. There wasn’t . . . it was all stress related.

And then I started meditating. Not a lot, at first, I would literally just do a minute or two a day. I downloaded the Calm app on my iPhone and I used the guided meditations sometimes but mostly I just sat quietly and tried to not think about anything but breathing. In less than a week my acid reflex was gone. Did you hear that? G.O.N.E. No more prilosec, no more rolaids, I was symptom free.

Let me say plainly: meditating cured my acid reflex.

Now, I’m not a doctor (and my own doctor was pretty skeptical when I had a follow up appointment and told him my symptoms were gone and it was all due to meditation) and I’m not condoning this for everyone or even suggesting that it might work for anyone else. I’m just saying that for me, meditation was the answer to my stress induced acid reflux.

These days I mostly meditate for 10 minutes each day. Ideally I do it in the morning but sometimes I sneak it in at lunch time and sometimes the day gets away from me and I do it before bed. I’m currently on a 70 day streak and I have meditated for more than 130 hours since I started this daily practice. How do I do it? I just sit down and close my eyes and focus on my breathing. I try to clear my thoughts but that’s pretty much impossible as thoughts are relentless, that’s just the way our brains work. When I have a thought I just acknowledge it and go back to focusing on my breath. It is, as Dan Harris says, a little bicep curl for the brain and over time meditating can actually rewire the brain. Meditation has been shown to help with the aging brain, with reducing anxiety and stress, with improving focus and memory and so much more. In other words: it’s good for you. And your brain.

Have you tried meditation? If you have, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this and if you haven’t, I encourage you to follow either of those links to Calm or Dan Harris and give it a shot.

Mason is never happier than when the wood stove is burning.

He alternates from the coffee table to the floor.

And when it’s extra chilly or the fire has burned down quite a bit he lays down behind it, between the brick wall and the stove. I wonder sometimes how he doesn’t singe his fur or cook himself from the inside out.

He seems to know what he’s doing though and seeing him so happy and content makes my heart glad.

For Caturday this week I have a picture of my little buddy Mason from yesterday. He loves when I open the front door and the sun pours in. He sits there and watches the squirrels and birds and he’s very entertained.

I just wish he’d do something about all those leaves.

Today, because it’s Saturday and I want to prepare a post in advance, I’m participating in #caturday.

Here is my Mason in a photo taken just last week. He’s thinner than he used to be but healthy and active and incredibly loved.

I believe, if he could speak, he would say, “hand over the cheese, lady,” because my little buddy loves cheese above all else.

Have a great day and spread some love to your pets, be they cats, dogs or any other type.