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Category: lifestyle
This Meditation Checklist Will Help Any Beginner Become Successful In Practicing Mindfulness
In 2018, I made a commitment to learning how to meditate effectively due to high stress levels from working a job that brought me much misery and grief. I wanted to find a release, an escape, something that allow me to relax and be at ease. When I started my journey into meditation, I had no direction and no clue about how to meditate, how to determine it to be effective, and what it all meant. I’d just heard it as “a way to practice mindfulness” and I’d given myself a thought that it sounded like an option to explore to relieve stress. Two years later, I am a firm believer in the practice and I meditate every week.
My journey has allowed me to become fond of breath work and having a “guide” to helping me achieve inner peace has made things 100% easier. I’ve shared and documented my process on social media often and since then I’ve gotten lots of questions from others about how should they begin meditation. Honestly, there are a lot of people interested in meditation but feel that they’re not sure that they are doing it right or have absolutely no clue what they’re doing period.
You are NOT alone! You are NOT the master!
Yet.
I, too, can relate to the feeling of being really excited to do or learn something new and not knowing where to start or where to begin. It can lead to an overwhelming feeling and sometimes the passion or desire to complete the action has left the building. This is why I created a Mindful Meditation Checklist to help beginners feel comfortable with learning this new skill. The checklist has the basic tools that you will need to successfully complete one meditation session and will need to be repeated frequently to see results. This checklist is able to hold you accountable when you’re wondering if meditation and mindfulness is effective for you, like it is for me.
Click here to download your free checklist today to begin your first meditation session!
3 Tools I Use For Goal Setting and Planning
It’s been super important for me to get organized with my ideas and goals because disorganization in my world led to distraction and losing focus on completing goals. It’s not enough for me to just come up with an idea, nor should it be enough for you! Leaving a thought as just a thought isn’t ideal because it’s not specific. I can’t decide that I’m going to act on the idea without enough supporting action. What am I doing? I only had the one idea that I’m now excited about, and I know I want it to become a reality. My impulsive thinking can sometimes lead to a load of inconsistency in executing these ideas. It’s great to have ambition, but it’s also necessary to adapt to the element of planning and organization. I am sharing three tools I use to assist me in setting clear and concise goals through planning.
Continue reading “3 Tools I Use For Goal Setting and Planning”Baking Holiday Gingerbread Brownies
Merry Christmas!
I hope that this holiday season has brought peace and joy to you and your family. I know that the season has not been ideal for my family and I, but we have managed to create new traditions this year, with a little help from Walmart and their Gingerbread Brownie Kit. I have never made gingerbread houses or men before. The most holiday baking that my family would do before Christmas would be making sugar cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve.
I’m finding new ways to spread Christmas cheer by choosing to start new family traditions. When I saw these holiday baking projects on Pinterest, I became excited to introduce the idea of choosing one to bake with my family. I also asked a few of my followers on social media for their votes on each project and the brownies WON! I picked up our easy-to-use brownie kit from Wal-Mart and brought it home to bring lots of warmth, love, and laughter to our home.
My son Landon and I enjoyed baking these brownies together. I must admit that I was a little nervous about how “into this” he was going to be. Being a boy mom you never know what you will get when it comes to the things that boys like and dislike to do. I recorded a video of us baking our wonderful gingerbread brownies and you can watch it below. The Gingerbread Brownie Kit from Wal-Mart can be purchased in-store or online and includes a gingerbread cookie cutter, icing, and sprinkles.
Thank you for joining us in creating our first mother and son holiday tradition. We are wishing you a jolly Christmas and a prosperous New Year! Be sure to keep following us for more content in 2021!
What holiday traditions did you create this year? What traditions did you manage to keep or modify? How will you be keeping your season bright? Let us know in the comments below.
Answered: Your Burning Questions About My Favorite Things
I admit it. I forget that you all don’t know every little thing about me. I’m as open as I can be, but sometimes I like to keep a little bit of mystery. Now I’m answering your questions about things that you want to know more about, like my favorite things.
People always seem to make a list of the things that they despise or dislike more than they seem to talk about the things that make them happy! We spend so much time focused on the things that we wish to change; without reflecting on what we love the most. The things that we love the most are what keeps us inspired and should help us to see that the things we dislike are minimal compared to the things that bring us joy. In no particular order, I created a list of my best-loved things.
Continue reading “Answered: Your Burning Questions About My Favorite Things”A NEW PLANET HAS ARRIVED!
I enjoy entering new stages and seasons with Landon. You just never know what you’re going to get with the imaginative minds that kids have. One thing that I can say about myself as a parent is that I always encourage Landon to pursue whatever it is that he wants to do. I encourage him to find his passion and practice it. He will always have lots of interests.
I’ve seen basketball, chef, superhero, and construction aspirations. So I make sure that I invest heavily in his passions because I want him to know that he can do ANYTHING. I just advise him to remember mama’s two rules:
- Pursue the passion
- Practice will make perfect
What I love even more is how he listens, takes direction well, and gets it done. 5 YEARS OLD! He’s shown that he is committed to doing what he wants to do.
…and so….
A NEW PLANET HAS ARRIVED! Welcome to Landon’s Planet. He has asked for his own YouTube channel for a few months now. I hear him in the living room or in his room rehearsing his videos on a daily basis. It’s insane! I would say that I don’t know where he gets it from, but I’d be lying. He watches me record videos and make vlogs all of the time. I have never pushed the idea of being a “kidfluencer” on him. This is all what he has asked and says he’s been inspired to do. I’m proud to announce his channel launches today, with a debut video premiering this afternoon (11/24/2020) at 2pm CST. You can watch his debut video below and you can click the video to subscribe to his channel.
Will you be watching more of Landon’s Planet? What videos do you want to see from Landon?
I’m Just Here For All The Boos!
Halloween 2020 was super fun and creative. We decided against trick or treating this year (just like many others), but we still got Landon’s costume for him to wear around the house. I didn’t feel comfortable attending harvest parties, festivals, or haunted houses because we are still practicing social distancing guidelines and rules. COVID is ruining things as we once knew it to be, but I could tell that Landon enjoyed cosplay and trick-or-treating Quarantine Style.
Continue reading “I’m Just Here For All The Boos!”Who Else Wants a Free 7- Day Gratitude Journal Workbook?
What do you have to be thankful for right now?
When was the last time that you felt appreciated? Did you make someone else feel the same?
How often do you reflect on festive moments in your life?
I asked those questions to myself this week and was able to realize what aspects I wanted change to achieve a higher level of happiness. How did I figure that out in three questions? I made a list of goals and tasks by keeping a gratitude journal. I created The Gratitude Journal to encourage myself to appreciate and value the things and people that fulfill me vs. being fixated on what’s not fulfilling or of value to my purpose in life.
Three of my personal wellness goals for the year are to explore how to change my mindset, practice mindfulness, and to practice letting go of negative thinking. I started my groundwork in January when I wrote an article for Blk Girl Culture, breaking down the benefits of keeping a Gratitude Journal and some key reasons why people begin journaling:
Continue reading “Who Else Wants a Free 7- Day Gratitude Journal Workbook?”No Stress Just Self- Care Everyday
Whenever I neglect to practice personal care, it has an effect on my anxiety and general mood. We all know that stress is not the easiest to manage and can often be easier said than done. How many of us have started one thing that we’ve gotten motivated to do for ourselves, but have not stayed committed to the journey? Felt defeated. Discouraged. How often is your mood affected by your health? It’s time to change your self-care habits! You can manage stress, you can become stress-free. I’ve found that with regular practice with these six self-care activities has helped to improve how often I tend to personal care, how much I enjoy practicing self-care during each of these acts, and keeps me motivated to do meet my goals.
It’s almost like I’ve discovered a hidden message all within my mind, body, and soul, and I’m finally finding the courage to crack the codes. Yes, I’ve mentioned before that I am a full-time working wife and mother of one. Of course my life is hectic! Most often, there’s too much on my plate (even though I’m passionate about EVERY thing on my plate). What am I doing? I’m sitting at a table trying to finish all of my food, but truth is, I’ve been overwhelmed and full a long time ago. Whenever I get like this (and I’m sure I’m not the only person that does this), I have to remember to get up and go relax. To lower my risks of burn out, anxiety, and depression, I try to engage in things that I enjoy to rekindle the balance in my life.
Continue reading “No Stress Just Self- Care Everyday”Why I Started Blogging (And maybe You Should Too)
Blogging is something that I have always expressed my passion and excitement for (See: Introducing Life + Style With Kris). After successfully starting a college blog in 2008, I never discovered love as deep as the one I have for writing (for a career choice). So why did I stop? What made me start back ten years later?
Continue reading “Why I Started Blogging (And maybe You Should Too)”