Thursday, July 9, 2020

Long time no see

What's up blog family!

It's been a long time since I kept you (in Rakim's voice)...waiting.  I missed you all.  Balancing life and having time to blog about various topics of interest is the reason for such a long hiatus. 

I took a few weeks of reflection/introspection (Corona-cation aside) to prioritize summer away from the classroom.  I definitely have started to read the small mound of literature from the YA Lit book cart.  The novel I am reading is A Hope More Powerful that the Sea.  It's a good read so far, that keeps a good pace, once getting into the plot.  Doaa is the main character.  Her and her family flee their home in Syria due to civil war, heading for safer terrain in Egypt.

I have re-committed to consistent exercise in some form. Being consistent, yes the struggle is real. My main goal is to be fit in order to maintain health. A curvaceous body is secondary.  I also tried chair yoga.  My tight muscles welcomed it.  It was relaxing and fun.

Is it me or is anyone else all Zoomed out?!  There have been so many meetings going on weekly that is has been borderline exhausting. Also the number of daily interactions via Whatsapp, chat messages, texts, etc. have been superfluous and exhaustive as well. I'm just now managing to find a healthy balance. 

What do you do to relax? How do you find balance?  Have you started any new hobbies or interests during our global reset aka COVID-19?



Thursday, June 28, 2018

Health and Wellness travel tour

Are you a curvy Black woman longing to visit Africa?
Are you wanting to sleep more soundly?
Are you looking for a way to de-stress?
Would you like to enhance your social network?
Meet Trynette Lariba (see video below) as I interview her about the benefits of traveling to Africa.

Photo by Clarke Sanders on Unsplash






Be refreshed, recharged and renewed with a health and wellness excursion to Nigeria with Trynette Lariba. Inquiries:trynettelariba@gmail.com

Monday, February 13, 2017

What's love got to do with it?

The title of this post is reminiscent of a popular song from the 80's.  As Valentine's day approaches I couldn't help but think of how you are spending this week of love.  Every week can be a week of love but as the occasion arose I couldn't resist asking about it. Doing things from a place of love is so much more fulfilling and enjoyable. I challenged my kindergarten students to go home and help out around the house to show an expression of love and also responsibility. How are you expressing love this week?
photo source: https://pixabay.com/en/heart-love-romance-valentine-700141/

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

A season of...

This time of year is filled with anticipation about spending time with family and friends or shopping to find the best discounts.  It also can be filled with grief and anxiety about missing loved ones who have passed on or other memorable events that deal with loss.  In both instances the emotions are high.  If spending time with family it's usually over a good meal, music, fun and creating lasting joyful memories.  If grieving the loss of loved ones it can send a person into a pit of further grieving.  

Today I had the day off and decided to go for a short walk.  During the walk I started thinking about the various posts on social media about the holiday season.  There was a range from missing the dearly departed, not celebrating holidays for religious, political or cultural reasons, post election experiences, and thoughts about Black Friday.  And last but not least there were those post about family members not talking to other family members or not feeling in the holiday spirit for a variety of reasons.  This lead to going further down the rabbit hole to find that some didn't feel up to cooking, some felt liberated from cooking and some wanted to try a different banquet style menu or have their feast on the weekend.  
photo source: https://pixabay.com/en/erika-arrangement-autumn-decoration-1824826/

The reasons ran the gamut of weighing on either the positive, neutral or negative side of the scale. This had me thinking about what can I do personally to rid myself of any real or imagined reasons for not feeling included or excluded in this season. 

I am not a big fan of celebrating holidays if it only entails shopping for expensive gifts.  But I do enjoy spending time with family and friends that I may not otherwise get to spend time with.  It is also a time where the weather is very beautiful if experiencing a fresh fall of snow not necessarily the cold.  I also like the beautiful lights and festive decorations seen around town.  It gives one a pleasant experience that stimulates the senses.  

I thought to myself as I was on the walk about how painful these experiences can also be and to not take them lightly. People are suicidal at this time of year.  Others suffer from depression.  While others may just not feel connected to the season at all.  This brought to mind how powerful the human connection is.  It also had me thinking of what lengths we could possibly consider going through that would make us feel more connected to ourselves and others. 

 Whether enjoying this season basking in it's grandeur or from afar, it speaks volumes on the importance of what is valuable in our lives.   The human connection cannot be undervalued.  I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone or fear zone.  Reach out to someone who you may have been avoiding.  Reach out to someone who you assumed does not want to talk to you or is holding a grudge against you.  Reach out to a relative that you may have dismissed over a big family issue but want to rekindle the bond you once had.  If invited for a meal, whether it is your favorite banquet style spread or a simple yet elegant meal, go for it. 

 My point is I hope to encourage you to take the first step in healing some of the distance and patching up some open wounds that have been created so that you may feel the love you want to give or receive.  Of course taking action is your call and always will be.  But just for today, I hope you at least think about it.  

Giving thanks, 
Yvette
* this post also appears on my other social media pages

Monday, August 1, 2016

Let nature heal you

How does your living space or daily environment support healing or health? Look around.  Is it cluttered? Are there any natural scenes of just concrete and noise pollution? How do you relieve stress? Yoga... or perhaps stress relieving medication? Perhaps you draw or paint.  But there is a simple and free, that's right, free method to help you heal. 

These questions provided a start of how my daily lack of exposure to natural environs can affect my mood in the worst way.  Utne Reader published an article from Deb Aronson of Science & Spirit 2003 noting a study done on children living in Robert Taylor Holmes apartments in Chicago, IL.  The study suggested that they would find children stressed out because of the challenges that come with living there.
 “Our theory was that public housing is a very fatiguing environment,” says Faber Taylor. “It turns out that small amounts of greenery seem to make a big difference. You don’t have to live in Sherwood Forest to enjoy nature's benefits.” (utne.com)
But the exposure that the children had to trees from a window view on the second, third or fourth floor seemed to benefit from nature.  

image source:https://pixabay.com/en/landscape-spring-wood-scenic-green-403165/
Ralph Smart, psychologist, also notes in a brief video on healing, the importance of getting out into nature as a form of healing.  In the video he is at the ocean and talks about the therapeutic effect of water. 
I could use a dose of nature therapy.  I'll pass on camping out in the woods, but a nice walk along the shore of a nearby river always does me good. 

Lastly, there is a great website, calm.com. that uses the sounds in nature to help with calming.  I like to use it when I am having trouble sleeping.  The serene natural environs of trees, water, rain, etc all help me doze off effortlessly in a matter of minutes from tuning in.  


Ralph Smart

How nature heals us


Sunday, July 24, 2016

Serenity Prayer

image source:alisetterodriguez.blogspot.com

Sometimes when faced with difficulty or challenges, it is hard to find the words to pray.  Here is a simple and familiar prayer that I would like to encourage you to use if you are at a loss for words to pray.