I have spent the past few months, maybe even the past year writing about things that I think you want to read about. I have these great ideas and then I put them down and maybe you like them, maybe you read them, but I don't know. So for the summer I am going to treat this like an OG blog and I am going to tell you what is going on in my life. How I am trying to 'walk the walk,' in terms of 'feeling like the best version of me,' and see how you like it!
One of the most important things I want you, the reader, to understand is I do try every single day to be better, stronger or more awesome than the day before. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but I am super open minded and if it does not work one day, I try again the next.
A lot of people ask me 'how do you wake up so early every day? you must go to bed early at night?' and the answers are PRACTICE and YES. I fully understand that everyone is not going to be primed and prepped to get up before the sun comes up, but I honestly think I am. For as long as I have been a fitness enthusiast (preferred term) I have been a morning person. If I get it done in the morning, you know what gets in the way of my workout? The correct answer is 'nothing.'
There are things that I do at night to make every single morning easier:
Pick out workout clothes including underwear, socks and sneakers. I put the items in my bathroom because that is where I get dressed.
Make sure my coffee is set and ready to go when I get downstairs because it is one less obstacle in the morning.
Set my alarm with a fun title and a great song!
My alarm clock song is MUMFORD AND SONS, "Awake My Soul." It has a soft build and sounds way better than an obnoxious "BEEP BEEP BEEP!"
You can see my top two alarms are saved as 'TODAY IS GOING TO BE A GREAT DAY,' and 'BEST DAY SO FAR!' Yes it might be a little cheesy, but it makes me feel good, so why not!
Now, part of what gets me out of bed each morning is that someone is waiting for me. I teach classes or have client (5) mornings a week. So part of it is accountability. Accountability to me, to accomplishing what I want to accomplish before those classes and before I see those people.
One of the most important things that I complete 6/7 mornings per week (I skip Sundays) is a 10 minute meditation. FULL TRANSPARENCY: I have a personal goal of increasing the meditation to 20 minutes, so I have started setting my alarm for 5:00 every day in the hopes of training my body to wake up a bit earlier. I am not quite ready to set my alarm for the 4:00 hour (that would be crazy! LOL). But as I say to you 'small steps are still progress.'
I am 100% sure that meditation has made me a better person. I am more present in my life, more present with my kids and Adam and more connected to what is going on with my emotionally. Instead of being grumpy sometimes, yes it happens, I can acknowledge 'I am grumpy,' even if I do not know why. I am able to communicate that to my family, so they know to tread lightly. There are a ton more scientific benefits of meditation, and while I am super interested in those benefits, you might not be.
If you want to start a meditation practice, top tips:
- Start small. One minute of breathing in and out counts.
- Your mind will wander, just come back to the breath
- Set a realistic goal. 'I will spend 1 minute breathing 3x a week.' When you have success there, you can build on that!
That is all I have for the week. Like I said, I walk the walk. I love sharing these ideas with you and have many more where this came from. IF there is a question you have or something you want to know about, please email me! You can reply to my newsletter or jillwashecka@gmail.com. HAVE A GREAT DAY!
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