In making 25 my year, I've decided that I'd like for things to be simpler. More natural. As a step I'm taking to do this, I've vowed not to use any of my iPhone apps (ahem,
instagram) for an entire week. Like a digital detox. I've noticed that I waste a lot of time on my phone. While it is visually and often mentally stimulating, sometimes it becomes too much. I'll spend entire lunch breaks, hardly paying attention to the foods I'm eating and the flavors I'm tasting and what the meal in front of me even
looks like because I'm catching up on news feeds. I also read an article in Women's Health (which might sound dorky, but is totally one of my favorite magazines) about how using your phone before you (try to) fall asleep at night (
guilty) can actually mess up your natural sleep cycle because of the amount of stimulation your brain is getting and the way your phone light affects your eyes. So this experiment started as a way to improve my sleep habits, but it's made it's way into my every day routine. At least for a week. So I can stop and smell the roses (or daffodils! they're all in bloom around here!) instead of being glued to my darn phone.
I feel like my last entry was kind of a foray into this kind of thing. Because I love blogging. I love blogging for the opportunity it's already given me and for the wonderful people I've met and continue to meet while doing this. I feel like I get to see the world through the eyes of girls (rather, women) my age whenever I log into my Bloglovin'. It's all so inspiring and has evoked my interest to travel more, and create more, and see things from a whole different perspective. Sometimes I get so caught up in making the right decisions for myself that my priorities get all out of whack. But they come back together. Less idle time, more productivity. More "being there". That's it, that's the way I'd like to live.
Another new thing I've been doing is receiving acupuncture treatments from the doctor that I work for, who is obviously an acupuncturist. We started for my cervical spine (neck) and shoulder pain, but every session the doctor adds a new needle to a new acupoint on a new meridian. Acupuncture promotes the body's natural healing ability and is believed to help promote the flow of your Qi (pronounced "chi"). Some beliefs in Traditional Chinese Medicine "are that health is achieved by maintaining the body in a "balanced state" and that disease is due to an internal imbalance of yin and yang. This imbalance leads to blockage in the flow of qi (vital energy) along pathways known as meridians. It is believed that there are 12 main meridians and 8 secondary meridians and that there are more than 2,000 acupuncture points on the human body that connect with them." It's all holistic, but patients at my office swear by it and since I've received my third treatment I'm feeling less pain in my neck and shoulders, I'm sleeping better, and I feel more calm. My favorite thing really about the whole procedure is the meditative aspect of it. Laying on my stomach in a dark room listening to soundscapes and waterfalls, feeling a little bit of pulsating from the electric current attached to a few needles (which you don't feel at all), and clearing my head has become an extremely relaxing part of my week and I look forward to it. And this may sound weird, but the doctor has been placing one needle on my
head (the governing vessel meridian) which is believed to cure low energy and improve overall balance in life. Let's see just how "balanced" I can get ;)
If you've been thinking about trying acupuncture, I would definitely recommend that you go for it. I leave the office feeling almost euphoric at the end of a session, and while it might not be a permanent cure for chronic pain - it's certainly helpful for those little emotional issues and imbalances we find ourselves having in our day to day lives. For more information, click
here.
Aside from all that - Andrew is moving tomorrow! He's heading off to start our new life in Nashville a little bit early, since he got a job transfer from Whole Foods. I'm so excited for him. I'm so excited for US, and I just can't wait to go. But I'll be home for the next few weeks, saving up a bit more and beginning to physically
move everything (how did I get stuck with the dirty work?!). I'm unbelievably pumped to start our future. To start traveling and experiencing so much more, and to grow with Andrew as our relationship takes a big leap - not only with living together in our
own place (yay!) but living together in an entirely new city where we're going to discover so much and do so many cool things that we never would have had a chance to do if we decided to stay. People say we'll miss it, and it's true that there's "no place like home" but I'm not going to let that stop me or scare me. I cannot wait.
I'll end this really wordy post (what's gotten into me?!) with an excerpt from
Life of Pi, that I just had to repost from
Kait Payne:
