Mindful March Challenge

My birthday requests today have revolved around simple family time, a date with Clay, writing time, and gathering with friends. And cake and ice cream, of course.

My past couple of birthdays, it’s felt like I’m easing into my 30s, a little unsure of how I feel about them, wondering if I’m really ready to leave those youthful 20s behind.

But this year, I was excited to embrace 34. I still feel young, but with a little extra wisdom and experience to my name. I feel more confident in who I am and where I am going. (More on why I love my 30s here.)

I feel grateful for the family I call my own and the friends who have loved and supported me throughout my life.

I’m grateful for YOU. The fact that you are here reading this means a lot to me. Not many people stop at my little nook on the internet here, and I kind of love it that way. But I know the few who do care about something I have to say.

So today, I’d love to give a little gift to you.

I’m sharing 10 ways I am trying to live a more mindful life this month. These are things that have already helped me immensely with feeling more joy, lightheartedness, and fulfillment.

Want to join in? Start from the top and focus on each mindfulness tip one day at a time. I’d love to know if you end up trying any of them out throughout the month.

Mindful March Challenge:

1. Embrace silence. We have the tendency to fill silence with talking, music, podcasts, productivity…but next time you happen to catch silent moment, soak it in. Listen for the little sounds that are already around you and the peace you feel from just letting the moment be what it is.
2. Practice simple meditation. I have been starting the day with 3-5 minutes of meditation from the free version of Headspace, and it’s helped me have a more positive, centered mindset throughout the day.
3. Do yoga. I do it twice a week for 10-20 minutes. My go-to is Tara Stiles on YouTube. I just like her chill approach to yoga and always feel revived and more limber afterwards.
4. Make someone laugh. Laughter releases anxiety and stress in kids and adults. When I take the time to get down and play with my kids and chase or tickle them even for a few minutes every day, it makes a world of difference in their behavior and our relationship.
5. Less technology, more being together. These years together are too short to spend too much time sucked into a screen.
6. More journaling. My favorite way to work through thoughts and document my kids’ lives.
7. More working on my novel. Maybe you have a project or hobby it’s time to give more attention to?
8. Less social media. If you notice a pull-back there, you’ll know I’m trying to create more space for other priorities, like family time and writing.
9. More choosing simple and slow down over a hustle and do-it-all mentality. We often hear we need to learn to say no to things, even good things, in order to make room for more important things. For me, the struggle is saying no to myself. At any given time, I have about a million dreams and plans in my head I want to execute, or things I want to share, but I’m learning to not say yes to every ambition so I can do my best with what I have my hands in at one given time.
10. Think less, do more. Any fellow over-thinkers out there?