Serenity Saturdays

I've decided that I really, really don't want to live my life stressed, even if I have a lot going on. So I have a new strategy! For the month of December my dear friend Jenna and I are going to be doing a Serenity Project. And I would love it if you guys would join us! Especially as the holidays are upon us and it is so easy to get swept up in frustration, anxiety and commercialism. I think that this is going to help me really focus on what is important during the Christmas season: Christ, love and family.

Here's what we are doing:

• 10 minutes of meditation every day. That is 10 minutes of breathing in, and breathing out. Eyes closed, empty your mind and just breathe. As part of my meditation I recite my mantra. 

"Let it go. I am enough. I am strong. I am beautiful. I am loved. Let it go."
I repeat this, and any other "I am's" I need to hear over and over and over again. Feel free to steal mine or create your own, or just breathe.

• Yoga - if you haven't done yoga before that is ok. You can just stretch and try to relax your body. If you have done yoga before and you don't have a lot of time, try doing just a few sun salutations. (I do three sun salutations before I meditate, which happens right before I go to bed.) If would like to do yoga, don't have a lot of money or a place that offers it near by here are my FAVORITE yoga dvds. These are incredible. The woman who does them is Ashley Turner. And She. Is. Awesome. (and no, I am not being paid to endorse her or anything). Below are some links if you would like to buy some of her DVD's. They are no more than $10.00
• Yoga For Weightloss - This DVD is amazing. It might be for weightloss, but it is like a therapy session. You learn so much about yourself, and you let go of so much junk too. This is my favorite. It is about 45:00 minutes long. (if you want to lose weight while you do this, I managed to lose and keep off quite a bit of weight while doing this.)
• Power Yoga if you are a newly budding yogi do not attempt this quite yet. This one is TOUGH. But I love it.It is around an hour long, and you will sweat and hold positions for so long that you'll think your hair just grew an inch.
• Yoga for Stress Relief & Flexibility - this one is perfect for beginners or anyone needing to really let go and bbrrrreeeeaaaaattthhhhe. You can do the Stress Relief part (only fifteen minutes) or the Flexibility part (also only 15 minutes) or you can do them together. Either way, it is just the best.

• Journaling - I think it is so important to just write out how we are feeling. Sometimes, when I start to write about how I am stressed/angry/sad/frustrated/irritated I can find out what is really causing the problem. Other times I feel that as I empty my worries and frustrations out onto the page I no longer have to carry them with me. They have been deposited into the bank. It doesn't make them go away all the time, it just makes it so much easier to handle. You can journal about anything you want. I know most of us blog, but what this exercise is for is to really let off steam. Nothing is off limits, no one is going to read it. Write what you want. Write what you need to. 

If you can't do all three, no worries! Do what YOU need to do. Do what YOU want to do. BUT if you only do one thing, pretty, pretty, pretty please meditate. Do it right before bedtime, or when you first wake up. Give yourself a few minutes of simply being - without stressing or worrying or kids or husbands or work. Just  be you.

Every Saturday you can report back here for Serenity Saturday. You can link up your post about what has worked for you, how you feel about it, what has changed and anything else you do to help maintain your mental health and happiness (or whatever you really want to do).

All I ask is that you link back here! You can take a Serenity Saturday button if you'd like (I took that picture myself, so I am quite proud of it.) I won't ask you to follow me, unless you want too that is, but I sure would appreciate it!

If it gets going and people like it, we can keep going even after December!

Tomorrow I will have the link up ready, and you can start it off by telling us how you plan on creating serenity in your life.

I hope you join us! I can't wait to hear about your journey.

(Linking up with: Faith Filled Friday, Friday Favorite Things, That Friday Blog Hop, Womanhood With a Purpose, Weekend Blog Hop, Feed Me Friday, Friday Chaos, High Five for Friday, Friendly Friday Blog Hop)