Finding Joy in Silence

Finding moments to be in silence has become such a treasure for me. With all the hustle and bustle of everyday life I have realized that my mind goes on a frenzy with thoughts moving a mile a minute. Though I haven’t quite figured out how to silence my mind, I have realized that sitting in silence and allowing myself to be still and serene brings me great peace as well as joy.

I wake up in the morning with a million thoughts, thinking on my to-do lists or things I may have forgotten to do. I catch myself getting lost in these thoughts and say to myself, “Hush. This morning is sacred. There is sacredness in silence.” There are 24 hours in a day, 8 of which you spend sleeping and the other 16 hours are spent working, cooking, cleaning, spending time with people. How much of that time is really dedicated to YOU? Sure, sitting in silence or even just listening to your breathing seems like another thing to-do. But it is one thing we NEED to do. At least, I need it.

When things are hectic, I am learning that instead of distracting myself with more noise and junky eating, simply pausing and breathing brings me great clarity. There is such joyful serenity in silence. When you are silent you can hear the slightest ticking of the clock in another room, you can feel your heart beating and hear birds singing. If you find yourself lost in today’s to-do list and lost in the day’s meetings, I encourage you to take a moment to breathe. If you find yourself anxious over the holiday season and submerged in dreadful holiday shopping, simply stop. Stop. Pause. Inhale. Pause. Exhale. Repeat. Our breath is sacred. Breathe out the negativity and inhale the joyful silence.

Just as it is important to nourish your body with healthy, wholesome and nutritious foods, it is important to nourish the soul. What are you doing to nourish your soul today? Even just a moment to yourself in silence can make all the difference.

An Attitude of Gratitude

Happy holidays everyone! I hope you are enjoying some well deserved rest and rejuvenation. I know I am. I am so sorry for my lack of posting. I just started an internship at Weight Watchers and took on a freelance fact-checking job in addition to my current Social Media assistant job. Jeez I’m making myself busy but this is all worth it. I am getting into a nice little flow. The moment I get more adjusted, the more I will post. I promise!

So, as I mentioned in a previous post, I am participating in a delightful health and wellness challenge for the holiday season: Elf for health.

This weeks challenges have been phenomenal so far. But today is by far my favorite. Today’s challenge is to write down 20 things you are grateful for. I am trying my best to find at least one positive or one thing I am grateful for everyday but today really helped put things in perspective!

Here is my list of things I’m grateful for:
1.My family
2.My incredibly boyfriend (super grateful for him)
3.My close circle of friends (my phenomenal support system)
4. Great health
5. My current education at IIN
6. My current jobs and internships
7. A place to live
8. So so so grateful for Zumba
9. iPhone, iPad. Yes, I’m grateful for technology
10. Vegan cheese!
11. Trader Joes
12. Dark chocolate
13. Tea (yea, I said it. Tea.)
14. My fab Erin Condren planner. It’s that amazing. Couldn’t be without it!
15. Syracuse university. One of the best decisions I have ever made was attending undergrad there.
16. I am grateful for trees and plants. Thank you for providing oxygen!
17. Vegetables and fruits. Actually, I am really grateful for food. I love food.
18. Wine. I love vino. Shiraz, Chianti, Malbec, you name it, I love it.
19. I am sincerely and truly grateful for all the people I have met in my life who have taught me something.
20. I am grateful for my strength internally and externally. And most importantly I am grateful and thankful to be blessed with this life.

What are you grateful for?

Elf For Health Round 2: Day 1

After a week of seeing tweets about elves and health I thought I’d sign up for a six week challenge designed to keep me healthy and active during the holidays. Even though I missed the first round of elf pairings, I got the opportunity to be paired up with someone to help inspire and push me for the next two weeks. I havent heard from my fellow elf yet, which saddens me but Im sure she will reach out soon! This weeks’ challenges look amazing and incredibly doable. I will keep you all in the loop of my progress with these challenges.

Today’s challenge was to track my water intake and to drink my body weight in ounces of water. At first I was trying to convert my weight of 122 into ounces and then convert into cups and thought there is NO way I can drink 1952 ounces of water in one day. But when I realized I only needed to drink approximately 15 and 1/4 cups of water, I thought okay this is actually doable.

I think we underestimate how much our bodies need water. Water makes up about 70% of our body and can you believe there are people who don’t like water? How can you not like water when you are practically made up of it? Water is completely refreshing, cooling, healing and often a way to cleanse. I drank my 15 and 1/4 cups of water today and felt pretty good. On average we really should try to drink about 8 cups of water a day. Yup, you heard me. 8 cups AKA 64 ounces of wet, flowing, crisp goodness. If you were stranded in a desert, imagine how refreshing and delicious a cool cup of water would be?

I savored every last sip of water today. I noticed that my urges to snack disappeared and my mood felt more balanced. Even though the challenge of the day is over, I am keeping my Integrative Nutrition water bottle near by and clinging to it for dear life. I just LOVE water!

Peace, love and no beef!

Guramrit

Pardon My Slack: A Mini Update

Wow I can’t believe it’s December already! It seems as thought November flew right on by bringing and taking Thanksgiving away ever so quickly. The past few weeks have been hectic but pleasant. The joyfulness of the season and the culinary delights have kept me, well, delightful (for the most part).

The day after Thanksgiving my favorite fitness instructor, whom I have taken classes (Zumba, Pilates, Total Body Conditioning, etc.) with for nearly 3 years took another job and left me. Needless to say, I felt and still feel abandoned, maybe a little depressed. I found that my instructor motivated me to stay fit and active and kept me sane. But the moment she told me she was leaving (which I could feel coming) I could feel myself shrivel. NOOOO! Now what am I supposed to do? This past week I didn’t want to go to the actual gym. I decided to work out at home this week, which for me isn’t the same. I truly enjoy those workouts with a group and an instructor I can trust to push me to get results.

I realized that my instructor leaving actually has pushed me even more to want to get my Zumba certification. I even bought the Zumba Exhiliarate DVDs with toning sticks, which has been on my wish list FOREVER! I am pushing myself to quit making excuses. Excuses don’t get us anywhere but at the same time, I am allowing myself to rest. Lately I have felt super tired and those extra hours of sleep have really done me justice.

I am really looking forward to keeping fit for Christmas and the rest of the year. Lets face it, I’m just a tad bit of a sucker with the compliments regarding my toned and slim vegan body. Did I mention I’m on Month 3 of veganism? Even the biggest cheese lover can go vegan (if that’s something you’re willing to try!).

Well ladies and gents, that is all for now.
Peace, love and no beef (or cheese),

Guramrit

P.S. By the way did I mention I recently was accepted as a Sweat Pink ambassador? This community of amazingly strong and motivated women will keep me motivated as I recover from my favorite fitness instructor abandonment.

P.P.S. I’d love to hear from you lovely readers! What are you doing to keep yourself fit, motivated and healthy this holiday season?