Moved My Blog Over to ...

kaharuhay.com

Omg, rediscovering this blog in 2018 is...whoa. Haha. I resisted the urge to delete/make it entirely private. What a relic.

November Challenge: Choosing Not To Rush

Ever since I was little, Mama and Papa would ask me to sit beside them. I would be propped, cross-legged on a pillow to try to be still for a few minutes. It was always hard for me to stare slightly forward and do nothing except silently count 1 to 10 over and over again. I would get impatient. Little did I know that they were trying to instill in me the value of silence and settling my thoughts.

Even until now, I haven't developed the practice where I do it every day. What I find though, especially this month, is that there are moments during the day when I pause and breathe deeply. I don't necessarily stop crossing the street or whatever it is that I am doing. It's an internal pause. I breathe slower and more deliberately. I would become aware of my scrunched brows and hunched shoulders. I don't feel ecstatic or cheery. It's a calm feeling as I "un-scrunch" and "un-hunch". My personality is prone to obsessing and worrying and I feel that it has slowed some success from entering my life. Having these quiet moments remind me that obsessing won't do me good and that there are more productive things to do while waiting.

Meditation is helpful and should be a part of life, like prayer. No one has to do it sitting down, cross legged all the time. It's simply giving oneself space to relax, to let thoughts go by, to be still in this fast paced anxiety ridden world and to feel grateful that we can choose not to rush.

Winter Blues

Fall didn't linger much and winter season is here in Canada. Here's a yoga sequence for the winter blues by one of my favorite online teachers, Esther Ekhart:

Just something to keep me active for the season. That is all.

October Challenge: Declutter Desk, Declutter Life

my desk on better days

The 15-minute decluttering routine is some kind of a genius tool.

Hercule Poirot Mysteries (or Why A Strawberry Daiquiri is Like A Murder Mystery)

My favorite t.v. shows aren't so popular. At least not among my friends. It's a good thing because I don't have to care about them posting spoilers and complaints re: HIMYM, Breaking Bad, Orange is the New Black and GOT on my social media feeds.

My kind of shows are murder mysteries especially period ones. I love Bones, Sherlock, Murdoch Mysteries and Hercule Poirot series. There's just something about the protagonists in these stories: their intelligence, their powers of observation and their quirky personalities. Perhaps the quirkiest is Mr. Hercule Poirot. He is described as a short Frenchman Belgian with a distinct mustache and an egg shaped face. Watching the episodes is fun but reading the books prove to be even better. My mom bought a wack of them at a thrift store. A steal at 25 cents each! A wonderful steal! Can you tell I am as giddy as a child with candy?

image from www.programme.tv

September Challenge: Eat One Meat-Free Meal A Day

Temp Brennan once told Booth (in the Bones tv series!) that vegetarians aren't always necessarily healthy. They can just eat french fries all day. My September challenge was an effort to reduce red meat and increase vegetable intake. Don't get me wrong, I love meat but I also know how I badly need those leafy greens. Yet as Temp said, the challenge didn't necessarily make me eat healthy. There were times when my meat-free meal was an orange marmalade sandwich or a bowl of cereal. 

Italy: Experiences and Discoveries

Florence, Bologna, Manarola and Venice: AirBnb

I've been eyeing AirBnb for a while and was finally able to use it on this trip. The accommodations we got did not disappoint or at least most of them. My favorite was the 800 year old apartment in Florence. Our host Paolo was gracious and very knowledgeable about the city. He recommended a really good restaurant and gelato place. I also loved that informative and interesting books about Florence and Italy lined his bookshelves. He has five other Airbnb listings which I would love to see in future visits. The one where we stayed was near Ponte Vecchio. All I can say is that it was simply lovely and if you ever need to go to Florence, book with Paolo.