taking time

As a holistic Nutrition Educator I often encourage my clients to work on other areas than just food.  We talk about ways to reduce stress in their lives, ways to increase exercise and to work toward living a happy, healthy, balanced life.  I try very hard to practice what I preach and I thought I would share an example of that today.

I'm very fortunate that my family lives in TX where the winters are, let's be honest, not to hard to take.  I'm doubly fortunate that the community that we live in has over 180 miles of hiking and biking trails.  This morning Steve and I took advantage of that and hopped on our bikes to ride over to the local coffee shop for a date.  Granted the coffee shop is not that far, only about four miles.  But taking the time to ride our bikes over, sit together and enjoy a cup of coffee/tea and then ride back was something that put me in a great mood all day.  We got sunshine, fresh air, a little physical activity and some time to simply be together.

Many of my clients complain that they don't "have time" for these moments.  And while they don't happen as often as we may like, we need to make them happen.  It goes a long way toward helping us de-stress and be more balanced.

Obviously if you live in a cold, snowy winter climate a bike ride is not an option for you. Perhaps a sled ride followed by a thermos of hot chocolate.  Perhaps a snowball fight outside and then a cuddle in front of the fire to warm up.  Even just some quiet time sitting in a sunny window if going outside is not an option can be very calming and restorative.

We're each given the same amount of time, it's how we use that that determines our state of mind and state of being.  Take time for you.

Be well.

photo courtesy of  freedigitalphotos.net