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December Alignment Check

December is a unique month swirling with emotions for most. Wherever you are, you’re likely in transition and figuring out what step to take as solstice short days and long nights approach affecting our alignment.

It’s always good to check in. Even if you’re busy this last month of the year wrapped around holiday season 🎁 and joyful celebrations to anchor the weight of uncertainty.

With natural and calendar happenings, you also have personal goals and projects to finish up this year.

And sometimes there are raw emotions mixed in.

It’s a sadder time as the current year is ending and we’re often reminded over losses we had.

But we can pick ourselves up when we choose to remind ourselves of our overshadowed wins and happy (positive) times.

And for everyone, there’s anticipation of a looming new year that plays in life’s mix.

Will our future plans pan out? What should we be planning for? 

And then there are the monkey wrenches thrown in. Why no one told us this in life to get ahead of adulthood is a mystery.

But you can turn your misses into your comeback story.

Because your misses can be your greatest finds when you’re aware and aligned.

So that’s why alignment checks are so valuable.

You can align to your best-self intentions to make up for all those lost years.

And that’s a way to come out victorious before next year’s end.

And in between, intentionally finding future hope to lean on and joy along your daily journey.

We all need that. Because your situation is on this planet, which automatically means you’re facing some challenges or giant in your life.

And because busy December stirs up anxious moments it’s good to stay in check with yourself (mind, body, and spirit).

Even if you’re calm and steady, others around you are triggered and act erratic or are weirdly mooded around the holidays. 🤪

That’s been my experience.

…And I’m sure yours too.

But you can keep on keepin‘ on and overcome the daily stings with in-your-face daily happy and wild impromptu surprises to erase triggered moments.

…Like this out-in-the-wild calm meeting I had with this Quarter Horse on my past weekend journey.

…Where we special bonded over an apple I happened to have on me. He gladly finished it, core and all.

We shared a few peaceful moments in the sun. 🍎

But even as calm as this meeting was, it’s not like the relaxation that the body experiences when taking a shower in Default Mode Activation (that’s a real coined term).

How do I know I wasn’t totally relaxed?

…Because I couldn’t think of questions to ask in the moment that I later thought of on my journey. Ideas didn’t pop in. Same effect you get when you’re put on the spot to answer a trivia question or your favorite whatever.

There’s a small shutdown.

And that’s how we can unintentionally turn away our creativity spark.

It’s important to weigh in so that doesn’t become the new norm.

We’re not human robots but we have automatic reaction features built-in with birth. But we can exercise our rights to self-correct and restore.

And that helps us go, grow, and evolve.

As does witnessing the life around us that can surprise us. Like this unexpected violet cluster bloom amid the purple foliage…

By using the wonders around you as curiosity you have and small signs of growth in your life, you can get more calm. And get inspired!

Getting outside your head makes you appreciate that not everything is meant to stick around in life. And that’s more than okay.

Life (and you) keep growing.

Changes are good and normal.

And growth happens in its given time (and not when we always expect).

Like this example of wild winter growth where I saw no sunflowers bloom from my seeds this past summer.

And buzzing around town and markets, you can see signs wherever you are east or west, and north or south.

Like I’m seeing winter watermelons where I’m at. And just like that, Christmas in July is now July in Christmas in the northern hemisphere. 🍉🎄

These are all small signs that anything is possible.

Where you don’t need to be able to know it’s out there to be a possibility.

Because the Universe above sees it all.

And responds to our thoughtful prayers that stirs us up and the energy around us.

Wherever you are, you are purpose… and you are useable energy.

And you can sense and pick up on the living energy around you.

…If not in your home, take a walk, look up, and all around and to see energy happening.

Like pine cones falling.

Nature and trees are a good symbol of hope and life energy to rely on when the world is full of chaos.

And exercise is still one of the best ways to get new energy and clear your head from life turmoil.

Or a creative outlet project that ignites your untapped potential.

Your healthy mind doesn’t care what you work on to change tunes and get the happy vibes back.

It just wants you to get out of your current thoughts dragging you down.

And if you do something challenging or tough today, you can then appreciate what you did later or tomorrow.

That’s why you smile when you see your past photos.

Or when you think about the job where you were miserable, but are no longer there. You made it!

So strange… if you really think about this life.

Especially since now when you’re doing the painful activity is where there’s gain.

But the gratification feelings are often delayed from the grind.

Where we usually want instant gratification.

…So we’re misaligned.

Until we connect-the-dots, and use our delayed gratification ways that are a given, to our benefit.

Then we have the opportunity to appreciate the tougher times and get more patient about our current situations. And plow through.

And on the other side, we’re happy we went through our pains to get to where we are.

And with enough practice, even partner with (and empathize) with “no pain, no gain.”

That’s done more healthy with balancing some FUN downtime.

…So your candle doesn’t burn out.

And these are a few December fun ideas you can do:

Bring out your RED and white sparkly glitter garb. Be the one to break out the bright Christmas socks and sweaters.

It’s the one time of year where you’ll see a swarm of red Ho-Ho-Ho worn by everyone from the Rock-ettes to red cap wearing sports fans.

Let the red cheer remind you of fire passion you can ignite in you.

Make handmade craft decorations with your own cookie cutters.

Bake gingerbread cookies with chai spices and adding a pep in your step.

Play Christmas therapy songs to help change sad or anxious moods.

Hold and sip warm hygge-cozy beverages to get in the holiday spirit.

Around town, notice the Christmas trees 🌲, pretty wreaths, sparkly ornaments ✨,and colored lights strung that are just in time to brighten up nature’s bare tree season.

Humans make up for nature’s dormant transition. And show up and sometimes out…

It’s a good time to be hyper-kind and for-giving… and put aside differences… staying thankful for the peace, joy, and love we all want.

…And to reflect on what we did earlier in the year that was life changing. But we temporarily forgot about in the current hoopla… maybe a move, change in job, vacation, or goal made. Or all of the above!

We forget the smaller happy times and inching along micro strides we made. Writing it all down before year end, or putting together a small scrapbook could be a good way to stay optimistic and align with your best self and next steps for tomorrow. 👣

Uncertainty Turned To Joy With Good Habits

Uncertainty can be made certain when you cook dishes you can’t mess up like shakshuka that always tastes great.
A food dish like Shakshuka helps with uncertainty because you're certain it will turn out no matter what it looks like.
Start your day with a healthy morning breakfast like this Shakshuka egg-tomato dish 🍳 And balancing Ayurvedic spices that you can use to help restore your imbalance. Recipe below. ⬇️
Most of life is uncertain. Some days we have some certainty over planned future events and in yesterday’s events.
But we have uncertainty about tomorrow and sometimes what will happen today.
And uncertainty can come with all sorts of flavors and emotions.
Some uncertain days are filled with excitement, so those are double bonus… and are often few and far between over routine days. But that gives us a buffer so we feel the good effects compared to the previous nothing-special happening days.
And on uneventful days, it’s good to be grateful for our own contentment good.
That will get rattled up eventually with the sudden news that changes the direction of our day and possible season.
The way to best handle every situation is to find your joy. And if there is none that a sad or stressful situation can bring, then shed the cleansing tears and find peace. No matter what.
…Because the situation will happen regardless of your misery or staying calm and happy. So why not lean into the healthy positive expressing feelings that your body will reward you for? 
Plus, you make more sound decisions that way.
A decision can be as simple as whether to react or not react. Because whatever our actions are, especially when others are involved, there are consequences.
And my best advice for you in uncertainty is if you don’t know what to do, don’t do anything you could regret until you know what to do.
Then bringing this to your awareness, an answer follows at some point. It’s not an automatic response like a knowing that comes with practice and habits and then builds confidence the next time.
Trained professionals know what to do in their specialties, and you know what to do in yours, but not necessarily in theirs.
And when you take an action or make a reaction from a place of peace of wanting to give, then you know you’ve done your best.
So often we take action because someone else has projected the situation onto us and put the burden on our shoulders. It’s our modern protective job (since we’re not running from tigers) to evaluate objectively.
And not always jump on what is asked if the hoops are the wrong ones where we don’t set boundaries. And we end up resentful or bitter about what could have been handled differently.
Give yourself first the chance to think: What are the facts? What do you know about the entire situation that may have a history?
And if we can sleep on the idea over a night or two, then we see how we feel after we think or pray about the idea in peace and meditation which can be starkly different than the knee-jerk reaction. Time and rest allow for wisdom to enter instead of our worry-fear actions.
…Which BTW, this is a great life skill habit to learn and practice.
We’ve all had examples and some practice over the past few years. Our worlds were shaken by the disruptions of the global crises we all experienced on our planet from climate to pandemic.
This led to the greatest uncertainty that may end up being the most in our lifetime.
The toughest unique situations we each had to individually go through may still feel like open wounds. And those are maybe ones we don’t want to think about since we just went through them and are still processing.
BUT, the healthiest thing we can do is to not delay and think about the effects on us this year. We each had trauma of sorts and we want to prevent post-trauma effects that our mind-bodies will cling onto.
The trauma could have been the change in jobs, relationships, losses, lifestyle habits, and where you live, or all of the above. Or that you’re still in those situations. And the bottom line is: there was and is uncertainty.
Positive thoughts and vibes help with trauma and tough seasons.
And on top, there could be fresh wounds mounding on top of older ones.
All of that is part of the adult life. And when you’re super tested during difficult times to take on additional stressors, you can choose to feel like throwing in the towel… or you can look at the upside!
Your tough trials, situations, and setbacks get you ready for what’s on the other side. 🌈
So in the mud, find the hope vision. That could be as simple as recalling the thoughts that when you’re down, there’s nowhere to go but up.
And when you’re feeling Kapha tired, you plow through anyway… not because you feel like doing the work or task, but because you know you’ll feel better after you do. And you’re looking for that victorious after-burn feeling! 😎
It always gets better… and that’s not cliche if you’ve already lived to mid-life.
In the down, you become the resilient person that is needed to appreciate the pot of gold if you fight for your own victory that’s inevitable in your beliefs and if you don’t give up.
So today and every day, find a ray of hope and glimmer. ✨Borrow from nature that hums and runs 24-7 without pause on any part of the globe.
Where I was the year before the pandemic started, was working in close-knit quarters. I was at large-scale annual events where as many as 100,000 global members were invited. And I traveled internationally more frequently than non-existently.
Working in my local offices, I recall appreciating the time I had working remote for years prior in my early 30s. That also made adapting to 2020 life easier.
…Similarly, leaning into your positives in your situations can be your saving grace. Recalling your past that helped you in the tough times and today can make you feel that all will be well. And it will!
…It’s that same knowing from experience, that if you have a bad day, the next ones will be great.
Focus on those optimistic thoughts and look forward to your next steps.
Find your blessings amid uncertainty. Staying in joy is going to help you not lose precious years of productivity.
Maybe look at life as a learning opportunity? 
Each year comes with different situations and dreams. And you want to keep your head high and ride the cloud through the stormy and silver linings as though every opportunity is a joy to learn something.
And when you look down, you notice that the ground below you offers a chance to jump on a new landed opportunity and experience.
Make this year a triumph in how you see life and learning… and maybe someone you know needed to hear this that you can pass this on to, especially since we just passed Mental Health Awareness month that’s now part of our every month.
You’re never alone. And life is on your side. 🎉
And one thing you can control is keeping your joy and restoring your balance preferences with your spices.

 

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Shakshuka

You can restore your Vata, Pitta, and Kapha balance with Shakshuka
Course Breakfast
Cuisine lebanese
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

  • eggs
  • tomato sauce
  • coriander or cumin (cooling)- Pitta restoring
  • red pepper (heating) - Kapha restoring
  • oregano and tarragon - Vata restoring
  • olive oil

Instructions

  • Add your tomato sauce and EVOO and leave 3 dips to add your eggs. Cook until sauce is thickened about 10 minutes. Add the spices you want using your nose as to which you want to add. Your preferences will change because your nose knows to balance your Ayurvedic dosha that needs balancing related to your moods (e.g. tired, anger, anxious).
  • Bake dish at 350°F/180° C with spices about another 10 minutes.
  • Add spinach that will wilt.