Thursday 28 January 2010

Week of Wellness

So I have decided to take a week off work next month for no particular reason other than that I need some time off. March and April are shaping up to be extremely busy at work, so I decided that the last week of February will be my time for a little space and rejuvenation.

I have dubbed it 'Theresa's Week of Wellness" because I'm going to do all sorts of nice and healthy things during this time off. Sort of like a retreat, but I am going to do it at home. And this blog post is part of how I'm setting my intention of what I'm going to do. (Thanks to EcoYogini who introduced me to this intention-setting concept!) So here are some of the basic things I will be including in my W.o.W:
  • Meditate each day for 20 minutes (this can be in two, 10 minute sessions)
  • At least twice during the 7 days, meditate for one sitting of at least 30 minutes.
  • Do 10 minutes of Tai Chi warm up exercises every day. This would be best to do right before meditating.
  • Practice doing a set of Tai Chi at home from start to finish at least twice.
  • Attend my two regularly scheduled Tai Chi classes
  • Drink 6-8 glasses of water each day.
  • Catch up on my sleep - this works better by going to bed earlier rather than sleeping in later, so I plan on being in bed by 10:30 p.m.
  • Notwithstanding the above, sleep in if I want to (although if I go to bed on time, even getting up at 8:30 a.m. will be sleeping in).
  • Stay at home for 4 of the 7 days - i.e., on these days I don't have to wear anything other than pajamas, and I don't have to put on any makeup or do my hair. If the doorbell rings (which is unlikely but possible,) I just won't answer it!
  • Have at least one warm bath during the week with candles on and nice music playing.
  • Read to my heart's content. I plan on putting my library card to full use, and I have also given in and ordered Noah Levine's "Against the Stream" book, which should have arrived by the time my W.o.W. starts.
  • Listen to some Noah Levine, Gil Fronsdal and/or similar podcasts.
  • Get a massage (this is already booked - hooray!)
In addition to these healthy and relaxing things, I also plan on doing some catching up on stuff that I have fallen behind or which I never seem to get a handle on, and which then stress me out in the background of my mind. Some of these things include:
  • Making a new, Mac-based budgeting spreadsheet that is simpler and less time consuming for data-entry.
  • Doing some cooking of soups, chili, etc., that I can freeze for later use. I have quite a lot of stored beans (dried and canned) and I want to use/eat some of them to keep my 'stores' in proper rotation.
  • Bake some bread again - I haven't been doing that lately and I miss it.
  • Submit some insurance claim stuff I've been putting off.
  • Place my vegetable seed order.
I may end up making up some kind of daily schedule for myself to ensure: (1) that I do what I intend, but still (2) leave enough time for tea throughout the day and week so that I don't have to rush through things. That would sort of defeat the purpose after all.

Anyone else out there planning on a week (or day) of wellness?

Photo courtesy wildmind.org

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Every gardener I know has started planning this week! I guess the sun is letting us know of the season ahead.. also the pull of meditation seems stronger this time of year, no?

re: budgeting, have you seen ynab? After several years of using an excel spreadsheet, which was time consuming.. I switched over and really like it. the newest version is mac compatible. does cost money though.

http://www.youneedabudget.com/

enjoy your wellness week..

Theresa said...

Hi Claire! The longer days are certainly encouraging, I must say. And since I have been doing shorter but more regular meditation 'sits', that has become more compelling to me as well - it's not always pleasant or fun to meditate, but the downright goodness of it just keeps me coming back for more :) Ooo..thanks for that budget link, I will check that out ASAP!

Eco Yogini said...

Yay! I'm so glad that my intention setting post was helpful! I think yours are wonderful, and it's hilarious that you've termed it W.o.W.... do you play World of Warcraft?? (lol, Andrew did, so and calls it wow...).

We're going to try to make bread this weekend... SANS breadmaker or mixer! kneading à la main. I'm a little nervous- hopefully it will turn out. the fact that you miss it was helpful to read, i only seem to hear negative stuff about making bread! :)

Anonymous said...

Indeed, don't forget to take time for a cup of tea! :) Enjoy yourself.

About dried beans, could you give me a possible estimate as to how many bean plants you planted and what kind of volume of dried beans you got? Kind of a funny question, but I'm trying to figure out how much space I should devote this year to them. :)

Theresa said...

EcoY - no I don't play World of Warcraft! I got the WoW thing from back in the day when I was at university and we had a Week of Welcome for new students! As for the bread, you may want to try the no-knead bread recipe from Mother Earth news! It is super fantastic - just go to the ME website and search for no-knead bread - it is the best bread I've ever made and there is no kneading required, the yeast does the work for you overnight!

SV - yes, the tea will be one of the most important parts of the week, I think :) I don't want to have it overtaken by overbooking my WoW. As for the beans, I shall do some checking and measuring. I do know that I was amazed at how many snap beans I got per plant, but that translated into a fairly small volume of dried beans later. I will do some measuring and get back to you... I very much liked the Golden Rocky bean for its dual use as a fresh and a dried bean, I will definitely be growing those again.

Anonymous said...

Total aside, sorry. Where did you get the rock photo?

Theresa said...

Hi scotjaneta - I got the picture from wildmind.org, which is noted on the bottom of my post in italics. You can click the link there to get to it.

Simply Authentic said...

Sounds amazing...truly. I think this is a fabulous idea. Everyone needs time to relax and to just reconnect with his or herself. Hopefully you'll have the opportunity to just sort of follow whatever it is that your heart desires w/in those days too. Its great to have a "plan" in mind, but follow your lead for those days when you arrive upon them too. Well done! :)

Theresa said...

Hi SA - thanks for the balance reminder. I actually found myself already overbooking the week and I ended up cancelling one appointment so I could keep to my 4 car-free day intention. I'm hoping for a nice combination of, well, planned sponteneity :)

Theresa said...

BTW, Claire, thanks so much for the YNAB link - I downloaded the trial version and just loved it! So I've taken the plunge and purchased it for real. Who new budgeting could be so easy and streamlined? Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Good to hear! Yes I tried quicken and some free apps before but nothing was as 'mac-like' and straightforward as ynab. it makes it almost fun to budget :)

Theresa said...

It is quite mac-like yes - intuitive and integrated. I'm having fun with it!

Jerry said...

I hope the week goes well for you, Theresa.

Theresa said...

Thanks Jerry, I plan to really, really enjoy it :)