Rock The Holidays ~ Three Weeks In

I have now completed the third week of my self~imposed ‘Rock The Holidays’ Challenge and I’m happy to report that I’m doing well with my avowed intentions. (With the exception of ‘chocolate~free weekdays’ ~ I knew that would be a tricky one! Oh, well, I suppose it gives me something to work on.)

Nutrition
Last Sunday, as part of my quest to use more local suppliers, I visited an exhibition of Isle of Wight food, in Cowes.

I strolled among the stalls, helping myself to samples and chatting with the vendors, gathering information and business cards. I caught the end of a cooking demonstration but was too far back in the audience to grab a taster of the seasonal pumpkin risotto, which smelled delicious. I purchased a multi~grain cob from ‘The Village Bakery’ and a tub of smoked mussels from the lady in the witch hat above. Martin and I shared them for supper ~they were amazing and convinced us that less is more in the organic food stakes. Although good quality produce might be a little more expensive, the flavours are so intense that you don’t need to scoff as much to satisfy the senses. It’s hardly Rocket science 😉

Exercise
Even though we’ve been on half~term break this week, I haven’t been idle. In fact I’ve been more active than usual ~ walking, shopping, gardening and clearing junk from an outhouse so that we can make better use of it, topped off by a holiday clean at school on Friday. I spent Sunday morning lazing in bed reading my library book ~ I figured I’d earned it!

Gifts
I have meditated every morning and evening for the last 17 days ~ courtesy of a free, specifically engineered 10 minute download, which arrived in my inbox on the first Friday of the challenge. This has certainly been more successful than my attempts to meditate earlier that week but I’m still having trouble getting into ‘the zone’, even with the track on repeat. I have experienced the odd Zen moment, though and I’m definitely feeling more energetic and creative.

Having disciplined myself to setting aside time for regular meditation, I’m starting a 21-Day Challenge with Deepak Chopra today, ‘Meditating For Abundance’. Yet another free e~gift, which I’m really looking forward to experiencing.

This weekend, a friend gave me a basket of lavender bath fizzers ~ what fun! A couple of weeks ago I crocheted a blanket for her, because she feels the cold. Her genuine delight and the fact that she now takes it everywhere makes me glad that I decided to give it to her. (It did look quite cool on my sofa!)

Gratitude
Although there have been one or two dips in my energy over the past fortnight, I’m generally feeling happier than I ever have, at this time of year. So I’m grateful to whatever instinct prompted me to take up this challenge ~ it has encouraged me to track down the source of my habitual winter blues and take positive measures to combat them and there have been some interesting fringe benefits.

I’ll be revealing those soon. Until then ‘Rock On!’