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February in Review & Slow Experiment No. 3



February is almost over and spring is on the horizon! Or at least that is what I am telling myself and with the balmy breeze we are experiencing in Southern Ontario today, it is easy to believe. February was my month to pursue slow self care and all in all I think it was a success. I didn't really have much of an agenda for the month except making self care my primary focus, and that allowed me a lot of freedom to pursue whatever self care meant to me on any given day. I tried to listen to my intuition more this month which let me tap into what I actually needed and giving myself the space to just do what I needed to do felt incredibly rewarding; Some nights that meant that I sat around watching YouTube and ignored everything on my to do list. Other nights that meant I took the time to wind down before bed time and pampered myself a little. I allowed myself to be flexible and tried to let go of any limiting beliefs I held regarding self care. Here are some other things I did this month that fall into the self care category:


+ I read four books this month: Goodbye Things, In Defense of Food, Start With Why, and The Four Agreements. I might do a post reviewing these books so watch this space.
+ I painted some of my walls this dreamy 'Simply Sage' green (long story short: I've been craving the color green (can you crave a color?!) and I have a cat friend who likes to chew things so I cannot have plant friends. The end. Green walls it is!)
+ I slowed down my evenings and my mornings (especially on weekends!). I allowed myself to get up whenever my body was ready to get up, I didn't touch my phone for the first hour of my day, I made sure I left enough time to 'wind down' before bed time, and I made sure TV was not the focal point of my evenings.
+ I made journaling a priority which felt so. damn. good.


It may not seem like much but this month wasn't about pushing myself. In fact, it was the complete opposite - it was about doing whatever I felt I needed to do, and that felt good.


With another experiment almost completed, that means there is another one around the corner! My third slow experiment for the year is going to focus on gratitude. March is the month of Spring, and my birth month so there is a lot to be grateful for. Taking inspiration from some of my favorite ladies on Instagram (@valeriekeinsley 'the good list' and @emloerke 'gratitude lately') I plan on making March the month where I remember the abundance of this life. For March's experiment I plan to:


+ Keep a gratitude journal every. single. day. 31 days of journaling all about the things I am grateful for. I can't wait!
+ Be more mindful. I want to stop and smell the roses, literally.
+ Meditate. Five minutes in the morning and five minutes before bed. This will allow me to find inner peace and stillness each day which will ultimately bring me more clarity to focus on the things I am grateful for.
+ Share the love. I don't just want to write about the things I am grateful for, I want to share them with others and spread gratitude like butter on a baked potato (sometimes I think I'm funny).


Here's to Spring, to gratitude, and to another slow experiment!

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