Zumba in the Tub

I've been thinking a lot about personal wellness lately and what it means besides the obvious "do-goodery" mentality. It's obviously a personal definition since it's about personal wellness. But while definitions may vary, I think the results are pretty similar. The results are supposed to make you feel serene, centered, content, revitalized and for lack of a better word, full of wellness.
So how do you achieve this awesome state of balanced bliss? Wouldn't you love to know?
But like some things in life, you have to figure out the path to your personal wellness through first-hand experience.
This past week, I've been pondering my special formula. I haven't figured out the perfect concoction yet and I suspect it will always be some sort of work in progress as I change and develop as a person.
However, I have figured out a couple of key ingredients to my recipe and I would like to share them with you...
Taking a Bath. I can't remember the last time I took one, so I changed up my routine and took a bath to relax, to submerge, to soak. For those 45 minutes, I erased the worries in my mind and concentrated on feeling purely in the moment. I reminisced about fond memories, beautiful sunsets, and times of warmth and friendship. At the end of my bath, I felt positive and renewed...and positively renewed.
New Class at Gym. Lately, I've been taking more classes at the gym. Last week, I took a Zumba class and went all out even though I didn't know the moves this last week. When Miguelito (did I say Miguelito? I meant Miguel - the wonderful instructor) popped his booty, I, albeit pathetically, popped too...and it felt good.
There was always an apprehension about going back to Zumba after my first class I attended many months back. I kept thinking that people were staring at me in the mirror, pointing at my failures, and laughing as I turned in the other direction when everyone else was perfectly in sync with Miguel. I was sure that I would make a fool of myself and told myself I wouldn't go back; instead I wimped out and headed to familiar territory like yoga. But this past week, I decided to give it a try since I had resolved to challenge myself in unexpected ways. About a third of the way through this class, I realized that there were plenty of people with two left feet still dancing along multiple steps behind and not caring about how they appeared. They were just dancing to the beat, living, and enjoying themselves...and even if they cared about appearances, no one was staring, pointing or ridiculing them.
So I figure personal wellness should be like Zumba class in a tub for me. I have to relax, submerge and soak until I erase my worries, anguish less, dance to life's beat, remember to live, and of course in time enjoy my booty pops.

Guidelines

Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King Jr!

Like so many, I am at a crossroads in life right now. I have ambitions and doubts about the future, hopes and worries about feeling fulfilled, desires for what my career, my life, myself will/should be this year, in 5 years, in 10 years, and so on. I have to figure out how to get there...hopefully in a happiness-maximizing way.
I took a psychology class called the Science of Happiness last year and learned that certain people feel draft to-do lists and feel satisfaction at accomplishing each task and being about to finish the entire list. I suspect that these people like planning and have a structure. I used to be a chronic "list person" but that hasn't always served me well. So I'm going to try something different and publish guidelines I'd like to adopt because thus far they've work for me. By blogging about them, I feel like I'll be held more accountable for incorporating them into my life.
If you see me, hear from me, happen to find out I'm not following these guidelines, I give you full permission to reprehend me (especially since none of them are difficult, I have no excuses!).

To try:

-personal wellness (more on this later but I attribute this to Angela who brought up how important it is)

-new resolutions that'll reform bad habits and challenge me each month

Must do:
-drink more water
-exercise at least 4 days a week including at least 1 class/week and 30 min swim/week
-get more sunshine
-go for a walk a least once a week
-practice instruments and incorporate art into my life again
-finish a book once a month
-work on Chinese
-let go of anxiety, relax more
-wake up and sleep earlier, regularly
-pray

Shop My Wardrobe Comparison

Tuesdays mean sales at Anthropologie and today was no exception: I woke up this morning and discovered that the Jacquard Missive Skirt went on sale today! The day after I posted about the skirt not being available in my size, I saw that they had replenished all the sizes online. But now that the price has dropped to $79.95, my size once again is gone. Phew! Trap avoided.
So to 'celebrate/mourn' the fact that I won't be getting this beautiful skirt, I've decided to recreate this outfit with what I already have in my wardrobe. 
Not exactly identical, but too similar to justify hunting down a Jacquard Missive skirt. 

Where's the Goodness? 

What I discovered & will incorporate henceforth:

As I fumbled way into the back of my closet looking for pieces that could best match this outfit, I realized just how many skirts, tops, jackets I owned that I could substitute for this look.

To keep items from being neglected, I will reorganize my closet every season, 4 times a year, no excuses. I will move clothes that have been chilling in the back barracks to the front lines, rotate shoes like troops, and showcase accessories from the arsenal. 
As for the things that I'm no longer heeding any attention to, I have and will continue to donate them to charities/shelters and hope someone will be *warmer* as a result. 

If I were tempted...

"How's my shopping fast going?"

I'm not tempted...
To prove my point, one of my best friends alerted me to a good sale the other day but I wasn't tempted. Curious enough to get the details but not tempted.


I still browse some of my favorite stores for outfit inspiration every once in a while and want to share a beautiful skirt from Anthropologie. Even if I weren't following through with my new year's resolution, I still wouldn't consider actually buying it for two-and-a-half reasons: 1.)It's expensive; 2.) Online, my size is out of stock; lastly, 2.5) I refuse to look for it in stores because that'll just lead to trying it on and probably falling in love with it.
Besides, I have a comparable bubble skirt and a similar top.

Jacquard Missive Skirt

So here it is, what I'm tempted by...but not really because it's meant to be one of those unattainable pieces admired on someone else who can afford it and who isn't "shop-fasting."


Browsing online tonight has left me with question, a corollary to my resolution, and I want to ask my readers what would they think would be appropriate.
Gifts?
The holiday gift giving season has just passed but if I were to receive clothes or shoes from somebody as a gift, would that constitute breaking my resolution?
Tell me what you think! I'd love to hear some advice :)

Trial Run: Vegetarianism, Veganism, Pescetarianism, all the -isms

I'm done with it.

I'm doing it for the animals, for the environment, and for my health.

I spent part of the day at the library reading Peta literature on farm animal cruelty and abuse.
I feel the information is enlightening even for those who thought they know what is happening.
Animals, such chickens, cattle, and pigs, raised for food are enduring beyond terrible conditions. Reading the literature and watching video footage about industry standards has turned my skin inside out.
I don't want to detail all the meat industry's abusive practices here because I could never do as good a job as the organizations and the individuals that expose the ugliness every waking moment of their lives.
I will say, however, that every life is precious and grinding millions of fully conscious, newly hatched male chicks into machinery that kills them, chopping off neuron-filled chicken beaks, castration, and injecting growth hormones into animals to make them grow at such a rapid rate that their limbs can no longer support them is revolting and enough to make me want to leave meat off my plate.
In my teenage years, I was vegetarian for about a year. A lifelong animal lover, I wanted to do what I felt was humane and just. However, I wasn't equipped with the right sources about diet and meat substitutes that could compensate for my needed nutrients and under my doctor's recommendation, I relapsed into becoming a meat eater. Now I feel like I have access to the right resources that can help me with this new lifestyle.
So...

I'm going to try again: A Trial Run 30 Day Pescetarian Diet that I have ambitions to eventually morph into a permanent Vegan diet

Although I do believe in many people choosing to adopt different eating habits, I want people to make those changes voluntarily. I don't believe in radically forcing people to stop eating chicken or stop wearing leather. These are personal liberties. I'm not going to try to go out of my way to "convert" anybody.
I think individual expressionism is one of the most important things contribute to our identities. To lose that because someone poured paint on your fur coat is not going to inspire you to stop wearing fur or to ditch your suede loafers; it's only going to inflame your heart with repulsion for their cause.  In summary, from my perspective, it's a personal choice to become vegan, vegetarian, or any -arian.
For me:

I'm done with it.

I'm doing it for the animals, for the environment, and for my health.


For more information, check out the link below:

'Meet Your Meat': "People for the ethical treatment of animals"