A view of one of the fabulously artistic buildings in Melbourne! Today is my last day in the sunny, southern suburb of Seaford! I am grateful for my 6 weeks here and this fun little dog of which I have had the joy and pleasure of caring! I am grateful for my time here, writing and working and relaxing. I am grateful I got to visit with my old friend from Chengdu, P., who came to Melbourne on her whirlwind tour of Oceania! I am grateful I was able to see parts of the Great Ocean Road and the Twelve Apostles, during P.'s visit! I am grateful that I am returning to the Dandenong Range in the Yarra Mountains for the next 4 days of hiking and relaxing without any animal care restrictions! I am grateful that I have greatly reduced my calorie intake and have been eating so much healthier since Jan. 1! I am grateful that I have been exercising on a near daily basis and taking frequent movement breaks! I can feel the difference in my body's strength and flexibility and composition! I am grateful to my massage therapist and acupuncturist at Acufitz, who have been helping me heal my body and work on trauma still stuck in my body, physically, energetically, and emotionally! I am grateful to move on to a financial opportunity that will be like a windfall and enable me to continue my travels for the rest of the year! I am grateful for writing opportunities and remote teaching opportunites which I have found online! I am grateful for the time I have spent in Australia! I am grateful for the potential house-sitting gig I may take in New Zealand! I am grateful for the courage and determination I have had to take a sabbatical and pursue my dream of writing-- a dream held for decades! I am grateful that I continue to pursue personal evolution despite setbacks and hardships and physical challenges. I keep trying! I can do it! I am grateful for reminders to stay present and focus on acceptance and saying YES! to all that comes to me and presents itself! I am grateful, and... I can do it!
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Today I am grateful that I found resources online to assist in my interview tomorrow morning! I am a little nervous, but I now have some additional tools! I am grateful that I got in 3 calisthenic/strength movement breaks today, plus yoga practice! Yay! I incorporated some new "moves", too. I'm grateful about the interview tomorrow; regardless of how it turns out, it sets me up for the future and will be good experience. Remember my skills! I am confident I will get an online teaching post soon and start bringing in the dough! My other project will tide me over through the Antipodal Summer and Fall, too. I'm grateful for the new opportunity that is going to bring in the dough, and the next few weeks will be busy with that. I'm grateful to see an old friend from China, who is visiting Melbourne on Wednesday! We will do some tourist stuff together! Wheee! I'm grateful to have several hiking options this weekend, too! Whoo Hoo! The last few have been rained out. I'm grateful to be safe and feel safe with this crazy weather (hail storm in the middle of summer!), devastating bushfires happening not far off, and all the other insanity in the world. I'm grateful for the 80+ km of cycling, walking, and hiking I've done since Jan. 1! Whoo Hoo! I'm grateful for my desire to teach and learn, and to be of service. I'm grateful for all the thoughts in my head that spur me on to evolve, think deeply, imbibe knowledge, and be of service. I'm grateful for this sweet dog for which I'm caring. I'm grateful for house-sitting and pet-sitting, period! I'm grateful for opportunities and money saved and being in Australia while pet-sitting and house-sitting! I am grateful! Wow! Don't know how it's possible, but "Strava don't"lie"! Between cycling around, walking around, taking the dog out, walking all over Melbourne CBD, cycling/walking to and from the train station, and hiking, I have covered 84 km. since January 1st! Whoo Hoo! Add yoga and calisthenics to that figure, and I've exercised 36 hours this month, which comes up to almost 2 hours daily, which doesn't seem to add up, except for the longer hikes and time walking around Melbourne! That is awesome! I am awesome! This makes me feel so thrilled and proud of myself to be moving on almost a daily basis! Therefore, I am grateful for all the hard work I have completed and how much better I feel as a result! I'm grateful I can do it! I'm grateful for my bike! I am grateful for my health! I'm grateful for the opportunities to walk and ride so much! I'm grateful for the hiking groups I joined! I'm grateful that I am getting stronger and fitter and healthier! I am grateful! I've installed an interval timer, Pomodoro-style app on my phone, which reminds me to move every hour or so. I've been implementing movement breaks for a while now, but with much more consistency recently. Yesterday, I got in 4 calisthenic/strength breaks in addition to a walk. Thus far today, I got in one this morning, plus a 35-minute bike ride with the dog. I set the timer for an hour, and then take a 5-minute break for body-weight strenght exercises; I want to build up to at least 6 breaks per day, which would equal 30 minutes of strength training. My first morning break--after coffee or tea-- is to do my yoga practice: asana, pranayama, and meditation ranging from 10-20 minutes depending on the day! In consequence, I am reaching my goal of a consistent morning yoga practice! And also reaching my other goals of getting healthier, stronger, fitter, leaner, and thinner! Yay Me! No... Yay, Me!I still have to be mindful of my lumbar disc, but I alternate the following body-weight strength exercises and calisthenics: knee lifts, squats, calf raises, modified jacks, mountain climbers, lunges, dips, superman, plank, dolphin, butt kicks, bridge, yoga back strengthening postures and hamstring stretches, and wall push ups. When my disc is stronger, I'll work on abs again. I personally need weight training that doesn't require weights or a gym visit (for now), because of my travels. After research, I found these two sites that have tons of strength and calisthenic exercise ideas:
http://www.epicdash.com/100-workouts-you-can-do-without-equipment/ https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-nutrition/no-weight-workout#24 I'm grateful for movement breaks and intense massage. I had sort of an emotional and spiritual breakthrough during and after my massage/acupuncture appointment on Thursday. I gained insight into the necessity of self-forgiveness and an awakening of specific changes I need to make N-O-W. I've been taking more and more movement breaks during the day, upping my exercise time totals for each day! Today, I took four plus a walk in the lovely sunshine with the dog, totalling nearly an hour! I'll be incorporating different strenght exerises into each session, to get a full body workout throughout the day! I'm grateful for the inspiration, dedication, and discipline to do this! I am determined to get strong again, and I am grateful for my determination. I'm grateful my body is well enough that I can re-train and re-condition it. I can do it! The insights I gain physically and emotionally are terribly difficult, but I am still grateful for them. I know in each session of massage/acupuncture more will come, and progress will be made. It's painful to heal and re-form and recalibrate my body, mind, and heart, but at least I have the opportunity to do so. For that, I am very, very, very grateful! I can do it!Grateful for this sweet buddy, even when she's begging to get on the couch!
Grateful for: being healthy, getting a lot done, a movement break, eating healthy, thunderstorm and rain to clear the air, going to bed early, Australian fish to eat, grocery delivery, friends, work on job hunting, waking up to a massage and acupuncture tomorrow, dogs, cool air, cooler temperatures, posts to help bushfire relief, new author to read, Anand G. and Michael Moore and Oprah and Lady Gaga for their work... life is good!
I took this photo in the former Post Office in downtown Melbourne; the building has been around since the 1800s and it's beautiful--even the original bathroom was fancy! I love how everything in Australia is "Mate" this and "Mate" that, even the box in the stall for insulin needles! LOL "Sharps go here, Mate"! LOLOLOL In the stall, yeah, another bathroom selfie LOL It's going to be another hot day in the Melbourne area until the thunderstorms hit in the early evening. The AQI (air quality index) is also very unhealthy today because of the fires burning east of Melbourne, still about 200 km. away. The house I'm in doesn't have a/c so it can get a bit warm although it's pretty well-insulated. On hot days, it's better to keep the windows shut to keep out the warm gusts of air--oh how the wind blows down here on the coast! Even with strong gusts or constant breeze, if the temperature is in the 90s or 100s (upper 30s to 42 or so C), it's like being in front of a hot hair-dryer! HOT!
In consequence, I am extremely grateful that I am safe from the fires--EXTREMELY GRATEFUL!! I am grateful for so much(!!!): house-sitting engagements, prosperity flowing, safety, improving health, weight loss, increase in energy, decrease in pain, healing of injuries, my massage therapist and acupuncturist, living in Australia, experiencing Melbourne, opportunities, making new friends, eating healthy, feeling better, decreased depressing and increased emotional resiliency, lessons learned in life, friends, increasing stamina and endurance and strength, movement breaks, income potentional, job potential, this sabbatical, being a writer, being creative, my self... Today I intend to: take more frequent movement breaks, smile, remember to feel grateful, work on jobs, follow up with next house/pet-sit postings, apply for two jobs, finish hiking blog post, and vacuum this floor LOL!! I am grateful that I have been so active, just about every day so far in January, even if it's a short session of yoga and a movement break or two! I am grateful to be moving! I'm grateful to feel better: I have more energy, the back injury is healing, and I feel good overall. I am grateful to be losing weight, thanks to hiking and riding my bike frequently! I am so excited and grateful that I found these hiking clubs--awesomesauce! I am grateful for my new hiking books and new clothes. And I have big gratitude for the project that is going earn me big bucks! I am grateful for the new job opportunities and caretaking posts. Life is good! I am grateful and... I can do it!I was wary of the distance, but I did it! With a 300m elevation gain, we had some strong huffin' and puffin' going up those rises, but worth it! I am very tired, but so proud that I hiked that distance. I don't honestly know if I've hiked that distance in a day before, but I plan to do many more of these long hikes. The group went really fast, too--I never would have pushed myself that fast, which is awesome for conditioning and re-conditioning my bod. And within 3 steps onto the trail--quite literally-- everyone started hollering at me while I had my head down turning Strava on in my phone. There was a gang of Roos (turned out later to actually be Wallabies, not Kangaroos) across the field! Holi Cannoli!! In fact, there were so many Wallabies (smaller versions of Roos, with shorter hind legs), in the park that I estimate we saw a handful each hour of our hike (4 hours)! Plus, someone discovered an Echidna, which is a rare sight!! They look similar to porcupines except for longish, narrow nose. I am so grateful that I hiked and finished 16km today AND saw Wallabies, AND saw an echidna. AND I made new friends and discovered a great new hiking group made up of yogis! I am grateful for the connections I have made: my heart is happy! My body is thrilled at doing two hikes this week! All around a great week! I also received a referall to a publishing group looking for children's story writers and a couple more job opportunities! Yay! Grateful! Tomorrow I will use my new app to take more movement breaks throughout the day, go to yoga tomorrow night, submit more teaching applications, look into the writing gig, clean the house, and go for a bike ride with the dog. I signed up for two more hikes next week! An 8km and another 16km! Whoo Hoo! I've been feeling a bit frustrated because I can't stick to the 800 calorie limit of the fasting strategy; even though I'm not suffering from hunger. So I decided to liquid fast today unti 5pm, which ended up being about a 21-hour fast--almost dinner to dinner. I stuck to that easily, so I am grateful for that. I'm grateful that I've been off sugar and wine since the 1st, and following my nutrition strategy of eating healthy and not too much. Even if I go over 800 kcals by 600 kcals, that only amounts to 1400 kcals for the day, which is still very low! I've also been exercising so much more the past few weeks, even with a bum back. I can't believe my Strava stats! Like today, I took 3 movement breaks, which means I did strength work twice and yoga once throughout the day! Very grateful for that! Took the dog on a 6km bike ride too! Fun! Speaking of back pain: I feel so much better today, after my therapeutic massage and acupuncture yesterday. The session was really, really, really intense: releasing a lot of heat from my liver and overall stagnation and blocks around my psoas and hip flexors. I can hardly describe what I was feeling during the session because it was so stratified across energy, physical, mental, and emotional feelings. I felt an energetic agitation and it was hard to relax. My breath was also altered. When my massage therapist, Dan, who is a true master of his art, was working on my psoas, I was almost writhing in discomfort. Not pain, just an intensity of having all the areas around my disc worked on to release and loosen. Afterward, I was completely wiped out; all I wanted to do was lie down and sleep, but of course, I had a 2-hour ride home ahead of me on the train. Ugh! But today, I am super-grateful because my back hasn't hurt all day; there is only the slightest feeling of discomfort or a sensation of something not-quite-right in my lumbar vertebrae, but not an active sensation of acute pain, which is what I have lived with since Dec. 31! Yay! Gratitude! I also had an initial interview with an online teaching platform, although I am ambivalent about the opportunity. I also received a writing job referral and other job connections from a friend in Chengdu--very, very grateful, L!!! I am extremely excited about the writing opportunity because it is guaranteed work and pay if I can submit 4 articles each month. Totally doable! WhooHoo! It's not on my timeline, but life is unfolding nicely anyway. I will let it, and remain grateful! Intentions: Tomorrow I am going on a 16km hike with a new friend and a new hiking group! I'm a bit nervous because I haven't done that distance in a long time and I'm wearing my Keen hiking sandals since I haven't found new boots yet. So I intend to do my best to finish the hike! I also intend to continue eating healthy and stay off sugar and wine! I can do it! I will follow up on job info and look into the writing job tomorrow. I feel so much anticipation about potential there; I hope the money is good! I am grateful for new friends and new opportunities!! I can do it! |
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