Saturday, February 3, 2018

Ultimate Coffee Date: February 2018


Happy February!

It's time for our monthly coffee date, co-hosted by my friends Coco and Deborah. Stop by their blogs to visit the rest of the linkup. In the meantime, pull up a chair and let's catch up!



If we were having coffee, I would tell you...

I made it to the mat for each of the 30 days in my yoga challenge, True Yoga With Adriene. I am really proud of this accomplishment, and it impacted me more than I expected. The last day was especially powerful...all of the verbal cues were gone and Adriene told us to just practice by feel, listening to our body and using what we had learned over the prior month. It was so cathartic, I actually cried at the end.

My cats enjoyed the yoga journey as much as I did

If we were having coffee, I would tell you...

I've figured out a couple of ways to reduce stress that actually work for me.

  • Coloring - my first few attempts at coloring were not relaxing and not fun. And then I had an aha moment...color-by-number is the secret to my de-stress. I didn't like picking colors and often didn't like how the colors I had picked turned out. I just want to color and let someone else make those decisions.

  • Fidgeting - I've been intrigued by fidget spinners and fidget cubes and marble fidgets, but none of them are exactly discreet. However, I've finally found the perfect fidget toy to channel my nervous energy...flippy chains! They have a satisfying movement and can be manipulated with a single hand. It seems ironic, but I'm more focused and calm in meetings when my fingers are occupied.
Flippy Chain Fidget Toy by Tom's Fidgets

If we were having coffee, I would tell you...

I'm a little bit obsessed with the Neko Atsume app. Collecting photos and mementos from the various cats is a fun distraction that only takes a couple of minutes each day. Sometimes it is the silly little things that make you smile.




If we were having coffee, I would tell you...

Potomac River Running's Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run training program has begun. I literally had goosebumps last week when we were welcoming the participants and talking about the upcoming training plan and the race. I have so much enthusiasm for this race and I really enjoy sharing it with others.

Cherry Blossom training participants from PRR Reston

If we were having coffee, I would tell you...

I have a staycation coming up later this month. Taking a week off in February has become a tradition for me. It is so rejuvenating to step away from work and accomplish some projects around the house and spend some self-focused alone time.


If we were having coffee, I would tell you...

We should catch up more often! Let's plan to have coffee again on March 3.

The Ultimate Coffee Date

18 comments:

  1. Oh, I haven't seen flippy chains. They look intriguing. I love your color-by-number idea too. It's a perfect compromise!

    Glad to have you join us for coffee!

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  2. Great job on the yoga challenge (+ those cats are so cute! <3!)! I've heard of the Neko Atsume app and it's adorable! <3 I haven't seen flippy chains before but they look cooler to me than fidget spinners! :P

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    1. Flippy chains definitely have a more sophisticated appearance than fidget spinners, although they don't have a very sophisticated name :)

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  3. That is pretty impressive that you did 30 days of yoga. I always feel so much better when I do it but can't seem to fit it in enough. Let the CB training begin! Thanks for joining us for coffee

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    1. Looking forward to following your MRTT crew's CB training! Thanks for hosting coffee :)

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  4. it's amazing how the cats/dogs are attracted to the yoga mat... mine do the same thing!

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    1. That's cool that yours do the same thing! I like having them there, even if they get in the way a little bit. It's more zen :)

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  5. So jealous of all you Cherry Blossom peeps...wish I lived closer! Those flippy chains look interesting! Being a total art geek most of my life, I was really happy to see coloring become so mainstream in recent years. I really enjoyed coloring as a kid, I'm it's recognized as a great therapy tool for all ages.

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    1. Your comment made me realize that I didn't color very much as a kid. I think I had the same color selection anxiety back then, too! Hooray for color-by-number :)

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  6. Congrats on the 30 days of yoga! I love the pics of your kitties. I'm a sucker for cute animal pics :)
    Hope you have an enjoyable staycation, sounds great to me.

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    1. Thank you! I'm a sucker for cute animal pics, too :)

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  7. I really enjoyed the TRUE program, too, but was disappointed in the final day without the cues. Much like your coloring by numbers, I like the audio cues so I know when and how to safely move from pose to pose. Without the cues, I really got more into my head and had a harder time relaxing into the poses. There were a ton of positive comments on the video, so I think I'm in the minority on this. :D

    Enjoy your upcoming staycation! That sounds fun. Looking forward to hearing about it during coffee next month.

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    1. I completely understand about the audio cues. My first reaction was irritation and I got more stuck in my head, too. But I ended up just doing my own thing instead of trying to follow Adriene too closely, and it seemed empowering that I could even string stuff together. I felt like I learned something. But I don't want to be without audio cues again...I like guidance (in my coloring and in my yoga!)

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  8. Ok, you sound a lot like me! I don't think I would like the coloring either--just tell me what to do. Sometimes I don't want to think!

    Glad you liked that yoga challenge so much! I wish I had known about it, but I don't know that I could practice every day. And then there's the pressure of that! LOL!

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    1. Yes - that's exactly it - sometimes I don't want to think! I make so many decisions each day. I want coloring to be decision free :)

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  9. I totally over think coloring! However, I started making myself doing it and now it's something I do to meditate!

    Way to go on the yoga challenge! I tried to do a 21 day challenge in January but I didn't like the instructor so I quit. I think I will do my own challenge in March.

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    1. I never would have made it through the challenge if I didn't the instructor. That's definitely important. I like the idea of doing your own challenge in March!

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