Sitting Pretty: The Girlfriend’s Guide to a Mindful (and Joyful) Life - Softcover

Goldey, Laurie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1504385918 ISBN 13: 9781504385916

Verlag: BalboaPress, 2017

Inhaltsangabe

What does it take to love your life more fully, to feel more focused and productive, and to have deeper, more satisfying relationships with everyone in your life? All it takes is being more mindful and more attuned to your life and what is happening in the moment, whether you’re sipping your morning latte, helping your kid with homework, or stuck in traffic on the way to work. That’s what Marriage and Family Therapist and mindfulness practitioner Laurie Goldey discovered more than a decade ago, when, skeptically, she began taking baby steps toward living a more mindful life. What she found was, making tiny changes are all it takes to incorporate noticing into your daily routine, whatever you happen to be doing. Focusing on the task at hand (whether mundane or exceptional) can help you find joy in the most routine or habitual tasks and can bring out your best self, impacting your family, your job, and all of your relationships (especially the one with yourself). If you follow the week-by-week suggestions in this book, you will feel less overwhelmed, less anxious, less likely to spend early-morning hours in bed wide awake, ticking off your to-do list. And that’s just the start of the new life ahead of you. Before you know it, you’ll be sitting pretty.

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Sitting Pretty

The Girlfriend's Guide to a Mindful (and Joyful) Life

By Laurie Goldey

Balboa Press

Copyright © 2017 Laurie Goldey, MFT
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-8591-6

Contents

Foreword, vii, 
Introduction, xi, 
Week 1: A New Awakening, 1, 
Week 2: Brusha, Brusha, Brusha, 3, 
Week 3: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee. No, Really Smell It, 5, 
Week 4: The LA Girl's Uniform, 7, 
Week 5: Okay, So You Didn't Get out of Your Yoga Pants, 9, 
Week 6: Take a Power Shower, 12, 
Week 7: You've Got Stuff, 14, 
Week 8: The Spin Cycle, 16, 
Week 9: Cross Stress off Your To-Do List, 19, 
Week 10: Help. Get Me out of Here!, 21, 
Week 11: Don't Just Do Something ... Sit There!, 23, 
Week 12: Time for a Walkabout, 26, 
Week 13: What Did You Just Say?, 28, 
Week 14: How to Make a Bad Day Better, 30, 
Week 15: Making an Entrance, 32, 
Week 16: Unsocial Media, 34, 
Week 17: Slow Down, You're Moving Too Fast, 36, 
Week 18: Doodling Away, 38, 
Week 19: Driving While Applying Makeup, 41, 
Week 20: On the Menu: Everything That's Not Nailed Down, 43, 
Week 21: Finding Your Happy Place, 45, 
Week 22: Lingering with Every Bite, 47, 
Week 23: Pain, Pain Go Away!, 50, 
Week 24: Intend to Do It and You Will, 53, 
Week 25: Rest Is Not a Dirty Word, 56, 
Week 26: The Easiest Cure for Insomnia — Ever, 58, 
Week 27: A Friend in Need, 60, 
Week 28: No Judgments, Please!, 62, 
Week 29: Put. The. Phone. Down, 65, 
Week 30: The Future Is Now, 67, 
Week 31: Whine Or Wine?, 69, 
Week 32: Calling All BFFs!, 72, 
Week 33: What I Learned on My Family Vacation, 75, 
Week 34: Being the Calm in the Eye of the Storm, 77, 
Week 35: Aging in Real Time, 79, 
Week 36: Road Rage and Other Life Annoyances, 82, 
Week 37: Hurry Up and Wait, 84, 
Week 38: Removing Yourself from the Driver's Seat, 86, 
Week 39: Do I Really Need Another Pair Of Shoes?, 88, 
Week 40: Be-ing in a Marriage, 91, 
Week 41: How to Have Fun at Your Own Party, 94, 
Week 42: Taco Tuesday 2.0, 96, 
Week 43: Be True to You, 98, 
Week 44: Travel Porn and Other Guilty Pleasures, 100, 
Week 45: The Perfect Parent and Other Annoying Myths, 102, 
Week 46: Just Say Yes!, 104, 
Week 47: LOL more often, 106, 
Week 48: Stop the Body Wars, 108, 
Week 49: Didn't Get What You Want? Get Over It a Little Easier, 110, 
Week 50: Get Your Sexy On, 112, 
Week 51: On Your Mark, Get Set, Sit Pretty!, 114, 
Week 52: Welcome Home, 116, 
Last Thoughts: Your Sitting Pretty Tool Kit, 119, 
Acknowledgments, 123, 

CHAPTER 1

A New Awakening

Let me give you an example of my typical Monday morning: Usually, I wake up without an alarm (yes, I'm a morning person!). When I'm not being mindful, within seconds, I'm heading to the bathroom to do my business while thinking about my husband, my son, my to-do list, my clients, what I want to eat, what I should eat, how much weight I gained this past weekend, whether I want to work out or go to yoga, what I'll write today, what errands I have to run, how my parents are feeling, and how tired I am — all this before I've even brushed my teeth!

Yes, in two to three minutes (or 180 seconds, max) I have run through the gamut of perpetual worries and obsessions in my head (I'm pretty sure that most of you, girlfriends, can relate to this). Often, these runaway thoughts leave me feeling anxious before I've even had my first sip of coffee, setting me up for a bummer day.

When I am being deliberately mindful, my day begins much differently. I wake up without an alarm and notice that I'm awake. I remain still for a few seconds, and then I carefully swing my legs over the side of the bed and rise. I know that I am doing this, though my mind may struggle a bit to focus. I'm aware of my internal resistance, my desire to just be on autopilot, but I intentionally stay present. I can feel my body in every movement, how my muscles tense and relax under my skin, how rested I am, the state of my mood. Notice, notice, notice. Check, check, check.

Next, I deliberately walk across the room, feeling the cushiness of the carpet under my bare toes. I stand for a moment, look out the window, and take in the sunrise — my favorite part of the morning. I stop and breathe. Then I proceed into the bathroom, noticing the different feel of the cool tiles against my bare soles, pausing for a moment, letting myself be still and balanced.

What distinguishes the first scenario from the second is simple awareness or noticing. I haven't done anything extra, haven't used up any more minutes, yet somehow, it feels as if I've gained time.

And you can do it too. Noticing in this deliberate way may seem overwhelming at first. You will likely find that your mind wants to do its own thing. But with continued practice, setting an intention of noticing your routine at the start of your day can have a tremendously positive impact on your mood and help you stay focused on the tasks ahead. Try it, and then observe how you feel. More energized, awake, present? There will be plenty of opportunities for your mind to wander, but if you can do just this one thing — first thing — you'll be amazed at how much clarity and optimism you can muster before that first cup of coffee.

CHAPTER 2

Brusha, Brusha, Brusha

Of all the mundane tasks in my day, I find brushing my teeth to be the most tedious. (Don't tell my hygienist.) Maybe it's because I rarely skip a session, and all that repetition makes it easy to be mindless rather than fully present and in the moment.

Think about it. Most of us brush our teeth 365 days a year, twice a day, for about two to three minutes a day — the length of time you need to sing the alphabet to yourself twice. I call that a devotion. When you repeat something that frequently, mindfully or not, you have created a ritual of sorts, one you can easily use as an anchor to start your day right.

Girlfriends, brushing your teeth is an opportunity to stop your mind from wandering or ruminating. It's important for your hygiene and for your overall physical health and well-being. Why not take the opportunity to apply mindful awareness to each step of the process, focusing your attention on the feel of your brush, the swirl of the soft bristles against your gums, and the taste of the toothpaste against your tongue? Take in a full, deep breath. Run your tongue slowly along your now-clean teeth. Stay present.

If your mind wanders, you can always bring your focus back to the task at hand without judgment. These few minutes are precious. There will be plenty of time for other thoughts or even obsessions. When you start going down that road, return to the present moment — even if it takes one hundred tries.

You can even look at brushing your teeth as a spiritual opportunity. Sounds crazy, right? But what if you considered this morning ritual a chance to brush away things you've said in anger or frustration, let go of yesterday's mindless words, and make way for those you have yet to speak? It casts a whole new light on the experience, doesn't it?

CHAPTER 3

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee. No, Really Smell It

What's your typical morning routine? Maybe you wake up at seven, slog out of bed (unless you're one of those energetic morning types like me), and eventually wend your way to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. Or maybe...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: BalboaPress
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2017
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1504385918
• ISBN 13: 9781504385916
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 144
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: preigu GmbH & Co. KG; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; Niedersachsen; 49078; Deutschland