Sunday Special, Vol. 1

When I was growing up, I hated Sundays. They always felt like a sad day to me. I've kept a jam-packed daily schedule at every age, and Sundays seemed slow and empty in comparison. While my parents, I'm sure, were enjoying a restful day off from driving us around to activities, I was bored and restless. Obviously I hadn't found out about brunch, yet, or the joys of having a free day to do what one wants.

As I became an adult, I promised myself not to do laundry or grocery shop on the weekends. When I worked normal Monday through Friday jobs, I never wanted to waste a full day of freedom folding my clothes or waiting in line at the store (of course, I don't have anyone to take care of besides me, and I'm sure that would certainly change all routines!). Sundays would be for adventuring, yoga, seeing friends, or any special activity that a weekday simply would not allow. 

I've created more mindful rituals recently (but still brunch!), even though I haven't slowed down much and sometimes Sunday isn't a free day for me at all now. I'd love to share a new one with you...

Weekly Check-In

I love to read, and I often read life tip books with the hopes of someday becoming a successful person. In High Performance Habits, I picked up a weekly check-in routine that seems to be a nice way to reflect on the past week and prepare for the next. I hope to share it here with you every Sunday, and I'd love to hear what's going well for you or what you're working on.

Each week, I've been reflecting on the following categories. I'll write a few notes on what was great that week or what could be better for the next. Each category receives a +  or -, and then the week gets an X out of 10. The overall scores don't mean much, but have been an interesting way to see what's building me up or bringing me down. 

Health

I was teaching so much this week that my personal practice and workout routine took a backseat. Plus, driving all over and meeting up with friends meant eating out a lot. I spent Sunday morning getting back to my running and gym habits which I plan to continue into the week.  (-)

Family

This one can be tricky since I live so far away from everyone, but I talked to my mom, dad, sister, and grandma on the phone so I give it a plus. (+)

Friends

This week, I met up with some long lost high school friends at the beach for a day and had a blast hearing their stories and reconnecting with them. Over the weekend another friend from Austin came to visit and we got to catch up and dance in a canyon-- what a treat! (+)

Intimate Relationships

I'll keep this one private since it sometimes involves being vulnerable or putting myself out there to strangers from the internet. 

Mission/Work

This week I finally felt like a real yoga teacher in LA! I taught 9 classes, which is probably half the number that I should be teaching, but it was reassuring to come out of teacher training with a pretty full schedule. On Saturday, I started the next level toward my advanced teacher training certification, and it all feels like the right path. (+)

Finances

This one usually gets a minus due to the whole needing to teach more classes thing... but now that the full-time training is complete, I've been applying to nearby studios and working on building toward a full schedule. (-)

Adventure

I'm still an LA tourist, so this week marked a bunch of milestones. I rode the rollercoaster at Santa Monica Pier for the first time (in the front row, and they sent us around TWICE!), went to Venice Beach for the first time since moving here, and spent a night in Topanga Canyon. Adventures all around. (+)

Hobby

My heart has been calling for me to learn to play the piano, so I bought a keyboard and practiced (ie. tried to learn Drake songs from watching YouTube videos) about 4 times. For next week, I ordered a book on how to actually play, so I'll have something more foundational to practice. (+)

Spirituality

This has been a positive for me even before teacher training. Last year, after going on a yoga retreat in Thailand, I started to develop a consistent meditation practice. I'm happy to say that I've stuck to it nearly every morning since, and have seen many benefits in my life. (+)

Emotion

All the yoga learning and teaching, friend visits, and new explorations had me in a happy state of mind. I'm trying to stay focused on the special stuff in the present without worrying too much about what's to come. (+)

I hope you enjoyed this little snapshot of life at the moment! I'd love to keep these going, at least until the end of the year.