What is Saving My Life Right Now

How was your Monday? I felt like I didn’t move very quickly from one task to another today. My theory is that my body gets to the point where it just has enough and purposely slows down. The weekend was full with late work hours and going to see my daughter in The Addams Family Musical at her high school on Friday and Sunday.

On Sunday evening after the show, Alan and I made a Vegan Shepherd’s Pie and Gluten Free, Dairy Free Irish Soda Bread while listening to Celtic music in celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day. It felt good to return to a tradition I enjoyed with my children when they were younger and had let go of in the past few years. I am looking forward to the rest of this week and to another celebration– the first day of Spring!!!

So here is where I follow several bloggers who have taken a cue from author Barbara Brown Taylor to answer the question: “What is saving your life right now?” Here is my list of current or ongoing lifesavers.

My Bullet Journal Notebook: I’m not going to stop singing the Bullet Journal’s praises, so if you’ve never heard of it, here’s an in-depth delve from Lazy Genius into the Bullet Journal world. (It really is the ultimate guide and will answer lots of your questions.)


The Bullet Journal is this ridiculously simple analog method of keeping your life together in one place. It works for everyone, is completely customizable, and once you start using it, you will be lost without it. This year, I got Alan on the Bullet Journal train and he’s enjoying using it to keep his life organized. This is my fourth year and I am continually finding new ways to entrust my life to its pages. The good news is, you can start it anytime. Check out the Bullet Journal website for short videos showing what it is and how to use it. Once you start, you won’t look back.

My diffuser: I haven’t been sick once all winter and I credit my diffuser, as well as my diet full of whole and green foods and low in sugar! I have several essential oil blends I’ve made and tested to keep me healthy. I’ll be sharing a few blends this week on Wednesday’s post.

My Blackwing Palomino 602 Pencils: as a left-handed writer, my hand tends to cramp up and get tired fairly quickly. There is a fluid elegance and ease to these pencils that have earned them high praise from many famous creatives.

Glo, formerly YogaGlo, is the primary way I practice yoga. In early December, I signed up for the free trial and never looked back. From 5 minute meditations, to 90 minute yoga classes, from super chill restorative Yin and gently Hatha to a sweaty Vinyasa Flow, there are choices for everyone.

You can search by time length, by instructor, by style, by body part you wish to focus on, by time of day, etc. As I work toward my goal of yoga and meditation everyday, Glo provides me with a feast of opportunities to practice.

Barre3 is the other exercise life-saver that I am in love with. It is a combination of ballet, Pilates, cardio, and yoga and is always low-impact. You will sweat, but you will never jump. Even their Barre3 Burpees are slow and much attention is paid to proper alignment, so my wrists and knees have never been sore afterwards. My butt and legs have, though!

It is a workout unlike any other I’ve experienced and the Barre3 message is body-positive and affirming. They’re never pushing you through a workout so you can look great in a bikini. Their language is aimed at building strength, confidence, and feeling good in your own body. They encourage people to pay attention to how they’re feeling (example: “If there is any tension in your neck, lower your arms, etc.”) and to modify each move to make it their own. Here is $10 off if you decide to join!

I’d love to hear what is saving your life right now! Please share in the comments below. Also, I will be giving away my copy of The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll and a couple other goodies on Instagram this week. So head over to my Instagram tomorrow Tuesday March 19 to enter. (US only)

A Diffuser Blend to Boost Your Mood (Wellness Wednesday)

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Am I the only one who has been fighting the blues now that the weather is colder and dusk settles sooner? No, I didn’t think so. I’m reading (and loving) The Upward Spiral and taking a look at my life and asking myself how I can make small changes in my day that can benefit my depressed brain and boost my mood.

As I study for my aromatherapy certification, I am learning so much about how aroma affects the brain and the emotions, as well as the physical body. Just breathing in certain aromas can change your mood, prevent you from getting a cold, or help strengthen your immune system.

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Some folks think aromatherapy is weird and a bunch of hippie New Age nonsense. Well, they’re actually just shutting down a whole world of wellness possibilities. Think about it: don’t you get a cold because you breathe in someone else’s cold virus some of the time? Of course, you can also get sick from touching a contaminated surface and rubbing your eyes or putting your hand into your mouth. But if sickness can come to us through the air we breathe, why is it so hard to believe we can boost our mood, stay well or prevent a cold, for example, through breathing in a diffused essential oil blend?

Just yesterday afternoon, I was feeling weepy and blue. I set the coffee kettle on the stove to boil, and grabbed Gabriel Mojay’s Aromatherapy for Healing the Spirit from the library shelf. After leafing through a few of the pages on depression, and using my intuition and sense of smell, I came up with this blend.

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Lift Me Up Fall Diffuser Blend:

5 drops Cypress

2 drops Juniper

3 drops Sweet Orange

Fill your Diffuser to the fill line with distilled water, add the drops of essential oils and turn it on. Diffuse for 30 minutes to an hour at a time.

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Within half an hour of diffusing, I stopped in the middle of my work and it hit me: the sadness and emotional heaviness had completely lifted! All I could think was, Thank You, God! I am so grateful for the very real power to heal holistically that is available to us through what we find in Nature. It’s amazing and very empowering on a personal level!

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I’d love to hear about how you stay well and boost your mood during the Fall! Do you have a favorite diffuser blend? Please share with us in the comments!

PS, if you want to learn more about essential oils for free, this link will take you to the The Essential Oils & Aromatherapy Summit airing 12-6pm EST October 23-26.

* This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase through one of the links here, it benefits me in a very small way at no extra cost to you!