The Sea of Love

Tip 39 for #40DaysOfSelfCare is NOURISH. We spend our first 9 months being nourished in a watery womb, so it’s no wonder water is so nurturing when the body is weary and the soul feels thirsty.

I’ve just returned from an evening ocean swim with a dear friend. The sea was a strong dance partner, moving me to the rhythms of high tides under the influence of an almost full moon. Seagulls stood sentry on the shore while I waltzed on waves. I felt both protected and embraced by Mother Nature. Tonight I really needed to be nurtured in a sea of love.

Recently I’ve made major decisions relating to my work and a few relationships involving people who have been in my life for years. These significant life changes have required letting go of old patterns and some heart’s desires. And while I know space for new adventures is being created during this reconstruction, my body and mind feel a bit weary and delicate.

At moments like this, the perfect self-care remedy is to nourish the heart. By nourishing the heart, the body is nourished. Nourish the heart, flourish the life.

Both swimming in the ocean and sitting on the sandy threshold of her shores nourishes my heart.

The ocean is a treasure cove of promise and magic that always fills my heart with gratitude, peace, and joy. Her warm buoyant waters beckon me to let go and float in allowance. Her waves remind me there is a perfect rhythm and timing to life’s changes.

The kelp and seaweed whisper how the secret to growth and expansion is in becoming uprooted from the known and tossed into the unknown. And the occasional passing seal is an invitation to smile and have fun, because worrying about any hidden dangers is an instant groove buster.

Watching the waves, I realize I am watching the ocean breathe. The ebbs of her exhales and tides of her inhales balance her body (of water). Same goes with my breath; it balances my body and mind. Any fear or anxiety about my recent life changes are transformed, as I sit with the thoughts and watch the breath. Fears and anxieties ebb from the mind; trust and patience flow in.

My body and mind relax when I surrender to the rhythm of the breath...the rhythm of the ocean...the rhythm of the Universe. In this state of allowance, I see two truths about navigating change. First, trust my heart, my north star. Second, calm serenity always exists amid change.

Calm serenity is the pause between the wave coming ashore and returning to sea. It’s the pause between the inhalation and the exhalation. In any life change, I only need to become aware of that pause and I merge with calm serenity.

As you move through any life changes, remember, it’s in the pause, between the waves or the breaths, that divine life is embracing you. You are being cared for and nourished with great devotion and affection.

BIG hugs…

Kellen

Ps. The sea treasures in the photo are from a Hendry’s Beach walk last summer with my old dog Duke. The little dog sits on my writing desk, reminding me how when I devote myself to self-care and nourish my heart, the Universe always replies with magic and abundance.

Today’s Self-Care Adventure:  Connect with the water element today. Swim in an ocean, lake, river, or pool. Or savor a warm bath infused with lavender salts. To really create a fuss and holler, run through sprinklers or have a water hose duel with a friend. 

Mellow Down Easy

Tip 38 for #40DaysOfSelfCare is REJUVENATE.  

Knowing how to rest and rejuvenate the body and mind is key to living a life of vitality and ease. Stress is a fact of life. It’s impossible to avoid stress. So it’s key to know how to manage stress when it bombards our lives.

Our daily choices regarding self-care either stress or nurture the nervous system. Choosing more activities that nourish the nervous system, allows us to recover more quickly when we encounter stress. The keep it light and right program versus the fight or flight reaction.

When I feel shaken and stirred up from too much travel, multi-tasking, or work overload, I turn down the volume with these mellow down easy activities that rejuvenate my body and mind.

1. Ocean plunge and float. Seawater is an amazing stress antidote. It naturally gets us to slow up and mellow down easy. When I dive in the ocean I feel the powers of surrender. The waves remind me I am not in control of things and the saltwater reassures me I am totally supported in every aspect of my life. James Nester recently wrote an article for The Surfer’s Journal about the rejuvenating benefits of ocean dips and dives. The moment the body plunges into the water, one’s heart rate slows by 25% and brainwaves shift into a meditative state. Not near the ocean? Splashing cool water on the face has similar affects.

2. Adirondack Chair Time-Out. When little kids have emotional meltdowns, adults put them in a time-out chair. Before I get even close to a meltdown, I plop down in my Adirondack chair and kick my legs up. Elevating the legs while sitting (or full-on legs up the wall pose) lowers the heart rate and rejuvenates the cardiovascular system.

3. Snail watching. Snails are gurus of slow and simple. They frequent my garden space. The other morning one was nestled in my running shoe. He reminded me to do less running around and do more nesting and resting.

4. Bedtime routine. One of our earlier posts was about an Ayurvedic bedtime routine. There’s a difference between sleep and rest. Most people don’t experience rejuvenating sleep. Read my sleep tips article that recently went gangbusters on the lululemon blog.

5. Breathe. Pranayama is the vacuum cleaner of emotions and best friend of your nervous system. I love the stress reducing and revitalizing effects of Bellows Breath. Learn how to do it on my blog.

Seek the slow grooves today and enjoy a lifelong mellow mood.

BIG hugs…

Kellen

Today’s Self-Care Adventure: Two suggestions. The first one lessens the stress input to the mind-body. The second helps one recover from stress. 1. Minimize multi-tasking. During waits in lines at bank or grocery store, avoid jumping on your smartphone. Instead, practice deep breathing or close your eyes for a moment and daydream. 2. Get a cozy outside chair. A chair that beckons a seductive “come hither and sit a spell.” 

Meditation: Clarity Instead of Disparity

We are halfway through our #40DaysOfSelfCare adventure! It’s a perfect time to pause and share tip #20 of REJUVENATE.

This past week has been absolutely wild and whacky. I started a new part-time job, had a small situation come up with a family member, didn’t have time for an ocean swim, and got bit by what I think was the only chigger in Santa Barbara County.

At the end of each workday, my mind throbbed from sensory overload. It would have been the perfect time to surrender to Netflix and retreat into disparity. And yet, experience reminded me of the power of meditation. So, I lovingly chose to do 5-10 minutes of heart centered breath meditation each evening.

Meditation is pausing to align with clarity & intention.

Meditation rejuvenates the mind and senses, by aligning me with my higher power. Scientifically speaking, during heart centered breath meditation the brain and heart release the stress reducing hormones of serotonin, melatonin and oxytocin. This allows me to manage stress and make choices from a place of clarity, versus disparity.

Practicing daily meditation helps me let go of unrealistic expectations that either others or I put on myself. Stress naturally dissolves when I turn my attention from my mind and center my focus at my heart. After a few minutes of heart centered breath meditation, I feel my career and personal life flow with greater ease and blossom with new vitality and creativity.

And I must confess, I watched a few episodes of “Call the Midwife” on Netflix this week. After my short evening meditations, my creative energy rebounded like Bill Lambier and I wrote my daily articles with joy and ease.

BIG hugs…

Kellen

Today’s Self-Care Adventure: Even five minutes of daily meditation nourishes the body, rejuvenates the mind, and fills the heart. Take a moment today to close your eyes, align with the steady rhythm of your heart, and breathe slow and deep until you feel your body and mind return to a state of ease. Curious to go on a personal meditation adventure? Click here to print a meditation card that has five easy and effective tips to help start a daily meditation practice.

Stress: Twist & Shout It Out

#40DaysOfSelfCare Day 14. Today let’s celebrate freedom from stress by practicing two self-care tips that CLEANSE stress from the body and mind.

Stress. Tension. Strain. Worry. Anxiety. Pressure.

Stress is the force threatening to drown one in the mind’s anxious undercurrents and it’s the knots constricting the body’s flow of ease. Once we learn to recognize stress and understand our response patterns, we are able to free ourselves from grips of stress using self-care.

Freedom is feeling optimal vitality, ease, and creativity. Freedom is the absolute knowing one can manifest their heart’s deepest desires, no matter the external circumstances. Liberated from stress, one navigates and creates from the sacred space of Purusha – divine unlimited potential.

Before becoming a yoga teacher, Ayurveda lifestyle coach, and writer, I worked in corporate banking. Those seven years involved ten-hour workdays, constant multi-tasking, and client demands that caused a tension tantrum in my body and mind. It was the pressures of this job (including the blue suits, heels, and pantyhose!) that got me to my first yoga class.

The poses and pranayama (breath) gave me easy and effective ways to release tension and manage stress. Within 6 months, I taught yoga during my lunch break at the bank’s on-site wellness center! The bank’s yoga blocks paved the way to me becoming the artist and entrepreneur that I am today, living the dream job and working with clients such as lululemon and Aveda.

Even though I live my dream job in gorgeous, serene Santa Barbara, stress still comes knocking at my door. However, I no longer welcome and entertain old stress patterns. Through yoga and breath meditation, I release stress before it settles in my mind and body. Here are 2 tips to unwind and create peace of mind:

1. Spinal Twist. Stop, drop, and unroll your yoga mat. Twists wring out tension from the body. I love doing seated spinal twists during the day at my writing desk. At the end of the day, nothing feels better than a reclining spinal twist. Well, sometimes it’s a cold beer.

2. Bellows Breath. Pranayama resets the nervous system. This breath relieves tension in neck and shoulders, as well as brings ease to the body and peace of mind. Download Bellows Breath handout here.

One more tip. Sing the bridge to Queen’s Under Pressure for guaranteed stress relief. 

“Um ba ba be
Um ba ba be
De day da
Ee day da –
that’s okay”

BIG hugs…

Kellen

p.s. BIG thanks to Jon Ortner who painted (wall and painting in photo) the perfect cozatorium for my writing and yoga space. Check out Jon Ortner Art. Santa Barbara peeps, Jon’s paintings are at the fab restaurant Roy this month.

Today’s Self-Care Adventure: Do a seated and a reclining spinal twist. Slow twists with deep breaths wring out tension from the body. Pause in the twist for at least 5 breaths, before twisting to the other side. For fun mood music click here to listen Queen and David Bowie sing Under Pressure. 

Pause & Breathe - Move from Pan-ick to Possibility

Welcome to Day 3 of our self-care adventure. Let’s explore one of the essential elements of self-care – cleanse.

How many of you wonder if you have time to integrate new self-care tips into your daily routines? Do you worry about finding time for a home yoga practice or doing mediation at bedtime? I get it. Even after years of practicing a consistent self-care daily routine, I still encounter occasional resistance and challenges.

“Time is limited. However, space…each day… is an open field of possibility. The key to a successful self-care routine is cleansing the mind of old habits and beliefs about time constraints.”

— kellen

I recently experienced a shift in my reality regarding perceived time in my day.

During a practice of Breath Awareness Meditation (BAM!), I observed myself feeling pan-icky about my day’s client appointments and work deadlines. I almost threw in the meditation pillow in order to start work because of this toxic thought: “how can I find the time to get all my stuff done today?”

Thankfully, I recognized that thought as mental garbage. I knew I needed to clear it ASAP. So I did a cleansing exhale, and magic happened. My shoulders relaxed, and as stress released its grip on my body, I felt a little space open up. Space in my neck and shoulders, and…space in my day. Thoughts of time constraints transformed into feelings of possibility. As my breath continued to expand in my body, I mentally felt time in my day expand. My positive belief became my mental relief. It was like I invented a new kind of dayplanner.

My relief came from losing the negative and toxic excuses, not from finding more time in my day. Ease and happiness is all about finding possibility.

Breath Awareness Meditation (BAM!) helps remove the stress blocking pathways to manifesting not just one’s daily self-care routine, but one’s life vision and goals. New pathways of unlimited possibility are created/paved in the mind.

Today’s Self-Care Adventure Trail: A journey into Breath Awareness Meditation. When you feel a time pressure, immediately sit down for 3-5 minutes and practice Breath Awareness Meditation. Inhale: Visualize your calendar turning into an open field of possibility. No fences, only wide-open horizons. Exhale: Cleanse and clear old thought patterns and resistance around time. Write the toxic thoughts on a piece of paper, then toss the paper in the garbage. BAM!

BIG hugs…

Kellen

p.s. #40DaysOfSelfCare is also happening on my Instagram (@kellenbrugman) feed, so wander over there to stay connected about some cool product giveaways from folks like #Aveda, #KeVita, and #lululemon.