Welcome back to Wellness Wednesdays here at Tuning Hearts! I have been slow to return to the blog since the holidays, but I hope to be more consistent in posting as the new year gets under way. I have decided to dial back my Wellness Wednesday link-up posts to one per month. Let’s plan to meet here every second Wednesday of the month and link up your wholistic health and wellness posts! This will not only give me to more time to think and write on relevant topics, but it will also give me more time I read and comment on your posts, something I have not been doing in as timely a manner as I should.
With all that business out of the way, let’s get on to this month’s wellness topic. Since it is the beginning of a new year, I am sure we all have goals or intentions for getting healthier and improving our lives in some way. Without going into all the whys and wherefores, I thought this would be an appropriate time to share some of the habits and choices I want to work on this year. I have added each of these to a habit tracker in my new bullet journal for 2019, so I can keep myself accountable for making progress in each area.
- Scripture Reading Plan: In October I began a new 52-week Bible Reading Plan. The difference in this year’s plan is that it goes neither chronlogically or in book order as do most. Instead, each day I read a few chapters from a different genre of the Bible: Law, History, Poetry, Psalms, Prophecy, Gospels and Epistles. I have loved reading the Bible this way, and I am making new connections between books that I have not made before.
- Breathing Prayer: I have written about this practice before, but I got out of the routine. I want to get back to the daily habit of taking 3-5 minutes for focussed breathing and prayer.
- 10 Minute Workout: I joined “The Little Way” challenge hosted by Revelation Wellness this month, and it could not have come at a better time. I have fallen off the purposeful movement bandwagon, and this is the perfect way to get back to healthy movement while also feeding my soul. The workout options for this challenge are to do either 10 or 30 minutes a day. To begin easing back in, I am doing just 10 minutes a day. I already feel better getting moving first thing in the morning!
- Read Non-Fiction: I struggle with finishing non-fiction books, at least those that are not in narrative format. My goal is to read at least a chapter a day from one of the non-fiction books that I have started and stopped until I finish them, then continue this habit with each new non-fiction title I begin after that.
- Outside for 20+ Minutes: In the winter, especially, I struggle with getting outside enough and getting my daily dose vitamin D. Once spring comes, this won’t be such a necessary habit to track, but for now, I have to make it an intentional goal.
- No Sugar: Another challenge I joined this month is 40 Day Sugar Fast hosted by Wendy Speake. I participated in it last year, and the faith-filled focus of the fast was a great boost to my spiritual growth at the beginning of the year. I am looking forward to this fast coupled with The Little Way challenge. I believe that getting my eyes on Jesus more and more and off the sugary snacks I use to reward myself or cope with emotional struggles is going to go a long way toward greater wholeness and health!
- Food Log: This is partly added accountability for the sugar fast, but also just a simple, non-obsessive way for me to be mindful of what I am putting into my body each day.
- Write Something: After the 2018 Write 31 Days blogging challenge, I learned that if I set my mind to it, I could write something every day. But I was tired and wanted a break from blogging like a crazy person. By the time the holidays rolled around I was so out of the habit of writing again that I did not even know where to begin. I dabbled in journalling a bit this fall, and I found that to be a beneficial practice for my thought life. So this year, I decided to combine my desire to blog more and my need to journal more into one basic goal of writing something, somewhere, every day. Some days I will only have time for a brief journal entry. Other days I will put some extra effort and time into creating a blog post. But I want to be doing something with words on a daily basis, because I know I can and should!
That sounds like a lot of goals, now that I have written them out in long hand, especially considering I also am homeschooling my kids and keeping house and cooking meals and trying to be a decent wife, friend and church member! But all these goals are also pretty small time commitments in and of themselves. And they are all things I have done before and can do again if I just make the right choices throughout my days.
Now it’s your turn! What are a few of your goals for wellness in 2019? Leave me a comment and let me know!
Want to link up? I would love to read your thoughts on your own health and wellness journey! Follow the instructions below to join the link-up and share!
How to participate:
- Write a post on a topic related to wellness, and add your link to the list below.
- Grab the Wellness Wednesday logo graphic below and put it in your linked post, also with a blurb mentioning and linking back to that week’s link-up.
- Please stop by at least two other participants’ blogs and leave a comment on their Wellness Wednesday posts. This doesn’t take long, and it is really encouraging and helpful for building community and continuing the conversation!
