photography of table and chairs near plants

Living Mindfully Through Gardening


Hi there my beautiful lovelies! Hope you guys are doing well and staying safe. Today, I want to take the time to talk about living mindfully through gardening.

Living Mindfully

stacked of stones outdoors
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

What does it mean to live mindfully? It is about living with awareness in the present moment. The mindful living meaning involves taking care of your actions, words, and feelings to ensure that you live a good and present life. It’s about not letting life pass you by while living in reactions and in your head. Anything that helps you declutter your mind and bring it to the present moment will help you withe mindful living. I am no expert on mindful living and I will not pretend to me one. However, what my training and research has showed me is that you don’t have to be perfect to live mindfully. It takes years of practice to achieve complete mindfulness. However, what I as a regular Joe have learned to do, is to take each of the small victories of mindful awareness as success. I try to do things that helps me become more aware of the present moment and avoid those that creates a barrier. Additionally, gardening is known to reduce stress, anxiety and depression.

Living Mindfully Through Gardening

My dear lovelies! I am no gardening expert, nor do I garden. However, I have seen my dad get completely taken by the moments when he gardens. He is completely engulfed by his surroundings and no distracted by the world when he gardens. As seasoned gardeners already know — and those new to gardening are just discovering — there’s something incredibly healing and hopeful about planting seeds and watching them grow. If the garden is a place that offers a sense of peace and pleasure, adding elements of mindfulness to this naturally meditative hobby may make the activity even more impactful on our well-being.

Mindfulness in Enjoying a Garden

Nonetheless, what I have learned as an observer is that garden is equally rewarding for the observer. Just being in my garden is incredibly healing and it provides an immense feeling of peace and tranquility. I cannot tell you how much being in my garden has helped me ground to the present moment. It helps me connect to nature and not get distracted by the outside noise.

My Garden: Living Mindfully Through Gardening

Now, every morning, I spend couple of minutes outside in my garden, just taking a deep breath, and take a moment to connect to the earth and its beautify and express my gratitude for being there in the moment. Besides, scientists have discovered that the mycobacterium found in soil can improve brain functions while boosting moods. The mycobacterium vaccae found in the soil increases serotonin produced in the brain (also known as the “happy” chemical). By getting your hands dirty, you’re also making your brain happy! Hence, why not enjoy such vast beautify to boost my mood and ground myself?

My dear beautiful lovelies! Whether you garden or just love enjoying a beautiful garden take the time to connect to the tranquility of a garden and boost your mood and become aware of your present moment. Hope you enjoyed this post. Please let me know about your experience with comment below. What else help you anchor to the present moment?

In the meantime, don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram @forevernij and Twitter page @allaboutme3181. Are you on Bloglovin?  Also please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Let’s support each other. Please follow me and comment below with your information so that I can follow you back.

Thank you2

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Follow my Instagram page on @forevernij

Follow my Facebook Page on @forevernij

Subscribe to my YouTube channels (two)

Follow my Twitter account @allaboutme3181

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Shop from my closet at Poshmark

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CAUSES CLOSE TO MY HEART

PLEASE DONATE DIRECTLY TO THE ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH MY FUNDRAISING LINKS:

I consider myself fortunate to have good health, a full-time job, and a roof over my head. However, there are still so many people who are struggling to put food on their tables. Please join me to help those who are struggling. If you have good health, full-time jobs, and a roof over your head, please join me to help those who are struggling. Whether you donate $5 or $500, you will make a huge difference in someone’s life.

No Kid Hungry:

America’s kids need us. The coronavirus is closing schools nationwide, and millions of vulnerable children are losing the school meals they depend on. For some, it’s the only food they’ll receive on a given day. We have a plan to feed kids, but we need your help today to continue our work to ensure every kid gets three meals a day. You can click above to donate to mygofundme page donation going directly to the organization, or you can click on the direct link to the site.

Food Bank of Maryland:

PLEASE DONATE ANY AMOUNT YOU CAN AND SHARE THE POST WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

Manna Food Center, a nonprofit organization, strives to eliminate hunger in Montgomery County through food distribution, education, and advocacy. Millions of children go to bed hungry in America every year, sadly it’s worse now! Today, 14 million children regularly miss meals — three times more than during the Great Recession and five times more than before the pandemic.

Many parents have lost their job during the pandemic. Sadly, that shows no sign of stopping. Your donation can bring relief to the millions worried about where their next meal will come from. It’s even worse for Latino and Black families, whose rates of nutrition insecurity have spiked to 25% and 30%. In the world’s wealthiest country, this is unconscionable.

Even before the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated 37 million people in America struggled with hunger and nutrition. The Centers for Disease Control reports 76% of people killed by COVID-19 had at least one underlying condition, most of which were diet-related. Diet-related diseases also fuel skyrocketing health care costs, which rose from 5% to 28% of the federal budget in the past 50 years.

Let’s make the world better, kinder, brighter. Every dollar you give will create real change. $1 will feed 5 hungry children here in the US, but $1,000 will feed 50,000 starving children overseas. Be the good in the lives of many by giving right now.

SUPPORT ME

Your generous support will help me continue to bring content to you.

AFFILIATION LINKS & COUPON

Toms: Get $20 off your first order at TOMS!

Door Dash: Get $30 off ($10 off each of your first 3 orders)

Uber: Sign Up to Ride. Use promo code
ic0b9 and get a free ride.

Lyft: Get your free ride.

Grubhub: Sign Up and Enjoy. Get $10 off your first order

Ipsy: Sign Up to Get Curated Products to Your Door Step

Boxy Charm: Use referral code Munziba-VDPRPCII

Cause Box: Get $10 Off Your First Subscription Box

Singles Swag: Receive $15 Off Your First Subscription Box

Amazon Store: Check Out My Amazon Store Front

woman sitting on a chair next to a window

Enjoying The Moment


Hi there my beautiful lovelies! Hope you guys are doing well and staying safe. Today, I want to take the time to talk about taking living in the moment. I will talk about enjoying the moment.

Life in Auto-pilot

people walking near busy street beside different vehicles on road surrounded with high rise buildings
Photo by Valeriia Miller on Pexels.com

We live our life in auto-pilot. I am guilty as well. Always so busy, with no time for anything. My auto-pilot life include breakfast, work, shopping, eating, and sleeping with little time to breath. However, what the past few days and even the past two years have taught us is that life is too short. Before you can blink it can end. I have been thinking about that a lot. When my uncle passed away on Valentine’s day this year, I couldn’t stop but think about the last time I spoke to him. I still read the text I sent him just less than two months before. However, what gets me the most is that due to auto-pilot life I have not spoken to him for a month before his death.

standing woman facing a speeding train
Photo by Fabrizio Verrecchia on Pexels.com

Trust me, I do try to live intentionally and practice living in the moment, but life do get in the way often, and before I knew it, even if I want to, I cannot talk to my uncle anymore. I think of those times with him and his loving advises. Yes, I do have small regrets about not calling him sooner and giving my gratitude. We all have those mistakes, if after the two years of uncertainty, I have succumbed to the auto-pilot life. Now, we all have seen the horrific massacre of innocent children in Uvalde. I can’t stop crying and feeling the intense pain.

Living in the Moment

female with instant camera against blue sky
Photo by Ike louie Natividad on Pexels.com

My dear lovelies! We tend to take life for granted. We always think we are too busy to stop and take a deep breath, hug our loved ones, express our gratitude towards and ourselves and our loved ones. What that does at the end is life full of small regrets, and what ifs. Living in the moment take lots of practice and dedication but the reward is amazing. According to the National Association for Continence Health Blog, studies show that people who focus on seeking pleasure in the moment are happier than those who are focused on the past. And those that take the time to notice more of the small things and enjoy the simple pleasures of life are happier and often more productive.

silhouette of person raising its hand
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Nonetheless, I couldn’t have practiced living in the moment without first acknowledging the past. What each of my experience and surrounding has taught me. It’s impossible to just live in the moment. In order to appreciate the present, we need to acknowledge the past and learn to let go. Our experience makes us who we are. Whether the recent events in the world (pandemic, war, shootings) or my life (family illness, and deaths) I can’t learn to appreciate the present moment, without acknowledging the past and learning to let go. Yes, I have lost my uncle, and even loved ones in the pandemic, and seen the chaos that is happening around me, but what that does is that it allows me to appreciate what I have.

two person wearing sunhats sitting on rock
Photo by fabio.tsu on Pexels.com

Now, every morning, I spend couple of minutes outside, just taking a deep breath, and enjoy my garden or just the fresh air, and take a moment to acknowledge the past and focus on express towards the current moment. I am grateful to for my life, my loved ones. I take the time every weeks to talk with my loved ones and share some good moments. If the encounter is not pleasant, I acknowledge it and let go as life is indeed too short to hold on to negativity.

My dear beautiful lovelies! Don’t dwell on the past or regrets. Acknowledge their presents and let go, and take a deep breath and express gratitude for the present. Take the time to express gratitude towards yourselves, and your loved ones. Hug your loved ones a little tighter. Just remember, life is too short and there might not be a tomorrow.

My lovelies! Hope you enjoyed this post. Please let me know about your experience with comment below.

In the meantime, don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram @forevernij and Twitter page @allaboutme3181. Are you on Bloglovin?  Also please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Let’s support each other. Please follow me and comment below with your information so that I can follow you back.

Thank you2

———————————–   Happy Reading ———————————-

Follow my Instagram page on @forevernij

Follow my Facebook Page on @forevernij

Subscribe to my YouTube channels (two)

Follow my Twitter account @allaboutme3181

Check out my Amazon Storefront

Buy From My Closet

Shop from my closet at Poshmark

Shop from my closet at Ebay

CAUSES CLOSE TO MY HEART

PLEASE DONATE DIRECTLY TO THE ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH MY FUNDRAISING LINKS:

I consider myself fortunate to have good health, a full-time job, and a roof over my head. However, there are still so many people who are struggling to put food on their tables. Please join me to help those who are struggling. If you have good health, full-time jobs, and a roof over your head, please join me to help those who are struggling. Whether you donate $5 or $500, you will make a huge difference in someone’s life.

No Kid Hungry:

America’s kids need us. The coronavirus is closing schools nationwide, and millions of vulnerable children are losing the school meals they depend on. For some, it’s the only food they’ll receive on a given day. We have a plan to feed kids, but we need your help today to continue our work to ensure every kid gets three meals a day. You can click above to donate to mygofundme page donation going directly to the organization, or you can click on the direct link to the site.

Food Bank of Maryland:

PLEASE DONATE ANY AMOUNT YOU CAN AND SHARE THE POST WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

Manna Food Center, a nonprofit organization, strives to eliminate hunger in Montgomery County through food distribution, education, and advocacy. Millions of children go to bed hungry in America every year, sadly it’s worse now! Today, 14 million children regularly miss meals — three times more than during the Great Recession and five times more than before the pandemic.

Many parents have lost their job during the pandemic. Sadly, that shows no sign of stopping. Your donation can bring relief to the millions worried about where their next meal will come from. It’s even worse for Latino and Black families, whose rates of nutrition insecurity have spiked to 25% and 30%. In the world’s wealthiest country, this is unconscionable.

Even before the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated 37 million people in America struggled with hunger and nutrition. The Centers for Disease Control reports 76% of people killed by COVID-19 had at least one underlying condition, most of which were diet-related. Diet-related diseases also fuel skyrocketing health care costs, which rose from 5% to 28% of the federal budget in the past 50 years.

Let’s make the world better, kinder, brighter. Every dollar you give will create real change. $1 will feed 5 hungry children here in the US, but $1,000 will feed 50,000 starving children overseas. Be the good in the lives of many by giving right now.

SUPPORT ME

Your generous support will help me continue to bring content to you.

AFFILIATION LINKS & COUPON

Toms: Get $20 off your first order at TOMS!

Door Dash: Get $30 off ($10 off each of your first 3 orders)

Uber: Sign Up to Ride. Use promo code
ic0b9 and get a free ride.

Lyft: Get your free ride.

Grubhub: Sign Up and Enjoy. Get $10 off your first order

Ipsy: Sign Up to Get Curated Products to Your Door Step

Boxy Charm: Use referral code Munziba-VDPRPCII

Cause Box: Get $10 Off Your First Subscription Box

Singles Swag: Receive $15 Off Your First Subscription Box

Amazon Store: Check Out My Amazon Store Front

Relaxation Techniques

How Do I Relax After A Long Day


Hi there my beautiful lovelies! Hope you guys are doing well and staying safe. Do you get a chance to recharge after a long stressful day of meetings, and deadlines? Today, I want to talk to you about how I relax and unwind after a long day of work.

Working Hard

Like you, my day involves a multitude of works that keeps my brain busy. There are days when my brain is so fried that I can focus on anything else. My head and eyes keep pounding so bad that I can’t even feel like looking anywhere or talk. My day starts at 3 am in the morning and ends at 4:00 pm. There are even some days when I am so wired that I can’t even close my eyes.

How Do I Address My Daily Long Day Blues?

My friends, I have taken some natural steps to recharge at the end of a long day. One thing that I have learned from the pandemic, is that life is short. In a span of a year, I have lost loved ones and seen others fight for their lives. Well, I saw my mom getting sicker during the pandemic since she couldn’t get the proper treatment on time. I am going to go through that. Life is too short to lose on bad health and stress. It’s time to relax and recharge.

Hence, after work, I give myself just five minutes. That time is just for me and I don’t share it with anyone. Every day after coming home I spend at least 5 minutes doing breathing exercises and guided meditations to bring myself to the present moment. So, what does it mean to be being in the present moment? Being Present means being fully conscious of the moment and free from the noise of internal dialogue. It’s often associated with feelings of stillness and peace. Sensations often seem sharper.

As Dalai Lala said, “There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do, and mostly live.” My friends, just a few minutes help me bring myself to the present moment, relax, and focus on what is in front of me and that made all the difference.

Please subscribe to this blog or follow me if you have a WordPress account.  Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram @forevernijAre you on BloglovinAlso please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Let’s support each other. Please follow me and comment below with your information so that I can follow you back.

——————————–   Happy Reading ———————————-

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is thank-you.png
Thank you2

Follow my Instagram page on @forevernij

Follow my Facebook Page on @forevernij

Subscribe to my YouTube channels (two)

Follow my Twitter account @allaboutme3181

Buy From My Closet

Shop from my closet at Poshmark

Shop from my closet at Ebay

CAUSES CLOSE TO MY HEART

PLEASE DONATE DIRECTLY TO THE ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH MY FUNDRAISING LINKS:

I consider myself fortunate to have good health, a full-time job, and a roof over my head. However, there are still so many people who are struggling to put food on their tables. Please join me to help those who are struggling. If you have good health, full-time jobs, and a roof over your head, please join me to help those who are struggling. Whether you donate $5 or $500, you will make a huge difference in someone’s life.

No Kid Hungry:

America’s kids need us. The coronavirus is closing schools nationwide, and millions of vulnerable children are losing the school meals they depend on. For some, it’s the only food they’ll receive on a given day. We have a plan to feed kids, but we need your help today to continue our work to ensure every kid gets three meals a day. You can click above to donate to my gofundme page donation going directly to the organization, or you can click on the direct link to the site.

Food Bank of Maryland:

PLEASE DONATE ANY AMOUNT YOU CAN AND SHARE THE POST WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW.

Manna Food Center, a nonprofit organization, strives to eliminate hunger in Montgomery County through food distribution, education, and advocacy. Millions of children go to bed hungry in America every year, sadly it’s worse now! Today, 14 million children regularly miss meals — three times more than during the Great Recession and five times more than before the pandemic.

Many parents have lost their job during the pandemic. Sadly, that shows no sign of stopping. Your donation can bring relief to the millions worried about where their next meal will come from. It’s even worse for Latino and Black families, whose rates of nutrition insecurity have spiked to 25% and 30%. In the world’s wealthiest country, this is unconscionable.

Even before the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated 37 million people in America struggled with hunger and nutrition. The Centers for Disease Control reports 76% of people killed by COVID-19 had at least one underlying condition, most of which were diet-related. Diet-related diseases also fuel skyrocketing health care costs, which rose from 5% to 28% of the federal budget in the past 50 years.

Let’s make the world better, kinder, brighter. Every dollar you give will create real change. $1 will feed 5 hungry children here in the US, but $1,000 will feed 50,000 starving children overseas. Be the good in the lives of many by giving right now.

SUPPORT ME

Your generous support will help me continue to bring content to you.

AFFILIATION LINKS & COUPON

Toms: Get $20 off your first order at TOMS!

Door Dash: Get $30 off ($10 off each of your first 3 orders)

Uber: Sign Up to Ride. Use promo code
ic0b9 and get a free ride.

Lyft: Get your free ride.

Grubhub: Sign Up and Enjoy. Get $10 off your first order

Ipsy: Sign Up to Get Curated Products to Your Door Step

Boxy Charm: Use referral code Munziba-VDPRPCII

Cause Box: Get $10 Off Your First Subscription Box

Singles Swag: Receive $15 Off Your First Subscription Box

Amazon Store: Check Out My Amazon Store Front with My Favorite Products

Prime Video: Sign Up for Prime Video

Happy Holidays 2016


christimas

Hi There! Hope you are doing well. It’s finally here. It’s Christmas day. You walk down the stairs and find presents under the Christmas tree left by Santa. We grew up in an apartment in Washington DC, so would walk over to the living room and find gifts under our small plastic Christmas tree. A lot of the time it was just being with family and spending those precious moment with the loved ones. Tis the day to be with your love ones. Hence, I will not take time away from your precious moments this holiday.

Pretty Dr Seuss Christmas Quote Best Christmas Moment

Whatever your Christmas tradition is, just don’t carried away with all the gifts. Just remember the biggest gift is just being with your loved ones and enjoy being in the moment. As Thích Nhất Hạnh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist, said”Life is available only in the present. That is why we should walk in such a way that every step can bring us to the here and the now.”

My wonderful readers, I want to end today with a beautiful Christmas note from our beloved minions so for you to enjoy. May you have a blessed and warm holiday wherever and whichever way you are celebrating it. Happy Holidays everyone!

hanukkah

With Love

Munziba

———————————–   Happy Reading ———————————-

Instagram: @allaboutme3181

Being in the Moment


inmoment

Hi there my lovely readers! Happy eve of Christmas Eve to everyone. For those who celebrates Hanukkah, happy eve of the first day of Hanukkah to you all! As you know, the holidays are wonderful time of the years to spend quality time with your family. This is the time when we all come together and enjoy each other’s company and celebrate the magic of togetherness. Life is short and we set aside our differences and embrace each other. However, I want to share some small tips that may help make each small moment more memorable for you. Happy reading!

draw2

Here in the western hemisphere, we are too busy with our everyday life and have very little time to stop and take a deep breath. We always tend to verbally process information in an analytical and sequential way looking first at the pieces then putting them together to get the whole. However, rarely do we take the time to be non-verbal and intuitive, using pictures rather than words. It is in the later part that allows us to be more connected and allow us to experience more.

draw

Life is literally unfolding in front of us in the present. However, we let it slip away, and allowing time to move past us unseized, and unobserved, while we squander away precious moments of our time worrying about what could have been or what could be. When we are at work we daydream about the dream vacation; on vacation, we worry about work piling on our desk. Most of us do not take part in our thoughts in awareness. Rather, we let our thought control us. As Kabat-Zinn, the founder of mindful-based meditation put it, we need to “rest in stillness—to stop doing and focus on just being”.breath

Mindfulness is living in the moment. It’s a state of openness; an intention on the present. When are mindful you we become an active observer of your thoughts, as they are. You are awakened to your life experience. It is the nonjudgmental awareness of the present, which in turns reduces stress. Studies have shown that mindfulness that led to boosting immune function and chronic pain, lowering blood pressure, and even helping people cope with cancer. Even my colleagues at Children’s National Health have been using this technique to help adolescents with congenital heart disease.

present-moment

So why I am talking about mindfulness in the context of holidays? Well, when you are mindful, you are more likely to experience yourself as part of a greater universe, and be right here right now. This keen awareness will allow you to focus on your immediate experience without attaching it to your self-esteem. If can tune out the chaos surrounding you and just tune into your immediate experience. You want to ice skate with your family but don’t know how? Don’t worry about other people starring at your. That’s the first paradox of living in the moment: Thinking too hard about what you’re doing actually makes you do worse. Just loosen up, as no one’s watching you. People are too busy worrying about themselves. There is a term about people like you and me, absolute beginner. Focus less on what’s going on in your mind and more on what’s going on in the room, less on your mental chatter and more on yourself as part of something. Once you do that you will be able to enjoy the experience so much more.

This is living in the moment. You need to start by taking deep breaths. Spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle says that people can condition themselves to slow down and appreciate the present. It all begins with one question. “Ask yourself, ‘Am I still breathing?’” Tolle says. “You suddenly feel the air flowing into your body and out of your body… At that moment, you’ve entered the state of presence. Even if it’s only five seconds.” Another exercise involves using all your senses when going through usual everyday motions, such as washing your hands, or even eating. Do these things consciously. As Tolle instructed, “When you wash your hands, feel the water. Smell the soap. Becoming acutely conscious of sense perception means looking, hearing, touching. It brings you into the present moment. ”These exercises may take a little effort at first, but Tolle says that they do end up becoming second nature. “The more you bring those moments of presence into your life, the more your old conditioning becomes eroded, gradually,” he says.

I do the same thing when eating. Making time to focus on what and how we eat is the most important step to mindful eating. Set aside time to enjoy your meal. It’s important to eat in a place that allows you to focus on your food. I then acknowledge my food. This acknowledgement is not simply an opportunity to give thanks. It also allows me to disengage from what I was doing and turn my focus to the food and experience before me. As I eat, savor one bite at a time. I feel the texture of the food with my tongue and before I put the food in my mouth I smell it. I try to feel all the favors, and textures through mouth. Eating is a very sensual experience, hence I enjoy the moment. Before finishing my meal,I would take a moment to appreciate the food I’ve just eaten, and recall my dining experience and notice how I feel. Such everyday experience become very satisfying through the mindful experience.

In conclusion, living in the moment will allow you capture the present and not letting precious moment squander away worrying about what could be. Follow the small techniques. So, when you go out today, follow the above breathing technique and just absorb the moment, use your intuitiveness and pictures surroundings instead of just focusing on you and words. Don’t stay too much into your head and be in the moment and let me know how your experience changed as a result. After all, as the Chinese proverb says, “yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, and today is a gift. That’s why it’s called a present”. May your holidays be as merry and blessed as ever.

Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram @allaboutme3181.

———————————–   Happy Reading ———————————-

Instagram: @allaboutme3181