What I've been up to...

Our Christmas day photos - Neel was dressed up as a tiger cub for the party...

Hey there! How was Christmas for you?

And how are the winters in your part of the country?

The season here in my neck of the woods is setting in thick and fast. Everything is wrapped up in chunky swathes of fog from 6 pm to 11 am. You can hear the mist dripping on the leaves and windows. Yes, it’s that wintery. We are already dressed up like nesting dolls, in five layers of clothing. Soups and stews are a staple. And the heaters are threatening to work overtime. Winter is officially picking up speed, touching sub zero and ready to plummet to the minus numbers.

So anyway, with the sun on a hiatus around here, I’ve been trying very hard to stay perked up. Whatever that means with long hours cooped up inside and a tantrumy toddler in tow. Here’s what I’ve been up to.

Doing: Nipping out for long walks in the afternoon - the only window of time when the mists thin out a bit. I’ve also been trying to fit in a 30-minute session of yoga in the evenings and a couple of sessions of strength training and stretches through the week.

Reading: I’m trying to figure out the concept of square foot gardening, and the new book by Mel Bartholomew is on my Kindle. Also, reading Gorgeously Green Diet by Sophie Uliano. I’ve read Sophie’s other two books in the Gorgeously Green series and quite enjoyed them. This one’s turning out to be just as interesting.

Eating: Stews and soups, and the international cooking that I dish up every other day.

Studying: The Aura Wellness Yoga Teacher’s Training course. I’ve finally taken that step of enrolling myself in this program and I’m so looking forward to the journey. There’s a whole lot to study and various DVDS to learn postures and alignment from. So, I’m right in the middle of planning how to eke out that time to focus on my studies, a task that’s proving to be difficult with my shifting schedules.

Creating: Watercolor cards. I don’t know if I can hold out on this new creative challenge, but I’m thinking of sending and gifting handmade cards to family and friends this year. I used to make a lot of cards when I was in college, but all of that stopped when emails and texts became the usual way of sending over greetings. I want to revive that tradition of creating cards this year because that maybe the only way to get some art work done, something that I’ve been craving to do for weeks now. I take anywhere between 30-60 minutes to paint a card and I can do so on my dining table with just a few supplies. So, this seems doable and will satisfy my creative urge in bite-sized pieces of time – just what I have right now.

Listening: To wellness podcasts. I just downloaded a bunch of them on my phone from some of my favorite websites, and am listening to them when I’m awake at odd hours or cooking.

P.S.  And if you’ve been wondering about the mini creative challenge I took up a fortnight ago. Well, I couldn’t get around to creating that Christmas tree, but I have been cooking food from around the world + learning eye make-up + taking more photos (though I want to take pictures more regularly.

Happy Monday + Hello New Week!