What does it mean to clean a room mindfully? It means to go slow, to appreciate each and every item in the room. As you clean, ask yourself how you feel about each item and what each item means to you. What emotions do you associate with each item as you pick it up, dust it, polish it, etc. Explore feelings of self-appreciation. Appreciate your physical ability to clean: the ability to bend, stretch, lift, and carry. How does the room feel when you’re finished cleaning? How do you feel?
Mindfulness Journaling:
After completing the ‘Clean
a Room Mindfully’ activity, describe how both you and the room have changed.
How do you feel now that the chore has been completed? How does the newly
cleaned room make you feel?
Mindfulness journaling can be very
private. However, I would love to invite you to comment below and share your
experiences with the ‘Clean a Room Mindfully’ exercise.
Check out
my #MindfulnessMonday YouTube Series and don’t forget to click subscribe so you
never miss an episode!
I’m certified in Holistic Stress Management and Mind/Body Fitness. I’ve been practicing Mindfulness for 10+ years and am passionate about helping others in their pursuit of a more mindful existence.
Alita is a creation from an age of despair. Found by the mysterious Dr. Ido while trolling for cyborg parts, Alita becomes a lethal, dangerous being. She cannot remember who she is, or where she came from. But to Dr. Ido, the truth is all too clear. She is the one being who can break the cycle of death and destruction left behind from Tiphares. But to accomplish her true purpose, she must fight and kill. And that is where Alita’s true significance comes to bear. She is an angel from heaven. She is an angel of death. Written byAnthony Harmon
MY 2 CENTS:
Writing/Story: ★★★★
This movie was Based on a graphic novel series by Yukito Kishiro. I haven’t read the graphic novel series so I can’t compare them to the movie. I’m just reviewing what I saw on screen and I personally think that James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis did an awesome job with the adaption and that Robert Rodriquez was exactly the right director to bring it to life.
Right from the start of the film, you are swept away in this mysterious, dangerous new world where nothing is as we know it today yet the societal struggles of class are all too familiar.
The only think I really had a problem
with was the unnecessary romantic storyline. I didn’t really believe the
relationship between Alita and the local boy who falls in love with her.
Cinematography: ★★★★★
I don’t usually call out the cinematographer by name, but this film was so much fun to watch and the imagery that Bill Pope gave us on screen was truly beautiful. The world created in this film is stunning and the effects are amazing!
The motor ball scenes which depict this
world’s sporting event are insane. Basically, the players go around a race-track
with a metal ball that they have to capture. Its violent and fast-paced, and so
exciting. As a movie goer, I was drawn right in.
The visuals in this world are insane!!!
The fight sequences are so exciting. I love a strong female character, but I do
think that Alita is a character than all movie goers can enjoy.
Character(s)/Acting: ★★★★
Rosa Salazar was fantastic as Alita and the special effects associated with her character were astounding. I will definitely be checkout out more of her work.
Christoph Waltz was good as Dr. Dyson Ido. You could really feel his fatherly love for Alita as well as his internal struggle with what he was doing just to survive.
I’m a Jennifer Connelly fan but with this film, I felt that her character was really under-utilized. There just wasn’t much character development with her character. I felt like they could have done so much more with her.
Mahershala Ali was another actor that just felt stagnant in this film. There wasn’t much to his character. He was a puppet and I felt like just about anyone could have played his role.
Keean Johnson who plays Hugo, Alita’s love interest, actually surprised me. No, I didn’t believe the romance between them, but he did a great job with his internal struggle. He so desperately wanted to get up to the upper world and will do, and has done, literally anything he has to do to get there. Then, when he meets Alita his starts to struggle with some of his decisions.
MY FAVORITE QUOTES:
“This is just a body. It’s not bad or good. That part’s up to you.” ~ Dr. Dyson Ido
“You’ve been given a chance to start over with a clean slate. How many of us get that?” ~ Dr. Dyson Ido
TO SUM IT UP:
Overall,
I loved this film. I’ve seen some less than flattering reviews on it, but I
really enjoyed it and think it was a lot of fun. Sometimes you really just want
a fun, strong, unstoppable character and that’s what you get with Alita.
Have
you seen Alita: Battle Angel yet? If you have let me know, in the comments
below, what you thought of it!
Check out my YouTube channel and the video
review below… and make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss a video.
Complete this thought: “I wish an alarm would notify me whenever…”
I
wish an alarm would notify me whenever it was time to wake up and go to school.
I’m twelve years old and I haven’t been to school in almost two years.
I
miss it.
It’s
funny, when I was going to school every day, I hated it. Sure, I liked seeing
my friends and recess of course, but sitting in a class, listening to the
teacher talk all day… I can’t say I enjoyed that.
But
now, I miss it.
I
guess you always miss the things you can’t have; the things that are taken away
to early.
You
see, where I’m from, if they find out you have powers that can be useful to the
government, like mine, you’re carted away to the Operation Atlas headquarters. I’m one
of four watchmen with the power of telepathic perception. Basically, it is the ability to receive information from another mind. It’s more complicated
than that, but you get the picture.
I have alarms that wake me up, tell me when to eat, when to leave for work, when to sleep, and just about everything else. My movements are monitored and I can’t do anything out of order or without permission. For once, I’d love to sleep late, skip a meal, play outside, or just go to school.
There are times, first thing in the morning before I even open my eyes, that I forget where I’m at. I forget about the ten-foot by ten-foot whitewash room they keep me in. I forget that I’m not just another normal kid. Those first few seconds of the day are my favorite. But lately, they’ve been happening less and less. I think I’ve started to forget… forget my past, my friends, even my family.
Alright,
now it’s your turn. I’d love to see what today’s writing prompt inspires in
you. So, if you are willing, go to the comment section below and start typing.
Take 5 minutes and let’s see what you come up with!
Complete this thought: “I wish an alarm would
notify me whenever…”
What books have made your August reading list? Check out the New York Times bestsellers for August 2019 by CLICKING HERE!
Are you an author who is looking for ways to stay organized and on track with all your writing goals? Check out my author workbooks below. They are full of all the tools I use in my writing process!
Are you working on a manuscript, but need a little help getting organized? Check out SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A BOOK ~ An Indie Author Guide to Outlining and Planning Your Next Novel
Today’s
#MindfulnessMonday Tip: We can’t all meditate
at work, and that’s ok, but you can still take advantage of the benefits mindfulness
has to offer, like stress reduction and increased focus.
5 tips for bringing
mindfulness into your WORK life:
Be
Consciously Present – being consciously present means that you are aware not
only of what is going on around you, but also what’s going on within you. Mindfulness
can help you be consciously present in what you’re doing, while you’re doing
it, as well as managing your mental and emotional state.
Use
Short Mindful Exercises at Work – Finding time for a 30-minute mindfulness
exercise such as mediation can be hard a work, if not impossible. Does that
mean you can’t be mindful at work? Not at all. Mindfulness exercises can be as
short as just one minute, you don’t even need to close your eyes or be sitting down.
Be creative about finding time throughout your day to connect with your senses.
This process helps to tone down the fight-or-flight response we can feel when
stressed, engages your brain, and helps us focus on individual tasks to
increase productivity and reduce stress.
Be
a Single-Tasker – Multi-tasking is known to increase stress and reduce
productivity leaving us feeling more overwhelmed than necessary. Try focusing
on just one task at a time and keep a ‘to do’ list, adding items throughout the
day instead of moving from one task to another, so that you stay on track.
Use
Reminders to Stay Mindful – Until mindfulness becomes a habit in your daily
life, it might be helpful to set an alarm on your phone – even a vibrating
alarm that doesn’t disturb others while working – to remind you to take time to
practice mindfulness. One mindful reminder I really enjoy is the Breathe app on
my smart watch. It reminds me once every hour to take a minute and just
breathe.
Accept
What You Can’t Change – This one isn’t always easy at first. However,
acceptance lies at the heart of mindfulness. To be mindful means to accept this
present moment as it is. Once you are able to accept your current moment… your
current situation… you will be able to move past it and try and deal with the
situation. If there has been a mistake at work, accept that it happened… it can’t
be changed… Once you can accept the situation you can learn from the mistake and
move on. Acceptance leads to change where a lack of acceptance can lead to
avoidance and even aggression.
For the next thirty (30) minutes I want you to pick one
task – ONLY ONE TASK – and focus solely on that one task. When you find your
mind wandering to other things, jot down a quick note so you don’t forget then
move back to the original task.
Practicing single-tasking can help increase productivity,
improve focus, and reduce stress. You just might find this becomes your new preferred
working style.
Mindfulness Journaling:
How did you feel
completing your 30 minutes of single-tasking? Did you complete the task? How
many times did you find yourself becoming distracted with other tasks?
I’d love for you to
complete both the 30-minute single-tasking exercise and the mindfulness
journaling reflection once a day for two weeks. Studies show that with consistent
practice, your results will improve increasing your productivity and improving
your mental focus.
Check out
my #MindfulnessMonday YouTube Series and don’t forget to click subscribe so you
never miss an episode!
I’m certified in Holistic Stress Management and Mind/Body Fitness. I’ve been practicing Mindfulness for 10+ years and am passionate about helping others in their pursuit of a more mindful existence.
As an avid reader of fiction (and an author who one day hopes to make the list) I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE checking out the New York Times Best Seller list. So, here it is… The independently ranked top 10 Fiction selections for August 2019!
If you’ve read any of the TOP 10 selections and recommend them, please comment below and let me know. If you see something you like and plan to pick up a copy, you can do so by clicking on the title or the [BUY IT HERE] button.
#1 ONE GOOD DEED
by David Baldacci
A World War II veteran on parole must find the real killer in a small town or face going back to jail.
What was the last thing you read or saw that really inspired you?
The
last thing that really inspired me wasn’t something that I read or saw… it was
a conversation I had while out in Los Angeles recently. I was visiting with an
old friend and we were talking, over coffee, about all the screenplays he has
written. He’s a struggling writer out in L.A. trying to make it in ‘the
industry’ and he was telling me how he reads 60+ scripts a week and has written
40, 50, 60+ scripts himself. I can’t remember the exact number. I just remember
thinking, WOW!
This
guy, in my opinion, is one of the most talented screenplay writers I’ve ever
met… yet he is struggling. It’s not easy to sell a script in Hollywood. It’s
not easy to pitch ideas and get turned down again and again. It’s not easy to
keep your spirits up and continue to be motivated to put pen to paper… or
rather fingers to keyboard. Yet, he does it. He does it every day, day after
day, week after week. He hasn’t given up and neither will I.
His
drive to keep going. His determination to continue pursuing his dream inspires
me to do the same.
Alright,
now it’s your turn. I’d love to see what today’s writing prompt inspires in
you. So, if you are willing, go to the comment section below and start typing.
Take 5 minutes and let’s see what you come up with!
What was the last thing you read or saw that really inspired you?
Are you an author
looking for inspiration? Take some advice from these amazing authors:
Ransom Riggs, author of Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children says, Start a collection!
Cormac McCarthy, author of ‘The Road’ says to talk to people!
David Mitchell, author of ‘Cloud Atlas’ says to explore extended metaphors!
Are you an author who is looking for ways to stay organized and on track with all your writing goals? Check out my author workbooks below. They are full of all the tools I use in my writing process!
Are you working on a manuscript, but need a little help getting organized? Check out SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A BOOK ~ An Indie Author Guide to Outlining and Planning Your Next Novel
It isn’t just for indie-authors. I have filled it with all the tools I’ve learned over the years and use on a regular basis with each book I write.
Want help meeting your writing goals? Check out JUST WRITE: The Ultimate Author’s Bullet Journal
Would you prefer to watch the video tips rather than reading them?
Today’s
#MindfulnessMonday Tip: Becoming more mindful
of how you proceed through your day to day activities is the antidote to
feeling like you’re just running in circles. Think of it this way, it is so
easy to just go through life on auto-pilot. We procrastinate… fail to get
things done on time… don’t get enough sleep or exercise. So, when you become
more mindful, it’s about being more present and aware of your behavior in the
moment. Mindfulness helps you change the habits, like procrastination, that are
no longer serving you.
7 tips for bringing
mindfulness into your life:
Meditation – Taking just
5 minutes a day to sit quietly and focus on your breathing can help you feel
more conscious and connected for the rest of the day.
Focus on one thing at
a time – Studies show that tasks take 50% longer with 50 % more errors when
multi-tasking, so consider focusing on one task at a time, with breaks in
between tasks whenever possible.
Slow down – Enjoy the
process, no matter what you’re doing. Deliberate and thoughtful attention to
daily actions like writing a report at work, drinking your morning coffee, or
washing the dinner dishes, can promote healthy focus and keep you from feeling
overwhelmed.
Eat mindfully –
Eating without the distraction of a television, computer, or smart phone in front
of you allows you to truly taste and enjoy what you’re eating. Eating mindfully
is good, not only for your body, but for your mind and soul as well.
Keep phone and
computer time in check – It is so easy in today’s world to get overwhelmed by
all of the technology we have at our fingertips. Information overload is a real
thing. You need to set boundaries for screen time, not only for your children
but for yourself as well.
Move – It’s important
to move throughout the day. Your body needs it! So, whether it’s walking,
stretching, or just getting away from your desk for a few minutes to grab a
glass of water, be aware of your body’s sensations and move whenever needed.
Spend time in nature –
Take a walk through the park, the woods, mountain trails, or my personal
favorite – on the beach. Just get outside wherever you can. Getting outdoors is
good for your body, mind and spirit and it keeps you in the present moment.
If you don’t have the ability to be outside, in nature, that’s
ok. You can do this exercise anywhere, but there are added benefits when you
walk in nature.
Step 1 – It doesn’t matter where you are, just start walking.
Step 2 – As you walk, pay attention to your breathing. How does
the air feel as you pull it into your lungs? How does it feel as it leaves your
body? Pay attention to what parts of your body move as you breathe in and out.
Spend a few minutes just focusing on the full experience of breathing.
Step 3 – Next, focus on the rest of your body. How do your feet
feel with each step? What are your arms doing? Do they hang at your sides or
swing back and forth? Notice all of the physical sensations associated with
walking.
Step 4 – What do you hear? Next I want you to listen, outside
of yourself. What do you hear around you as you walk? It might be the sound of
your shoes on the sidewalk, crunching leaves under your feet, the wind in the
trees, birds, or even a barking dog. Practice simply being open to all the
sounds around you. Don’t search for them, but listen to them when they come.
Step 5 – What do you see? Notice all of the images around you –
above, below, in front of, and to the sides of you. Notice the colors and the
textures. Don’t search for anything but be aware as new things come into view.
Step 6 – As you complete your walk, I want you to shift your
attention from one sensation to the next, taking in every experience in your
internal and external environment. But most importantly, breathe… nice slow
deep breathes as you allow your body to relax into the natural movement of
walking.
Mindfulness Journaling:
After you’ve
completed your mindfulness nature walk, I want you to take 5 minutes, in a
quiet place, to reflect on how the walk made you feel. With pen and paper – not
a computer, tablet, or smart phone – I want you to write down all the sensations
you can recall from the walk and how you felt both during the nature walk and how
you feel now after its over.
Mindfulness journaling can be very private. However, I would love to invite you to comment below and share your experiences with this short 60-Second Breathing Mediation.
Check out
my #MindfulnessMonday YouTube Series and don’t forget to click subscribe so you
never miss an episode!
I’m certified in Holistic Stress Management and Mind/Body Fitness. I’ve been practicing Mindfulness for 10+ years and am passionate about helping others in their pursuit of a more mindful existence.
Write about a time everything changed in the blink of an eye!
It
was back when I still lived with my mom… One of the last times I ever saw her.
We
were going to the hospital; I was scheduled for some tests because I got
headaches, all the time.
I
never made it into the exam room. I never made it past the lobby.
As
we were walking up to the hospital entrance, I saw a woman laying on the ground
behind the dumpster. She looked cold… tired… gone.
My
mom rushed me away from her. I wasn’t sure what she was so afraid of, not at
the time. When they finally wheeled her into the lobby, I could see it—the blood.
It was dripping down her arm and onto the floor. I reached out, barely touching
her hand as they passed by us. That was when everything changed.
The
room started to spin and my headache was instantly gone. I could see, clearer
than I had ever seen before, but it wasn’t the hospital lobby I was seeing. I
was surrounded by trees and I could hear screaming coming from somewhere behind
me. When I turned around, I saw him!
Alright, now it’s your turn. I’d love to see what today’s writing prompt inspires in you. So, if you are willing, go to the comment section below and start typing. Take 5 minutes and let’s see what you come up with!
Write about a time everything changed in the blink of an eye!
* * * * *
Click on the links below for some of my favorite author tools!
Sitting in a quiet, comfortable space, I want you to
focus on your breathing. Once you’re fully relaxed – but not sleeping – think about
your day and how you’re feeling right now. What is happening in your life? Are
you anxious, frustrated, stressed, upset, angry, saddened, or disappointed
about anything? If not, I applaud you. If you are feeling any of these emotions
lets take a few minutes to accept them.
Whatever the cause, and it really doesn’t matter, you
need to understand that your emotions are natural. It’s okay to feel frustrated,
angry, sad. It’s okay to feel whatever it is you’re feeling. It’s how you deal
with those emotions that matter. Learning to accept them will allow you to deal
with them in a healthy, non-disruptive way.
As you focus on the negative emotions you might be feeling,
I want you to take long, slow, deep breaths in then release those breaths with
the mantra “It’s natural to feel this way. It’s okay for me to feel this way.”
Continue this for 3-5 minutes and repeat any time your
emotions start to feel overwhelming.
Keeping a
journal is a great way to connect with your emotions. This could be through a
joy journal, a gratitude journal, an acts of kindness journal, or even a rant
journal. If you’re wondering what a rant journal is… you’re in luck, because
that is today’s journaling exercise.
For five minutes, and only five minutes, I give you permission to rant… This is
useful when you’re feeling upset, angry, sad, overly emotional in any way. Avoid
writing down what you think is causing your emotions… avoid blame. Simply write
down the emotions you’re feeling. Recognizing your emotions and understanding
that it is natural to feel those things is the first step in allowing yourself
to accept your emotions without giving them the power to become overwhelming.
* * * * *
Check out
my #MindfulnessMonday YouTube Series and don’t forget to click subscribe so you
never miss an episode!
I’m certified in Holistic Stress Management and Mind/Body Fitness. I’ve been practicing Mindfulness for 10+ years and am passionate about helping others in their pursuit of a more mindful existence.
