Mindful Mondays

Hello Everyone

Yes, it is Monday again

I have found a nice spot in the mornings (it has been there all the time) but I have just found it on the enclosed veranda with my morning coffee listening to the birds outside and all the other noises

Have you got a nice spot that you have or found that you love?

Share about it here

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@Shaz51 your little spot sounds divine. I don't have a special spot but I am going to be renovating my house in the next few years and am considering closing in the patio so it can be used all year round.

Thanks for sharing your mindfulness exercises too 😍

Hello @Shaz51 @ENKELI @tyme @utopia @Ru-bee @rav3n @Oaktree @heartathome @Jynx @AuntGlow @RiverSeal and everyone here this Monday. I hope your day is going well for you. Thank you for posting such a great topic for this section!

@Shaz51 One of my favourite spots to visit is Echuca on the Murray River in Victoria. I’ve been there when I was a child - my father used to display old stationary engines at the steam rally over the Queens Birthday weekend in June- and I used to love hearing the paddle steamer boats go up and down the river. I recently visited it again in September 2022 and twice this year- May for a carer respite - and just recently this month and I always stay at the same caravan park I did as a child. I love the Port of Echuca area of the town as it’s so old yet so pretty and historical being by the river as the buildings go back to when Echuca was a river port town in the 1800’s. When I’m there, I feel calm and relaxed yet happy. My mother used to like the town as well and wanted to retire there but never got the chance as she passed away over 20 years ago. I now travel to Echuca by train as I’m not keen on driving very far and I love being able to sit and knit on the train ride and watch the scenery for 3 or so hours it takes to get there from Southern Cross station. Below is a photo of a paddle steamer on the river I took a few weeks ago when I was there.

I now also like waking up in the mornings and going to the living room with a coffee and sitting in silence and listening to the world around me. I’ve only recently done this after a carer respite holiday to Jindivick where the facility was remote and was known to experience power outages in windy weather along with limited Internet coverage and no tv reception. I was able to listen to the sounds of nature, especially bird sounds like a kookaburra- I had a kookaburra visit me on several occasions and was able to take several photos of it which was really special and made getting through the respite holiday a little easier on my mental health. It’s amazing what you can do with no tv reception when you are left to make your own fun! This early morning silence also allows me time to think about what I have to do today- I’m not working or studying at the moment- and write a list of things I want to achieve during my day. Now with being a carer to my housemate/ best friend, I find this time to be vital in my self care and mental health routine as it gives me a chance to think and reflect and focus on me and what I need to get done which is important in being a carer as I’ve since found out.

Take care.

Judi9877

YESSS mindfulness is my friend!!!

hi @Shaz51 and @allthegoodpeople

sitting on the end of my bed.

a bit of perspective i believe is required

my bedroom is actually a formal lounge area that a friend's family have given me as living quarters

easily put 4 king size beds in here and furniture around the walls its big,

a metre to the side of my bed is aluminium window goes floor to ceiling and 4 metres long.

vertical blinds let full light in and privacy same time outside window is a porch its not a very busy rd despite there being 4 lanes and wide centre island as top of street is dead end, car park.

in my view is a proud neighbourhood every lawn in sight is manicured, across the wide road jacarandas eye line is a few rooftops as im highest on the slope and above the rooftops 3 blocks away i have the blue mountains untouched and strangely appears as though all that is beyond them

is the sky. a little lion always ion bed with me.

this is my safe space.

from the end of my bed i have the mountains that never look the same twice despite them never changing.

this helps me be grounded when i feel overwhelmed rising and keep thoughts present when they run or spiral and i need to practice mindfulness before trigger to avoid bad response.

so isolation in my bedroom till nightfall is maybe not as horrible as it sounds, i have space, household leaves me alone just a call when dinners ready each night and the constant protection of guard lion.

plus, anxiety is so controlled because if i do trigger here i can't cause any harm or damage because im already where i know is safe.

if anyone's familiar with leaves in a stream meditation technique i also use that for relaxation and a Quiter mind as i hear the tyres coming down the road i don't need to see the vehicles the tyres approach i attach what thought i have to the them going past and the thought goes as sound of tyres taper off down the road into silence.

and for the record its not only safe and has the continuity of mountain always being there it won't leave me i now have access to a wonderful community that has accepted me without judgement, but a community also that creates moments of happy and warm smiles i didn't have have in my life each day before joining and writing longer posts than i should... ugh

I'm trying to be tidier and format the check spelling things to respect the engrish teachers the paragraph spaces add length

ugh

sorry all hope all had good Monday!

 taken from in room bthebmounatains go higher to right and run lower to left of camera view@shaz51 @Chasingsunsets @heartathome @RebelliousAngel @TAB@ community doesn't do it just

That sounds like a lovely spot @Shaz51

When I got the diagnosis of my second cancer I looked on local free stuff groups for a lounge.

I picked it up with my lovely neighbours ute and we put it on my back verandah.

It gets the late morning to afternoon sun. I often have my breakfast there when it's warmer, like now and I can hear all the birds, the wind in the trees and it's just lovely (if my neighbours are not making a chaotic noise). I love hearing my magpies and watching them forage my lawn for worms, the kookabuuras often come and in the late afternoon mostly but sometimes earlier the eatern rosellas and lorikeets come. Sometimes the blue faced honeyeaters. Not so quiet are the noisy miners and cockatoos.

@Shaz51 .

Everyday I sit outside at my little table. I watch the birds in the garden. I listen to them sing. I play with my dog. Lots of pats and hugs. I get the morning sun on my skin.

It feels good. Calm. Peaceful.

Hugs ❤️ @REDLINEZ750 , @utopia , @Till23 , @Judi9877 , @ENKELI

Thank you for sharing your story and spots with me

I did not sit in my spot today yet , so hopefully tomorrow I will xx

I haven't found one particular spot as yet, but there is a community garden close to my place that I like to sit at. As it has become a lot more popular and expanded, I tend not to go as much, but that's just due to my social anxiety, not the community members who stop by there. I've found doing something active helps a little bit, such as watering the garden there or contributing a new pot or flower.