• 6,592 avg daily steps
• 90 miles driven to work (all in the dark)
• 35 hours of sleep
• 38 meetings
• 35 hours of sleep
• 4 miles run
• 1 marathon training program
• 1 triathlon added
• 1 meltdown…

Welcome to this week’s circus – while my goal has been to project upbeat and inspirational vibes into the world of cyberspace + fitness – there are days when we all just have to be real…

It doesn’t matter what you do for a living, where you live, or whether your male or female – busy is a like a sneaky virus, coincidentally coming (right now) during one of the worst flu seasons on record.

Generally, I try to leave work at work and off the radar of the blog – partially due to the preservation of my own sanity, but possibly preservation of my job – as I sit here drinking my 2nd cup of coffee on this chilly Saturday morning, feeling like a bus, train, and several bicycles ran me over repeatedly, I now think the line will be crossed.

Newly promoted, joining a new team with a far different dynamic than my last and less appreciation or acknowledgment for life outside of work – I find myself gasping for air and more importantly quiet – especially after adding another welcomed complexity to my marathon training: being selected to participate in the Maine Tri for Cure (hooray for kicking cancer’s butt!)

So with all the daily chaos, minutiae and demands – how does everyone balance?

Several years ago, I wrote an article called “Where did all the white space go?”  It’s origin was born out of a similar week to the one noted above, marked by too many meetings, too few hours of rest and frankly zero time for quiet.

A light-bulb went off yesterday afternoon sitting at my desk wishing myself to airlifted back to reality (or at least a sparkling beach in St. Lucia) – this month’s 30-day challenge – meditation

(insert the proverbial eye roll here for most) but hear me out…

Be a Believer – Benefits of Meditation

• Reduces stress – yes please, sign me up!
• Reduces anxiety – ditto to the above
• Enhances self-awareness
• Improves overall sleep – well who doesn’t want more zzzz’s?
• Decreases blood pressure – as someone who has had pre-hypertension for over 5 years, I’m willing to give it a whirl
• Can promote kindness ♥♥♥ 

Who is willing to give this 30-day meditation challenge a try with me?

The plan:

• Gradual progression each day starting at 5 min and building all the way up to 20 minutes by the last day
• Location / time of day are all up to you – instead of cruising Facebook looking for another set of funny party animal clips or stalking your friends from an eternity ago, opt for a 5 min break with some decent headphones or a quiet home (before your family wakes up)
• Accountability – I will be adding this plan to my ever popular Believe Running Journal
  • Weekly report-outs – just like the H20 Challenge
  • Miss a day?  Give yourself a break and pick it up tomorrow or even a few days – we’re all busy and entitled to take it easy on ourselves
• Here’s the plan (love these single pagers for the fridge) from darabee.com
  • Meditation Challenge (1-page PDF)
  • Additional materials can be found on the site (SUPER helpful): here’s the link

Hello February!  Flu viruses, tax preparation, frigid temperatures, fruit-filled chocolates, roses, too many meetings, too few hours of sleep, and a groundhog that predicted 6 more weeks of winter can’t stop you!

Let’s do this!