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Five Ideas To Design Days That Make You Feel Fantastic - SW
Written by Dana Claudat
I find wellness everywhere. I have to, given the often-nomadic nature of my life now. For example, the bunches of organic french lavender (see left) are from Newark Airport. Yes: the airport. In that same airport I found fresh almond milk, smoothies, incredible books to read and a standing desk to do some work at while I waited for a plane home yesterday.
While I know that not all of you live near organic juice bars and superfood grocery stores that I have in a circle around me in Los Angeles, and not everyone has beaches and hiking a quick car ride away, I can tell you that there are many ways to find a more balanced life wherever you are and with whatever resources you have on hand.
Days don’t just happen, after all. We design them, consciously or unconsciously. Today, it’s time for more wellness and happiness by design!
1. Consciously wake up. I’m telling you, the day I decided to not grab my phone and check my email before I even got out of bed was the day that my life flooded with inspiration that doesn’t quit! If you can find a habit to wake up to, whether it’s a cup of tea, a few pages of freewriting in a journal, or a walk with the dogs, find something to do that anchors you in presence and centers the day. Those emails will be there 15 or 20 minutes later, and you’ll be far more ready for them.
2. Make sure you schedule you-time. I don’t have human kids yet, but I do have 2 fur babies at my house that require attention and love. I also have a gaggle of projects and this blog that are a huge part of my family now, too, not to mention friends and family. That said, I know some of you are really busy with human kids (!) and families and bog jobs and full plates. But it’s in those busy times that you most need that scheduled time for yourself. In New Jersey last week I was taking the giant dog for walks around my hometown (or, he was taking me for walks!) where I could zone out in between trips to buy furniture and meet contractors and everything else goin on in Brooklyn and NYC. I also scheduled seeing-art time that, while it was just an hour, made all the difference in the week. It was one trip, but a major one. If you can’t find you-time every day, do it at least once a week and make that one thing something really exceptional!
3. Add sensory goodness to your life. Our senses are how we experience life! The Sensory Goodness tab of the blog (HERE) can inspire hundreds of ideas to get you started.
4. Do the hard things first. If I leave things for the end of the day that are difficult, they don’t get done. That’s my way. If I say “later” then it is suddenly tomorrow, or the following week, before I will look at something and attempt to do it. Now, I do the hard things first, and do them early in the day. Sometimes I wake up extra-early to get them out of the way. It’s such a fantastic feeling of accomplishment, an energy of pride to carry you through the afternoon!
5. Make healthy decisions that work for you, throughout the day. Now, I stand instead of sitting when I have the choice. I choose superfood smoothies over huge breakfast when there’s an option. I walk away from gossip instead of engaging. I drink more water in lieu of more caffeine. These small choices we navigate all day can add up to more fitness, more energy, more happiness and more productivity…!
xoxo
Dana
Dana Claudat is a designer, Pyramid School feng shui master and founder of the holistic & artistic lifestyle blog The Tao of Dana (www.fengshuidana.com). A Stanford-educated Art Historian with nearly a decade of experience in design, feng shui, research and writing about the ways that changing spaces can change lives, Dana has fused art, science and feng shui into her own style of expansive design.
In addition to Mind Body Green as an expert for many years, Dana has been a Guest Curator for Saatchi Online and her work has been featured in Glamour, Lonny, Huffington Post, Blake Lively’s Preserve and many more global media outlets.
Based in Los Angeles, her design and feng shui clients include Hollywood A-List creators and vibrant entrepreneurs, as well as artists and creatives around the world seeking more creativity, clarity, love and empowerment in their homes- and their lives.
You can learn more about working with Dana on your own expansive design- from anywhere you are in the world- here (http://www.fengshuidana.com/online-consultations/) .