AVEENO Beautiful Change Challenge #4 – How Can I Be More Peaceful?
“Slow down, you move too fast, you’ve got to make the morning last.
Just kickin’ down the cobble-stones, lookin’ for fun and feelin’ groovy”
I just couldn’t resist starting off this post with the lyrics from the Simon and Garfunkel song Feeling Groovy because it just perfectly captures this week’s challenge for me. In fact, this is my biggest challenge in life right now: Slowing down, saying ‘NO’, taking the time to be in the moment and just be calm and peaceful. It is SO hard for me to slow down the cadence of my life and be present without thinking about the next thing(s) I have to do. Believe me, I am working on it, but it is hard, can you relate? The Eastern culture calls it ‘monkey mind’ swinging from one thought to the next without staying focused on one thing. Ahhhh-ahhhh-ahhhhh (said in a Tarzan-like chest banging yell)
So I thought to myself, what changes can I make or what step’s can I take to meet this week’s challenge? What can I do to be more present, less stressed and more peaceful? The first thing that always comes to my mind as a way to calm my mind is meditation. I have tried this before and even taken a meditation class, but it will come as no surprise to you that I found this incredibly challenging. Next, I thought about how much I adore beauty treatments and pampering but that doesn’t quite fit the challenge, too simple. So, what can I do on a semi-regular basis to combat stress and an overly packed life???
So I decided to create a list of things that make me feel peaceful that I can consult whenever I need it, to shift my perspective, shake off my stress and bring me to a calmer state of mind and I am delighted to share it with you:
Sponsored Post: What Living Beautifully Means To Me
As many of you know, April is Earth Month and in honor of this important consciousness raising celebration, EcoTools asked me to share with my readers what Living Beautifully means to me and I was more than delighted to participate in such a worthwhile writing opportunity. However, before I share my thoughts on what living beautifully means to me, I wanted to tell you a little bit more about the EcoTools brand.
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I also spent some time exploring the EcoTools Living Beautifully Community which is a place for visitors to stop by and share stories, tips, anecdotes, videos or photos that inspire them to live more beautifully everyday. It was heartwarming to read the special stories and see the pictures of families and places that inspire. I even joined in the fun and shared a photo of the gorgeous blue ocean on a remote beach and wrote about how being near the ocean and nature inspires me to live more beautifully. And throughout the month of April, I encourage you to share your own Living Beautiful inspirations on the Eco Tools Living Beautiful Community Wall HERE for your chance to win fabulous Eco Tools prizes just for commenting! And rumor has it, they are giving way one those coveted kabuki brush sets 
AVEENO Beautiful Change Challenge #3 – Spring Cleaning
Happy Spring Everyone! I don’t know about you, but every Spring I get this overwhelming desire to clean house, de-clutter, throw away/donate unused stuff, and organize my life. Today was that kind of day for me, I felt an amazing rush of energy this morning when I woke up and was thankful that today was going to be my Beautiful Change Challenge #3: A Day of Spring Cleaning. I felt exhilarated and ready to conquer my closets and bathroom one section at a time. It’s now midnight as I write this post, and I am finally settling down after cleaning out: 5 closets, 8 drawers, 1 pantry and 5 bags of discarded stuff later! Whew, that feels SO good!
Here are my rules of thumb for de-cluttering and Spring Cleaning:
- When in doubt, get RID of it!
- If it doesn’t fit, get RID of it!
- Try on EVERYTHING! You might be surprised by what fits, what doesn’t and what just doesn’t look good anymore
- An added bonus of cleaning out your closet is that sometimes you rediscover clothes that you forgot about and it’s like going shopping in your own closet for FREE-I love this part!
- If you haven’t worn something in the past year, you probably never will, time to say Sayanora!
- Try to organize your clothes in a way that makes sense to you, I tend to group my clothes by colors because I think it looks pretty & makes it easy to find what I am looking for
- Move your heavier/warmer winter clothes to storage to make room for Spring & Summer Fashions (lots of color this season BTW)
- If you haven’t used a beauty product in the last 6 months, get RID of it!
- If something smells less than optimal, get RID of it!
- FYI Your mascara should be replaced every 3 months
- Consider switching up your skin & hair care regimen every six months-I personally think Aveeno has great affordable products that really work & you might want to consider trying one of their new products this season
- De-clutter one drawer or section at a time so that you don’t get overwhelmed
- Consider having a Yard Sale with your discarded items to earn some extra $$ or donate to a local charity, it’s tax deductible
It may not look all that exciting to you, but to me it looks so neat and organized and it gives me infinite joy and a sense of accomplishment! And I think the best part about Spring Cleaning is that getting rid of your old unwanted items really opens you up and frees up your space (both mentally and physically) for exciting new possibilities (not to mention FAB new fashions & beauty booty)
So what are you waiting for? Hop to it, out with the old & in with the new, and welcome the possibilities!
I’d love you to come back next week for my Beautiful Change Challenge #4: Making A Conscious Effort To Be More Peaceful
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Disclosure: Compensation was provided by AVEENO® via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of AVEENO®
