Finding Beauty In Intentional Living

Last Fall, I was greeted by a newsletter post in my email from Alex Elle, author & facilitator in the wellness space, who shared how she has started to create a new routine around waking up and starting the day. In her Stories on Instagram, she’s shared her practice of writing 1,000 words a day as she’s writing her next book, but on this particular day, she shared that she’s also started the practice of walking.

Walking with intention. To reclaim her power around being present.

It’s the little practices, rituals if you will, that make the biggest impact on our lives. Over time, they create an etching on our minds and hearts. They greatly shape our overall health and wellness, for better or for worse.

We are creatures of habit after all.

It’s a series of decisions and choices that we make that create our character, too.

Also, I’ll mention that her gratitude entries sparked the two topics for this blog post: the beauty of walking and the beauty in the routine of waking up.

The Beauty of Walking

Alex picked up her practice after reading the book, ”Do/Walk” by Libby DeLana. I tuned into a couple of the the conversations Alex has had with Libby reminded me about my teen years and it reminded me of traveling to and roaming the streets of Manhattan.

Here’s a couple of convos Libby and Alex had: IG Talk // Hey, Girl podcast

My high school friend recently sent me a picture of a restaurant we ate at in Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. We ate there when we met up during one of our breaks from college. She texted me the picture asking me if I remembered and I said I did and how funny it was that the restaurant was actually very close to the high school we attended together. She left the school around junior year but we’ve stayed in touch after all these years.

When she sent me the picture, she told me she was walking around the city listening to music by John Coltrane. It all just reminded me of how I used to walk all the time. I’d purposely walk from the West Side to the East Side instead of catching the E train to transfer at 59th street and hop on the 6 train. I wanted to indulge in the view, the energy of the city. I wanted to enjoy the adventure and wonder of it all. I couldn’t enjoy any of this underground, it could only be captured above ground with the many scents and sights and sounds of the city. It helped me to memorize and navigate my way anytime I’m back at home.

I still remember the smell of this nail salon near Madison Square Garden I would sometimes walk by during the Winter months. There was always a mist coming out from the door and the warmth wrapped around you taking some of the edge of the chilly winds that’s came streaming from between the skyscrapers.

It’s funny how I used to walk to so many places and now, I barely walk outside, just to the car mostly. A car was a privilege living in NYC.

I remember when my son was around a year old, I started to get into baby wearing with woven wraps. I was apart of an online community where they did “traveling wraps” to allow participants to try different wraps and send them off to the next person in line. It was a pretty fun experience for me, to try new wraps and for my son, to be held close to me and go on walks, along with modeling in a couple of wraps for promo like this picture for “Lilies Fresh” by Bijou Wraps

Right before Winter came, I reflected on how we handled last Winter, what worked and what didn’t work. I thought about the need to get outside. I decided that one of the things we had to work on was getting outside, weather permitting and get some sun and fresh air. I’ve been slow to start on this, but after hearing the podcast episode with Alex and Libby, I felt my body and mind starting to ease into committing to this more. Especially with a new baby and business, I need time to get outside and move my body.

I started my walking practice yesterday. I want to record this moment here with a few pictures from my walk. My son joined me. It was one of the colder days and we went around 4 so the sun was about to set, but we had our gloves and warm clothes. I’ll check back in next month to see how I’ve been doing. I’m committing to being outside even just for a 10 minute walk.

The act of walking reminded me of how, as a teen, everyday I was able to create art. It was already apart of my weekly routine. Five days a week I would be immersed in art (along with other core subjects) as an art major.

It was an intentional practice while also a disciplined one.

I’m so glad I desired to create art daily and took the initiative to apply to the specialized art schools. I’m thankful that I was accepted into an arts high school to allow me the space I needed to stretch and learn and express myself in new ways.

As a creative, it’s so necessary to get outside, away from screens and the mundane and repetitive tasks from our responsibilities. It’s necessary for us to detach to return inspired and motivated.

The Beauty in the Routine of Waking Up

In her newsletter, Alex Elle talked about how the waking up part of getting her walks done could be tasking, especially as she rolled into her third day of this practice.

They do say it takes 21 days to create a new habit.

“My rising has rarely been peaceful. Truthfully, waking up can feel chaotic and overwhelming, which is painful for my anxiety. I have not been getting up intentionally for some time now. I've lost that luxury, but I am trying to find new ways to get it back.” - Alex Elle

It made me start to think about my own waking up routine and how it’s shifted these days. Not just because of the changing demands outside of my home, but from what has shifted inside of it. Inside myself (the inner home) and my home, my family and my environment (the external home).

These days, I’m waking up at 5:30 to my little one looking for me to nurse her and I give my husband a kiss as he starts his day. I go back to sleep for about an hour and change my baby. As she nurses and takes a quick nap, I watch the sun rise. Now that it’s Winter, the sun rises at an angle that hits my bedroom window and the rays meet my face on those days we get to sleep in (the weekends).

I remember there was a time where I would hiss with disgust that the Sun was in my face. I’d wanted to sleep more and it’s blinding light was disturbing me.

I don’t feel that way anymore.

Since I started my spiritual journey back home to myself, I’ve been a lot more aware of the little things, how I react instead of respond. It’s truly a skill to notice how the instincts you developed as a child are still present and how they can hinder you from actually enjoying the moment like a child.

Thankfully I took lots of pictures when I had my son back in 2014 so I could look back and remember some details of how my days would go. I was able to stay home with him until he was 4 months old thanks to exhausting my vacation time, sick time, short-term disability and for us being able to make it work without income from me for a little while. This time around, I’m thankful to be home again with my little one. This time, I’m back to working but from home and trying to take things slow. 

It’s funny… babies force you to be present, especially if you are breastfeeding.

You have to sit down. You have to hold your baby and support them as they nurse. Sure, you can try to multi-task but there will be times where the phone will fall or your back start to ache or your neck is stiff, or your eyes are tired.

I learned while doing a guided Akashic Record meditation last year that you can (and should) take deep breaths and breathe into the space where you feel the tension. It’s wonderful how closing your eyes and taking intentional deep breathes really do help ground you in the moment and allow you to investigate where the pain lies. From there, you can shift your position and see what else could help alleviate the pain. 

My mornings are dedicated to my youngest and because I have done the necessary mental preparation, I’ve accepted that I won’t have my mornings fully to myself for a while, but I can carve out a few minutes. Just to check in with myself, to start over.

I look forward to my cup of Four Sigmatic lion’s mane coffee with almond milk, date syrup and agave with a dash of ground cardamom. I find luxury in 10 minutes to read or to write in my journal before I start responding to emails and working on projects. I carved out time to read that email from Alex and typed parts of this blog post in my Notes app to share with you.

In the note, I said: Right now, the sky is cloudy, the Sun is peering through the trees and dancing on my face. My baby is in my arms as we lie in bed before getting up to get ready to drive my son to school. The Sun shimmers on her little brown baby curls, her hand on her cheek, her head lays on my breast like a pillow… it’s the little things.

So much beauty that can be captured to enjoy before facing the day. Finding home within your body, your environment and with others.

How Have You Been Intentionally Living?

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this week’s blog post and how you may have started a practice of your own to live intentionally.

Please feel free to drop a comment below ☺️

Also, if you aren’t already, you can stay in touch with me by:

Following me on Instagram at: @sheyna_james

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Take care,

Sheyna