#Movetober Challenge

The sound of the waves crashing against the sand and rocks as the seagulls chirp above. No, I am not sitting at the beach but instead I am listening to these sounds as I take a few minutes for mindfulness. A week ago I dowloaded a meditation app that ties with my iPhone's health app and gave it a try. I was looking for something that would help me to slow down my mind and help me to become more present. I have to say that after a week of spending between five to ten minutes a day meditating, I am beginning to feel the benefits. When we go through our days at the speed of light there is so much around us that we miss. Taking time to slow down and be more present helps to ground our minds and our intentions. After posting on Twitter that I was beginning the practice of mindfulness a teacher in the district reached out to me to tell me that this year she started using the practice with her high school students at the start of class. She has seen a huge improvement in her students' state of mind and overall happiness and desire to be in her room. If you are interested, two good apps for the iPhone are Calm and Simple Habit.

                                      

Things have been going well lately and I have a lot to be happy for. I am extremely happy that I was able to complete the #100milechallenge for September. It was Friday, September 30th and I still had to complete seven miles before the end of the day. My plans to get in some walking in the AM and at lunch did not pan out. That meant that I had to get all seven in after work. I left later than I planned but when I arrived home there was still some daylight. I received encouragement from my family to get my running shoes on and head out the door. My 9 year old daughter joined me and we headed out. As we were finishing mile 2 my husband and oldest daughter drove up and pulled over next to us. They checked in on my progress and my youngest daughter decided to hop in the car and let me finish the last five miles on my own so I could go a little faster. :) I headed off. During the next five miles the sun set and I was running in the dark amid the street lights and lights of the cars. But, I remained vigilant and I was committed to finishing the seven miles. When I completed mile seven I was tired but felt AMAZING for accomplishing the goal. I truly believe I met this goal because of the motivation and encouragement I received from others.

Mile 5 as the sun was setting

We have a new challenge for October and I encourage all of you that read this post to be part of the challenge! The #movetober challenge is a trifecta and includes accomplishing 50-100 miles, 100 minutes of meditation or 30 min. a day, and incorporating planks into your daily exercise routine. For those of you on Twitter, I encourage you to post your progress and use the hashtag #movetober and tag the following people in your post. I guarantee you they will fill you with positivity and motivation to continue and reach your goal!! This is the team that pushed me till the end and helped me hit the 100 mile mark!!

Continue to be innovative, creative, and a model of excellence!