Instant inner sunshine

Hello Sparkfriends!

Over the past few months, I've been trying to focus on pleasurable activities other than eating. Maybe you remember the poster I use as a reminder for those activities.



The trouble is that some of them take too much time or need equipment. So I've been thinking on what works best for me as a quick pick me up. I've come up with a list of small things that make me feel good, put pen to paper, laminated those messages, punched a hole in each of them, gathered them around a ring that I put on my phone case, my key ring, my laptop case... and voilà!



Now these short messages may be:
- breathing meditations: 'Breathe in, renew; breathe out, release'.
- affirmations: 'I love and accept myself as I am, right here, right now'.
- quotations: 'You are what you repeatedly do' (Aristotle).
- power poses (a picture with the various poses you can do)
- anchors: when I squeeze my left ear lobe I feel like a cat sunning itself... (It works for me!)
- breathing exercises: 'Breathe in counting up to 7; breathe out with the sound S'.
- contemplation: 'I contemplate what's going on inside my body'.
- visualization: 'Take your wings down from the shelf' (I used the titles of Daily Bliss Trip meditations)
- stretching (I like the chicken wings from P90X or any other quick exercise)
- intentions: 'I intend to have a good day'.
- affirmations with a twist: 'Each and everyday, in every way I am now becoming healthy and fit.' (This one comes from the website Happyecho.com, the twist being 'each and everyday, in every way')
- thanks: 'I'm grateful for all my friends'.
- afformations - I've got the idea from happyecho.com too: afformations are affirmations in an interrogative form, making me feel even better when I think of them. For instance: 'Why do I accomplish anything I set my mind on?'











I'm trying to set a new ritual. I've noticed that when my kids' tummies are full, they just get up from the table and do something they find more interesting, like playing or reading. So I'm trying to end each meal looking forward to reading one of what we've dubbed my sun rays!

Have you got other ideas of short messages I could use? What do you do when you need to feel good rather than head to the cookies?

Thanks for reading!

Nan