a peek inside the fishbowl

This post contains some sponsored content.*

I’ve been writing about some of the steps I’m taking to give my sanity a helping hand. These past few weeks (months?) have been stressful and I knew that I needed to take some steps and find balance again.

Life balance is an elusive beast and I don’t think it can be reined in all of the time. What we CAN do is find ways get ahead of it before we find ourselves succumbing to stress. We can also stop beat ourselves up about not being perfect in all aspects of our lives. I think, as mothers, we can be particularly hard on ourselves.

I am trying to get a grip on some healthy habits to build up my resistance when stress starts to get the better of me. The cornerstone of these is diet, exercise, and sleep. I know that I need these three things in order to handle the moments when life throws me a curve ball.

One of the things I have started doing is an afternoon meditation. Here’s why: I was always tired after lunch and found it hard to get anything done. As a result, I’d sit on the couch and mindlessly surf the Internet on my iPhone. For a while I had convinced myself that I was merely taking a healthy break from work, but when I really thought about it, looping incessantly between Facebook > Twitter > email and then back again was not exactly healing my busy brain. I decided to turn this time into a meditation break instead.

The idea actually came to me via an email I received via Tetley asking me if I wanted to sample their new Tetley Ayurvedic Balance teas. The timing couldn’t have been better – for me and for my goals – so I decided to combine my meditation time with a cup of tea.

I learned that these new tea blends aren’t very “new” at all. They are actually inspired by Ayurveda, a 5,000-year-old system of knowledge, which teaches that balancing of the mind, body, and spirit is essential for holistic well-being. Working with Ayurvedic experts, the Tetley blends were created to address the needs for balance at all stages of our lives.

Each blend is made with all-natural ingredients. For example, the Poise-Vata blend contains cinnamon bark, chamomile, fennel, tulsi, licorice root, orange peels, cardamom. This particular blend is designed to be calming, to help attain focus when feeling worried or scattered. It’s what I’ve been brewing for my meditation moments.

Cool-Pitta blend contains peppermint, hibiscus, spearmint, lemon balm, coriander, and lavender. It’s touted as a “cooling” tea to help calm you down when you’re feeling overheated. (This might be a nice way of referring to hot flashes. I am not quite there yet with the hot flashes but I do like this blend!)

Vigour-Kapha is really unique: ginger root, tulsi, peppermint, spearmint, clove, turmeric, and cumin. This is what I reach for when I need something to perk me up at around the 3 p.m. mark when I’d normally be craving another coffee or foraging in the pantry for something sweet.

You know what, I am really enjoying this healthy new habit. To hold myself accountable, I created goals in my Google calendar so I wouldn’t forget and work through it or decide to skip it. My rule is that if I have a meeting or a deadline, I can postpone it, but I can’t cancel my meditation time.

Turning my ringer off and sitting down in a quiet corner with my cup of tea – with nothing to think about but my steady breathing – has become one of the best parts of my day.

Sidebar: for those who aren’t yoga or meditation devotees, it’s easy enough to just call this your quiet time… because that’s exactly what it is! It’s a quick and easy way to recharge my batteries and I feel stronger and more capable of taking on the afternoon ahead.

I’m giving away a special gift pack to one lucky winner. I hope it will facilitate some quiet time for someone! It contains a package of Tetley Ayurvedic Balance Teas and a tea bodum. Interested? Please read the following:

• This giveaway is for one gift package of Tetley teas and a tea bodum and will be awarded to one winner, chosen at random.
• In order for your entry to qualify, tell me, how do you find balance? Leave your comment below.
• One entry per email address, please!
• This giveaway Canada-wide but void where prohibited by law.
• If you can’t post your comment for whatever reason you can email it to andrea at quietfish dot com. Please note, I cannot be responsible if your entry is misdirected or gets stuck in my Spam folder.
• I will draw the winning name using Random.org at noon EST on November 30, 2016.
• The winner will be contacted by email and his or her name will be posted here.
• Tetley’s representatives will mail the gift package to the winner. I cannot be held responsible for delayed or lost mail.

* Tetley Tea is the sponsor of this post but my experiences are my own. And I do recommend taking a bit of quiet time for yourself whenever possible!

Back in the 1930s, an order of nuns moved to my neighbourhood, long before it was really even a neighbourhood. In fact, the eldest remaining nun in the order is 104 years old (!) and when she moved here she described it like living in the country. The woods of Westboro, can you imagine?

For many years the nuns ran a school on one end of the block, in the same building they lived and prayed. In the late 1980s they built a larger building on the other end of the block. In the beginning, it was used as temporary housing for single travelling Catholic women who needed a place to stay. Ten years ago the remaining nuns of the order sold their original house and moved into the newer building. That building is now to be sold and the remaining nuns are moving out this month.

This past weekend, the nuns had a massive moving sale. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. Everything was up for grabs, right down to their knitting needles, feather dusters, staplers, watering cans, and laundry baskets. The sale started on Friday, which is when I dropped by the first time. The place was packed with neighbours, shoppers, all shoulder to shoulder, rummaging through the lifetime accumulation of this group women who’d given their lives to God and to their charitable work.

It was all feeling a bit strange to me but I gravitated to the kitchen. I’ve always been attracted to domestic items of days gone by and the secret history they’ve absorbed. There were stacks of trays, pot and pans, cutting boards, and cooking utensils. Among all of this kitchen chaos I spotted a large, oval dutch oven. It called to me. It was totally old school, heavy, with a lid. I figured it must be at least 50 years old but there were no markings on it. If there had been, they were worn away after years of heavy use.

It was ten bucks. (!) I bought it and I am quite pleased with myself. How many hands have touched it? How many meals has it provided? I can’t even fathom.

I wanted to speak to one of the nuns – one that I’ve gotten to know recently – and say a proper goodbye so I returned Saturday, pretty much on a whim. I wasn’t really expecting to buy anything, but I shoved some money in my pocket just in case. (Clearly, I was fooling myself.) A good friend had texted me some photos of three mid-century chairs she’d grabbed. (Three chairs for $36!) So I was half-looking for something similar. I did find a sturdy wooden chair to replace our old office chair. It was $8, I gave them ten. I know the money will be going to a good purpose.

I did eventually find Sister Yvette to say goodbye. I asked her how she was feeling. She told me it was a mixed blessing, that it was wonderful to feel the love of her community but hard to say goodbye and close this chapter. Then, her eyes lit up for a moment. “I have something for you,” she said. She went into the next room and returned with a box. It was a Christmas puzzle, a snowman. I was so pleased and surprised. I thanked her, shook her hand, and went home. I’ve already decided that it’s going to be a holiday project. I will think of her as I put the pieces together.

Trump exposes a fatal flaw in user-friendly design https://t.co/gM1bpaUUfX pic.twitter.com/yajk9lTaV0

— Fast Company (@FastCompany) November 19, 2016

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