My exact meditation & journaling practice
Over the years I’ve meditated and written in my journal. As a yoga teacher, I dipped my toe into meditation because that was part of the whole picture.
As I’ve traveled through life, I can’t say how many times the importance of meditation has come up for me: from business heroes and mentors, from athletes, from ALL sorts of people.
As an ex-yoga teacher, mom and entrepreneur, I now view meditation as the most important part of any self-care practice. Why? There’s lots of science behind it! I’m not a science writer BUT I’ll get to that later. And from experiencing my own .
Now let’s just clarify - I am not an expert. I am not a guru or even an accomplished meditator! I meditate 10 -15 minutes a day. Anyone can do that. I am not special!
So here are the steps to get you going:
1) Set a time each day that will work for you. Before bed (this is me), when you wake, during your lunch break.
2) Start with 1 minute. Or 2 minutes, if you’re really feeling mighty. Seriously! Do it.
3) Each day, add a minute until you’re up to your desired time limit.
4) After you meditate, pull out your journal and set your timer again. Journal for the same amount of time as you meditate.
5) Start your journal with 3 Good Things (just write down three good things from your day). This gets the pen moving quickly.
6) Next, show appreciation to those in your life, starting with yourself. I know there are lots of people to feel appreciation for, but just choose 3-4 per day, STARTING WITH YOURSELF.
Actually write out: “I appreciate myself for writing and publishing that blog post I’ve been thinking about” OR “I appreciate my husband for serving me a coffee on the couch this morning” (yes, this actually happens to me!).
7) Then just write. About feelings and observations. About epiphanies had during your day or during your meditation. About something you’re working through. About a new belief you want to have about yourself or someone else. Just to give you a few ideas.
8) Tools to make all this easier and more fun? There’s an app for that! Insight Timer. It’s amazing.
9) Insight Timer favorite meditations and content creators to follow:
Dr. Karolien Notebaert. Listen to her TEDx Talk (available on InsightTimer). So this is where I get back to the science part. Listen to this TED Talk to get the low down on what’s really happening in your brain! Then meditate to her “Body Scan to Let Go of Thoughts & Rise & Shine”.
Jack Kornfield. Listen to his “Breathing Meditation” and his “Loving Awareness: Mindfulness of Breath and What is Present”
Sarah Blondin. Listen to her “Loving and Listening to Yourself” and “Remembering Your Worth"
10) Don’t get lost in the app - find and follow a few people (like my favorites above) and stick with it.
11) And finally, anyone can meditate. Everyone’s mind wanders constantly. The practice is acknowledging the wandering and then redirecting it back to your body or your breath.
Ok, now you’re ready to go.
Comment below to let me know how your practice is going. And remember it’s called a practice because it IS a practice.
Some days suck.
Some days you feel amazing.
But I know from experience, this will take you places.
My House is a Mess
Recently my husband and I took the “Working Genius” quiz, formulated by Pat Lencioni. Which I highly recommend and sort of blew our minds.
It was of little surprise that we both do not thrive in the genius of “Tenacity”. Finishing tasks to the end brings neither of us any joy. Paying bills? Freaking boring. Making the kitchen sparkle? It’s fun to start, but seriously? Not interested.
I thrive on imagining and starting things and figuring out how to make things better.
He thrives on decision making and galvanizing (or bringing people together).
Unfortunately this means our house is a disaster area most of the time. I still struggle with feeling like a complete failure when I sit back and take in my messy house. Shouldn’t any remotely responsible adult be able to keep a house clean?
To make things worse a neighbor girl and her mom popped by one day and neighbor girl exclaimed: “why is your house so messy?” Major shame trigger.
I curtly (hopefully not TOO curtly) told her that I don’t clean my house on the weekend. Which is mostly true - It’s not that I don’t clean. It’s that the cleaning is never finished and I just give up. Or I just don’t do - especially on the weekends. Because really - why waste your time when you could be out playing or gardening or doing ANYTHING else?
So you’re probably wondering what this has to do with flowers?
Yeah, I was too until I heard someone say the reason they love flowers in their home is because it makes their house feel clean even when it’s not.
When I heard that I perked up! First off - there’s someone else without a clean home?!
And second - they’re SO RIGHT. Although I hadn’t put my finger on it - I too feel a sense of peace amidst the clutter, toys, crayons and laundry when a vase of flowers are in the room.
Isn’t that amazing?!
Do you feel this?
How do you feel when you have a vase of flowers in your home?
If you now know you NEED flowers CLICK HERE to learn all about our summer bouquet subscription!
Tablescape Inspiration for your Holiday Table
Let’s be honest: the holidays are going to look a little different this year.
Most of us are usually looking forward to slowing down, and heading inside with big gatherings of family and friends. Instead I’m hoping this year we’re all going to heed advice from health experts and keep our gatherings small and within our “bubbles”.
Since there’ll be less family and friends, maybe we can instead focus our effort on bringing our creativity to the table.
Leaves, fruit and mini pumpkins make for simple and lovely decoration.
Here are some simple ideas I’ve come up with to bring your table to life.
Hang things. This is a great trick if you’re in a pinch for extra table space. Use clear fishing wire to hang natural items from above: flowers, grasses, pine cones, etc. Just be sure nothing is going to fall on your delicious food. Give it a good shake before hanging to make sure it’s secure!
Mix vintage and modern. Don’t fret if nothing you have in your home “matches”. Use a mix of new and old, vintage and modern. Then use color to bring everything together.
Mix tall and short. Create variety for the viewer by using taller arrangements mixed with low arrangements or simply items artfully set on the table.
Use twigs and sticks. Almost all natural objects look cool and funky when brought inside. Place twigs in a glass vase or arrange them on the table. The best part is they don’t need water. My faves? Spruce and birch. But get creative! Can you find colorful twigs this time of year??
Use bud vases (or my favorite - empty glass spice jars). Your flowers or other gathered items will go way farther if you divide them and place 1-3 stems in a bud vase or jar. You can then artfully arrange items all the way down the table so that each diner has a nice view of something beautiful.
Use fruit. Whole or cut open fruit looks gorgeous and really gets the taste buds primed :) Grapefruit and other citrus, colorful apples, papaya, etc. Play around with what you think might look interesting.
Buy some flowers. Nothing brightens up the home like flowers! This winter we are partnering with other American farmers to bring you a fresh, gorgeous and seasonal bouquet for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. These will be for pre-order only and will go on sale the week of October the 26th. I can’t wait to share these with you!!
For additional ideas and some fun inspiration photos go here!
And lastly, after your holiday celebrations send me a photo of your table: turnstonefarm@gmail.com or tag me on Instagram @turnstonefarm! Can’t wait to see what you create :)
Take apart your flower bouquet and place in bottles! This is a great way to make your flowers go way farther.
Find a fun goblet to arrange your flowers in.
Preserving the harvest part 1: pressing flowers
We all know that summer won’t last forever. That’s why I’m all for figuring out how to preserve the harvest. Not only for food but for flowers too!
I’ve dried flowers in the past but am just now re-discovering the process of pressing them. This is the first season I’m really trying to press a lot of blooms, so I’m a relative newbie. But you can follow me along here as I discover what methods and varieties work best.
Since I only have a small commercially made flower press, I’m putting to use my cherished library of flower and farming texts (and some of Jason’s old college texts) to press in a very no-fuss way.
Pressing whole poppies with a small commercial press.
Here’s a few tips to follow when pressing your blooms:
1) Press flowers before they expire. This is a great way to extend the life of your bouquet subscription or market bouquet. But don’t wait till the blooms are wilted. Press while there’s still a little life still in them.
2) Press individual petals and whole blooms. Play with pressing both! Larger blooms with a thick center may not work so well but smaller flowers like forget-me-nots, poppies and cosmos (to name a few) press lovely whole. I love leaving on the stems too!
3) Use a semi absorbent blotting paper on both sides of the bloom. You can purchase a blotting paper, use water color paper or even a few sheets of newspaper.
4) Press flowers by layering between blotting paper and press either using books as a weight or a commercial flower press.
5) Change blotting paper as needed while flowers dry. If you don’t, you may get some molding.
6) Make sure flowers are completely dry before removing them from the press. Store for later use (think winter art-making) or start creating something of beauty now!
Pressing whole poppies using tissue paper as a blotting medium and books as the press. These pressed beautifully. I love pressing with the stem attached!
4 Ways to Enjoy Your Bouquet Subscription
Thank you so much to all my awesome bouquet subscribers. I couldn’t do this without you!
As a farmer, I have a lot of expenses up front: seeds, soil amendments (organic of course), labor, seed starting supplies, marketing material, etc. A lot of money goes out the door before I have even one flower blooming in the garden. EEK!
Farmers around the nation have embraced this “community supported agriculture” or “CSA” model to give them a vital cash boost when they most need it - the early spring/summer. In return the farmer gives back produce or flowers ALL SUMMER LONG or as agreed upon.
It’s a big ask for customers - to come up with a bulk payment up front and I AM SO GRATEFUL TO YOU!!
So when your much anticipated bouquet subscription starts I wanted to give you a few fun ideas for how to enjoy your flowers :)
1) Display in a classic tall vase.
If you just want a no-fuss way to display our flowers, this is for you! Get your bouquet home, fill a vase with water, re-cut the stems and place in water. Enjoy :)
Cut stems and place in a tall vase.
2) Arrange in a low vase or urn.
This will be a fun, creative process for those wanting to play a little more with arranging.
If you’re doing some extra arranging, feel free to snip a few additional stems from your yard or garden. I love adding a bit of spruce (this also adds some nice structure for the other flowers in a low vessel) or a snip of aspen. If you have other perennial foliage or flowers in your garden, don’t be afraid to cut a few! Not everything does amazing in the vase, but you don’t know until you try.
I like to start with some sturdy foliage (why I love spruce), then add some flowers (be sure to cut as short as desired). Then just keep adding flower by flower, adding foliage here and there. Don’t look for perfect! Just look for done :)
3) Disassemble and place stems into individual bud vases. It’s as easy as that.
I love putting these all over the house: in the bathroom to freshen things up, on the kitchen windowsill (although keep out of direct sun), on your bedside table (if you really want to pamper yourself), etc.
Make sure to check daily for adequate water - flowers really drink big and tiny vases can go dry in no time.
Take apart your bouquet apart and place individual stems in bud vases.
4) Float larger blooms in a shallow bowl or jar.
Cut the stems short and float large and/or double bloomed flowers in water. Flowers that do well floating include peonies, dahlias, ranunculus, roses, and large double zinnias. This is by no means an exhaustive list! Experiment :)
Larger blooms float beautifully!
There you have it!
Now I want to hear from you! How do you love to display your flowers? Comment below OR send me an email at turnstonefarm@gmail.com! Include photos :) You can also tag me on facebook or instagram @turnstonefarm.
Looking Ahead to a New Decade with SMART Goals
Although I just read on my NPR app that not all are in agreement that on January 1st we will begin a new decade…
I am celebrating!
Bring on the 20’s!!
I’m not big on resolutions BUT am focusing on goal setting for the new year.
To focus my goals I’ve divided them into three categories:
1) Personal
2) Business
3) Financial
Then I’ve brainstormed 3-5 in each category that are meaningful to me. Some are really BIG and feel a little scary to write down. Others are smaller but still important.
A business mentor told me that you need to set BIG goals (that may not seem realistic) in order to push yourself to become a different person in pursuing them. Not all mine are in the category of BIG but read on as I share a few that I’ll be working on in 2020!
In my business category I’m aiming to TRIPLE my sales! This is BIG, this is HUGE and I will have to change a lot about me and my business to get there. But I’m ready :) I’ve got a few others in this category but this is the one I really wanted to share just to get it out there into the world.
In my personal life I’m keeping my desk clean! 75% of the time my desk is covered with mail, junk, kids coloring (not junk), broken toys, sewing projects, cassette tapes (seriously!), etc. Not in 2020! I need a clean place to work EVERY DAY. Desk cleaning will now be a part of my evening tidying-up ritual.
I feel a little shy about sharing my financial goals because these feel very personal but I’ll just say that I’ve been working on setting these in 1 year, 1-5 year, 5-10 year and 10+ year categories. This might be my hardest category but I’m excited to get them written down. Jason and I will be sitting down shortly to share these with each other, throw some out, and plan how to make the rest come true!
After I hone in on my goals I’m writing them in my shiny new 2020 planner so I can look at them every morning.
Now it’s your turn!
Set aside 30 minutes to set some goals that feel really meaningful to you.
You can use my categories or come up with your own.
Remember to make them SMART to help make them real and relevant:
S (specific)
M (measurable)
A (achievable)
R (relevant)
T (time-bound)
If you want to read more on how to use SMART to set your goals there is loads out there on the internet - just google it!
Have fun and Happy New Year!