There's some good in this world… and it's worth fighting for.
Music can be a great source of comfort and inspiration when you’re feeling down.
Why this song’s so cool: It is SO beautiful. And it’s a good wailer/belter to get really into. I have definitely karaoked this more than once. Vocal-wise, it has a nice range of mood variety and dynamic options, so lots of potential to expressing a broad emotional range.
Why this song’s helpful: Perfect song for dealing with a loss. And I don’t necessarily mean a death. A loss of any kind. Also a nice jam for just feeling sad and/or lonely. Or if you’re looking at the stars.
Edith Nesbit is one of the authors whose works testify to the eternal flexibility of light fantasy. It was just recently that I became familiar with her work and her influence on children’s literature. I came across the story “The Dragon Tamers” through a sleep and meditation app on my phone, called “Calm.” The app provides a variety of stories, fiction and non-fiction, read in soothing voices to help people fall asleep. I listened to the reading of “The Dragon Tamers,” and stayed awake for the whole story, and I’m glad I did, as it quickly became a favorite. This story is a perfect example of creative light fantasy.
This is a story about a dragon that the poor blacksmith John discovers in his dungeon, and over time, the dragon is actually the character who grows, changes and exhibits the most character development. John and his family’s various interactions with the dragon are what really drives the story and moves it forward. There are many unexpected twists and turns as well as fun Dr. Seuss-like word play, rhymes, and alliteration.
After becoming so interested in and taken with this story, I wanted to know more about Edith Nesbit, so I bought her biography, which says she is considered to be the first modern writer for children and to have basically invented the children’s adventure story, which is amazing. It was so surprising to learn that this particular story had been published over 100 years ago. I would never have guessed that! This story really demonstrates the timelessness of fantasy and fantasy themes. If you want to know how to get your baby stop crying, apparently a dragon is extremely helpful, and you should be careful about what you feed your cat if you want your cat to stay a cat, and not turn into the beginning of dragons.
Music can be a great source of comfort and inspiration when you’re feeling down.
“I’m the sea that surrounds you
The garden that grounds you
The sun and the wind and the rain
I am every season
You’re every reason
To start it all over again
Soon you’ll sail a wild river
We’ll set sail together
And oceans will call out your name
And by stars you will follow
Your hopes for tomorrow
And start it all over again
And if you stagger or stumble
If dreams start to crumble
I’ll pick up the pieces of pain
I will cradle you cry with you
Pray that you’ll try to just
Start it all over again
Who has eyes that can see
All the things you could be?
Who has ears for the sweetest refrain?
May your heart sing forever
Where the sea meets the river
And start it all over again”
Why this song’s so cool: Don’t think I could say it better than this guy in the comments: “Makes me feel like I’m in The Shire, smoking a pipe with Gandalf. In a good way.” – Dane Cobain
Oh, HEY, apparently he has a website about writing and music…. 🙂 http://danecobain.com/
And also a fun book blog!! http://www.socialbookshelves.com/about/
I guess I could only add that if I could marry someone’s voice, it might be Heidi Talbot’s.
Why this song’s helpful: Still don’t think I could say it better than this other guy in the comments: “With a little faith, this lovely song allows for hope beyond what at times feels as if there is only hopelessness.” – Legrand Bakker
No website for this deep thinker. 🙁
More about the Mahogany Sessions:
http://mahogany.blog/about/
*It feels like a Monday to me…
THESE ARE ALL FREE (with options to upgrade, cause that’s how apps work)
Calm: The only app I actually paid for. This app has tons of music, meditations, and sleep stories to help with insomnia. I believe the free version had three or four sleep stories, and some basic meditations as well as “The 7 days of calm,” a week-long series of guided meditations focused on relaxation. It keeps track of your statistics and has a variety of background moving images with sounds you can choose to activate or not. I tried the free app for about a month and really loved it! It quickly became an integral part of my night-time sleep ritual. Finally, I made an investment in my well-being and bought a year-long subscription. Totally worth it. The meditations are organized into categories such as ‘relationships,’ ‘calming anxiety,’ ‘forgiveness,’ and ‘deep sleep,’ then time, and most of them are guided – great for a beginner like me! They also have many 7-day programs on different topics: ‘7 days of managing stress,’ 7 days of gratitude,’ ‘7 days of self-esteem,’ and more! The sleep stories are awesome! They have a variety of readers reading a variety of types of stories of variety of lengths in soothing voices.
My favorite non-fictions are “Blue Gold,” a story read by Stephen Fry about harvesting lavender in France, “Scotland’s Hidden Hideaways,” a history of the bothies (free adapted shelters for hikers and travelers) of Scotland read by May Charters (yes, she has an accent!), and ‘The Sequoia,’ a nature essay about the Sequoia tree written by John Muir! My favorite fiction sleep stories are many! They have Greek myths, childhood favorites, fairy tales and more! The Dragon Tamers by Edith Nesbit is my favorite new story! I even bought her biography! But I am almost too into the sleep story to be able to fall asleep! Fortunately, the app provides a vast range in level of monotony. There’s one story that is just the British shipping forecast. “Dr. Orma’s Sleep Science” is also a great non-fiction one to listen to when your especially frustrated about sleep – it reassures you and dispels common myths about insomnia. This app really makes me feel better about the time I spend in bed, not sleeping. Because I am meditating during that time, I can see that I am accomplishing SOMETHING.
Relax Melodies – This app has a free 5 day meditation program to help you manage your sleep better and stay asleep longer so you wake up well rested and energized. It teaches you about the benefits of meditation and each 10-minute meditation is designed to guide you to sleep. There are a couple other meditation programs on this app that provide you with the first few free as well. You can create your own custom combination of relaxing sounds to lull you to sleep and set them on a timer length of your choosing. I didn’t know there were types of noise other than ‘white noise,’ but apparently there exists ‘pink noise’ as well as ‘brown noise?’ (Sounds gross…lol) The melodies included are fairly simple and repetitive, but they get the job done. They also include isochronic tones and binaural beats if you’re into that.
Atmosphere – An app to customize your atmosphere, this helpful tool provides a variety of sound options organized by environment. So you can choose to hear rain as it sounds on the beach, in the forest, in the city, etc. You can also import your own sounds, program favorite combinations, and set the timer for whenever you want. Like Relax Melodies, this app also includes binaural and isochronic sounds that are supposed to help reduce stress and anxiety and stimulate creativity and mental clarity. There are some unusual sounds – who wants to fall asleep to the sound of construction, sirens, or a rooster? But hey – whatever floats your boat!
Sweet Sleep – This is another free app for your phone and/or tablet that plays soothing sounds and music. My favorite is ‘lullaby of the forest’ combined with ‘gentle rain’ and ‘morning beach.’ You can customize melody/nature sound combinations, adjust the volume of each one in your mix, and set them on a timer. This app has somewhat more variety in music choices, which is nice. And they are less repetitive as well in addition also too.
Forest – Not specifically for napping, but if one of your sleep-related obstacles is your phone, this can definitely help. Basically this app helps you reduce the wasting time on your phone, keeping you focused and in the present.. I tend to just browse or play games on my phone at night when I should be trying to sleep. And we all know electronic devices are supposed to be a no-no at bedtime! With this app, you choose an amount of time to commit to being phone-free and you plant a ‘tree.’ As long as you leave your phone alone during this time the tree grows and flourishes. But if you interact with your phone, your tree dies 🙁 and your forest is ugly. With your rewards you can buy fun trees shaped like octopi, or made out of candy, or with awesome treehouses in them. ALSO, If you plant enough trees in your forests, the app is partnered with a tree planting organization that will plant a real tree! (Alas, I’m not focused enough for that yet…) But it is also a great way to commit to focusing on getting daily tasks done, studying more efficiently, working, etc.!
You’ve gone away and left me
I spend each night alone
Just Waiting and awaiting
for you to come back home.
I miss our days together,
and our nights as well.
Each day I am without you
Is a day akin to hell.
I miss the way you made me feel;
You kept me safe and warm.
And I could conquer any mountain
With you to calm my storm.
You always left me brimming
With the strength to labor on.
The way you clung to me in mornings,
Anchored me past dawn.
You’re no longer here beside me –
I miss your soft caress
I mostly miss your company:
Without you, I’m a mess.
But I still try to do it.
You know when I thought about the topic for this blog?
WHEN I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FREAKING MEDITATING.
Right now, I’m primarily using this app called ‘Calm,’ which is not that bad. The free features are perfect for a beginner like me to keep busy I mean CALM. After a couple of weeks, I decided to actually pay(!?!?) for the whole app, and I’m surprisingly glad I did. There are meditations for everything. And for each category, you can choose what length of time works best for you.
My favorite feature is the sleep stories. They’ re just someone reading a story in a soothing voice. Sometimes it’s super boring. Sometimes it’s a metaphor. Whatever. They’re great. There’s one non-fiction one that I have never been able to stay awake through! And there’s one fiction one about how cats basically came from dragons! LOVED IT!
Chai tea in the mornings is a particular treat. I like to have chai tea on the mornings when I have the time to just sit comfortably and relax. Coffee is for mornings where I’m in a hurry and breakfast is synonymous with multi-tasking. But chai tea days are those special and cherished leisurely mornings where you can breathe deeply, eat slowly, and appreciate your surroundings. More days should be chai tea days. It’s caffeine – it’s energy, but still it somehow relaxes me while simultaneously preparing and motivating me to be productive without emphatically worrying about being productive.
Chai Tea Health Benefits:
http://www.chai-tea.org/benefits.html
All sorts of yummy teas:
http://www.teavana.com/us/en/tea/chai-tea
A while back, I took a tai chi class through Pierce College continuing education. It was in the morning. On Saturdays. While I really enjoyed it, I sadly did not attend every class. It was in the morning. On Saturdays. ugh.
However, on the days that I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed and participated, I found the class to be really relaxing and fun. I liked the explanations of the patterned movements, and the fact that everything meant something. The practice required just enough focus to feel like meditation, while not so much brainpower was needed to make it overwhelming and exhausting. It was challenging, but not overly so. It was, surprisingly harder than I thought it would be – requiring strong, steady, slow, and, to an extent, precise muscle movement is not as easy as it looks! But still, it made me feel solid and strong as well as surprisingly graceful. Even though we were all beginners, when we started to get used to the pattern, and were executing the movements in sync, it was fun to feel like a part of something bigger – like our energies were all working together to make something beautiful and meaningful.
But, for me, Tai Chi is a practice more easily initiated in the evening. Mornings are hard for me already, as an impatient insomniac, so I feel like that likely detracted significantly from my enjoyment and motivation. In the evenings, when preparing for bed, Tai Chi can help slow the racing thoughts by slowing the body and having something on which to focus – it’s a peaceful strengthening routine that prepares my body for a more efficient resting of the mind and body. So for me, the best way to appreciate and benefit from this calming and centering exercise, is to practice Tai Chi in the evenings.
Want to know more about Tai Chi? Here’s a beginner’s guide:
http://www.beginnerstaichi.com/what-is-tai-chi-for-beginners.html
I also found this video to be helpful!
Pretending to be a sim is a great way to assess your mood when you feel like crap, but are having a hard time figuring out why. You know those needs bars in the game the Sims? When you get really overwhelmed, think of those and how you would deal with them in the Sims. You evaluate where you are in each category – are you in the green? Or is the bar red with that arrow to the left? Identify the problem areas and fix them in order of easiest-hardest.
Think of each need category and assess your level. It helps to ask yourself questions more like; “When did I last eat” rather than, “Am I hungry.” Sometimes you don’t know why you feel the way you feel, or what needs the most attention.
Think of how you can fix each problem area and then organize your plans to get back in the green in a way that makes sense to you. Usually that’s easiest to hardest, but sometimes you start with the category that is the MOST RED. Sure, you might be in the kitchen with a snack on your way to your mouth, but if you’re about to pee your pants, do that first. (please).
I guess that’s a fancy way of saying just do it.
Music can be a great source of comfort and inspiration when you’re feeling down.
“You don’t know how lovely you are
Sweet sweet soul with dark dark eyes
Head to heel beautifully marred
Sweet sweet soul, forgive my surprise
I know you see right through me
But please don’t look away
I’ll comfort you if you’ll cling to me
We’ll cry and we’ll wait for the day
Oh, I wish you could see what I see
My sweet sweet soul
Dark dark eyes
You don’t know how dangerous you are
Sweet sweet soul with small, small hands
I’d tell you the truth, but it’s hard
Sweet sweet soul, you don’t comprehend
But I’ll sing you every known love song
Until you can sleep through the night
I’ll stay by your side if you’ll have me, love
I’ll hold you until you don’t fight
Oh, I wish you could see what I see
My sweet sweet soul
Dark dark eyes”
Why this song’s so cool: Marian Call is a nerdy folk singer/songwriter, and she actually has a whole album just dedicated to the T.V. show FIREFLY, which is awesome! This particular song is usually interpreted to be about River Tam.
Why this song’s helpful: Sometimes you can’t see things clearly when you’re tired or stressed or overwhelmingly sad. Your perception of yourself and the situation become warped. This song can remind you that others may see you differently and have a unique perspective that can be helpful to comfort you and get through your problems. It reminds you that sometimes all you can do is hold on and weather the storm until a new day begins. It also lets you know that your struggles are a part of what makes you who you are, and that can be beautiful and appreciated. Also the music itself is just really soothing and calming.
