3 Methods for More Mindful Travel

Traveling typically puts us in the mindset of hyper-planning, over researching, and the act of "doing" rather than just being. In other words, travel can make it difficult to be present. When we get into the mode of plan-plan-plan and go-go-go, it is easy to get caught up in what is happening next, rather than truly immersing yourself in what is happening now. With a few tweaks in the way you travel, you can easily be a more mindful traveler. 

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Giving Yourself Time to Grow

Farming in Italy has been teaching me many lessons about growth, balance, and patience. I have shared lessons about weeding your space, appreciating what you have to offer, and giving yourself what you need to grow. Today may be the most challenging lesson: time, waiting, and patience.

As a newbie farmer, everything is exciting to me. When I see a plant start to flower I am beyond excited for the vegetable that will soon grow and I start to become impatient. When I am watering the plants I keep thinking how I cannot wait to begin eating what the plants will produce. And then there is a lot of waiting. Plants, like change, work on their own time rather than on ours. I am reminded constantly that sometimes things do not happen on the timeline that I want them to. I am here to remind you of the lesson in this: things take time.

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Tending to Your Plants

So far in the Farm Lessons series, I have discussed getting to the root of things in order to clear space for new growth andembracing your garden for what it is. This week I'll be addressing growth. Most people understand that they cannot just plant a seed and expect it to grow strong, healthy, and be fruitful. They understand that planting requires nourishment, care, tending to, maintenance, etc.

However, it can get a little tricky to understand exactly what your garden needs. To make it easier, I am sharing the four essential steps that I have learned from the farm and how you can use them to “grow” a little more mindfully in accomplishing your goals.

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Accepting Your Unique Garden

Last week I began my Farm Lessons series with some talk about getting to the root of things. Today's analogy comes from a former client who has given me permission to share it with you. We realized after a few weeks of working together that we both loved using analogies for our sessions. This was my green light to go analogy-heavy and help him “get to the root” of the things he wanted to change. When we completed our sessions, he relayed how helpful this was to him. In order to spread the wealth, today is all about taking a look at your garden, accepting it for what it is, and remembering not to fall prey to comparison.

 

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We're Featured on My Italy

For the past 3 months many of you have been following along as we ventured to Italy. This travel blog has served to update friends and family on our adventures and to be a bit of a distraction from being professional on my Mindful Living blog. Until today! 

Today, I'm excited to be sharing with more people who share our love of Italy and have an interest in farming thanks to My Italy! I reached out to Maria from My Italy months ago to see about guest blogging. Today she shared our story on her page and blog. Here's a clip:

"Sometimes when I am dirty, smelly, and beyond sore I wonder why I am doing this. I had a cushy, well paid office job with air conditioning and now I am working as a farmer for free?!

But then I look around at the hills, the greenery and everything we have worked so hard to plant and maintain and I have no regrets. I feel pride in the creation of the garden, largely planted and maintained by my husband and I. I feel fulfilled in growing and eating the food that I have watched develop after planting it only weeks before."

This month I'm sharing my "Lessons from the Farm" blog series here! Thanks for keeping up with our travels, new readers and old. I look forward to sharing more as we travel throughout Europe!  

Getting to the Root of Things

I have been living and working on a farm in Italy for more than twelve weeks now and the lessons I am learning are abundant! So much so that I am dedicating this month to sharing all the farm lessons with you. The cycles of caring for the plants and land on the farm have many similarities to the cycles of human behavior and caring for ourselves. There are so many scientific benefits to gardening like being connected to nature, reduced stress levels, and a better ability to be in the moment.

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Communication in Relationships: Brian

We have all heard that in many situations "communication is the key to success." The same goes for relationships: the more communication the better. I'm not talking about texting. Talking face to face is by far the most effective. Even Leslie and I had to work through this the hard way. I will give you some examples of how our communication has evolved and improved.

In the early stages of our relationship Leslie and I would text often. Even more so when we were discussing something that we disagreed upon. Naturally, communication via text began to get lost in translation. Too often things were taken the wrong way and only made situations worse. When our relationship was getting more serious, Leslie continued to try to have long conversations via text, explaining that she could write things better when she was upset. However we never seemed to get anywhere and things would often turn out worse than when they began. I eventually refused to text anything that had to do with a serious issue and Leslie began to agree with me. 

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Communication in Relationships: Leslie

Communication is arguably the most important aspect of a relationship. More than chemistry, similarities or differences, communication is the lifeblood of making a relationship last long term. This goes for any relationship: romantic, friendly, work, etc. Without communication, we are left to assume what the other person may be thinking, feeling or wanting and you know what they say about assuming...

Good communication starts with a solid understanding of communication styles. In relationships, those styles have to be built, developed, and evolved through change and circumstances. I cannot tell you how many times I have said to my clients, and my husband, it is not what you say but how you say it. One thing could be said at least 5 different ways. The challenge with healthy communication in relationships is being aware of and sensitive to what both you and your partner needs. 

In romantic relationships, this may mean knowing how to preface a conversation that is very important to you because you know your partner could be distracted otherwise.

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Embracing Each Other's Differences: Brian

You probably have heard in wedding vows or cheesy love stories that a person has finally found their counterpart. One person is loud and the other is quiet; one is a free-thinker and the other is technical. Whatever the differences may be in a relationship they allow partners to learn from each other. It is likely that partners in a relationship have just as many opposites as they do similarities. While having differences may make the relationship challenging at times, dealing with them in the right way can bring you closer together.

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