Ritual and Routine

 
As I've said before, there are a few things I want to include into my regular daily, weekly or monthly routine that don't include homework. 

• Core/Arm Strength training, minimal excersises to do in my living room 
• Mobility Stretches 
• Full body stretching/yoga stretches 
• Massage scalp 
• Manicure/Pedicure 
• Knit (1 hr+)
• Reading (1hr+) 
• Be able to steam or sauna body 
• Walk outside recreationally (45+)

Core/Arm Strength training, minimal excersises to do in my living room: 

I have pretty weak arms and core strength in general, my legs are no problem though. I also notoriously sleep on my shoulder, and recently when I wake up there's just a shooting pain all through my shoulder and collarbones. Now I'm having problems with my underarms. It needs to change! 
I've seen that getting a small ball you can palm (like volleyball or a bit smaller) and spelling the alphabet out on the wall in front of you with it in your hand is super helpful and can help slowly build the muscle strength. 
I think that's essentially all I need because I love going to the gym, I just haven't been able to recently. Building up that little bit of base strength would 100% help me feel more confident in working out my arms again. Core is also super important to me because I always fear for some reason I'll need core strength to get me out of an emergency like a landslide or something... It would also just be helpful aside from that but I think that's something that can help me work towards that. This is something I'd want to do at least 3 times a week for 40 minutes, I feel like that's doable. 

Mobility Stretches: 

Along with weak arms and core I also
have incredibly poor joints. I can't sit
for too long ormoving positions-
no matter how small, puts me in

arthritic level pain. Mobility stretches
would help with this I'm sure.
Little ones, breathing ones, sitting
ones, standing ones. I've seen a lot of
different kinds online and feel like I 
can find a few that would suit me. 

I feel like I could do this every day 

before bed or after waking up for

maybe 15-30 minutes? I bet I would 
push the numbers up after a bit. I've 
got a bit of time to find a good 
routine that would be easy for me to
get into. 

Full body stretching/yoga stretches: 

My new college has yoga classes I'm pretty sure, but if not it would be easy enough to find a few flows/poses that I could practice along side strength training and mobility stretching. Even writing this, sitting on the couch, my knees hurt so much. Part of it is medical yes, but the other part I can make stronger if I keep things up. 

My family has a few books that have poses and instructions, maybe I'll be able to smuggle them to my dorm. For now I'm resorted to the internet and Barnes & Noble! That's probably what I'll do this week too. This is probably something I'd want to do once a week for full body involvement yoga or stretching- maybe just an hour or under? 

Massage Scalp:

I've read that massaging your scalp is beneficial to preventing dandruff, reducing stress and hair growth. That checks all my boxes! It seems like it's best to keep it under 15 minutes per massage session to prevent loss of hair from irritation and breakage. Doing this while shampooing and after the shower with oil in your hair will most likely be the best times from what I've read. This is definitely something I can do and keep up with. 

Manicure/Pedicure: 

My friend has been getting her nails and toes done all summer, super cute and not always super over the top which I usually go for. She also said that this year "no one had better see my real nails" and I thought; honestly yeah, that's a good way to go, I like that, you know? A classy little french tip on the toe and a well thought out color to go on the hands. While I already told my nail girl- Willow my bestie the love of my life, that I wanted these super intricate duck nails *That I am SO excited for* the second I get back, I'm definitely going to start planning out my nail sets to start matching cute. I always just have that boost of confidence every time, I feel good getting gas and homework. I love getting my nails done!! Who doesn't? 

Especially at the end when they massage your wrists and fingers or calves with oil and it smells sooo so good! I think even men should get them done, getting a refresh where you can see and feel the difference in your hands is so important for everyone to able to get the opportunity to try. I feel like this is something I would do every 2-3 weeks depending on what's going on and what classes I have. Sometimes I have an art class that will require I have no fake nails cause of material or machine obstacles... but I switched to graphic design so really, what could the serious hang up be if I got nails? I can't think of any other than get better typing with nails! 

Knitting: 

I can't wait to get back to Oregon, all of my yarn is there! And I mean all of it. A huuge storage bin full and a duffel bag. Hopefully bugs haven't infested it and all of my things.... a lot of it is wool. Knitting is one of my great loves! I started this year but I feel like I've learned a lot pretty quickly. I wanted to learn so badly and practiced so hard the basic motions and stitches so that I could do it while watching a show or just zoning out. It creates a space in my free time to just put all my energy into my muscle memory. If I mess up, I never get mad at frogging and re-knitting. I find those mistakes a good peace practice in keeping my patience. 

I love color works specifically, they're super fun and my next object tackle is double sided knit where the pattern is the same (or sometimes different- that's witchcraft though) on both sides but the colors are swapped between negative space and positive space. I plan on making some mittens, a bonnet and leg warmers next before I make a sweater. 

Reading:

I've already been reading this summer and continue to do so! Here is what I'm reading : 

• The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
• This book so far has been a surreal mix of soviet political references and mystical chaos of different worlds between different times. From the reviews I've read it seems overall a thorough read if you push through it and can understand its context well enough. I've also seen a lot of people say they are burnt out by the middle of the book, hopefully this doesn't happen.. doesn't seem like it will lol. 
  
  
• Zora Neale Hurston Biography 
• She is one of my all time favorite authors, so obviously I had to start the book. I found it in a super cool bookstore in Homer and it's been traveling with me while I read it slowly. 100% Recommend reading this or any of her other stories if you haven't. 
  
  
• Sunrise On the Reaping 
• I am super excited for the movie to come out but want to read the book first! It seems super cool and honestly I've only ever read the first book, so that'll hook me into reading the others 

Steam/ Sauna Body: 

This will sound a bit snobby but I grew super used to sauna-ing every evening or every other this summer being home. It has been so helpful for my skin and health. I am able to relax fully and I've been super invested in being able to clean out the sweat through my body in the sauna throughout the week. 

SO much water drinking that my metabolism has definitely been getting cleaner (or something, that's what I read) My mom has found a few sauna/steam rooms in Portland that are cheap that I am able to bike to so I might commit to biking out 2 times a month? Just to reset my body throughout the month if things are becoming too stressful.