It’s time for another edition of the Happy for Now list! If you’re new here, this is just a weekly list of the little things that are making me happy for now.
A home yoga option that makes me less likely to “cheat”
I have long been a fan of at-home yoga. As much as I love the dim lights and soothing atmosphere of a yoga studio, I am not as big of a fan of being in a group of people when my shirt flips over my head and I’m groaning because I can’t keep my leg lifted for one more second in three-legged dog.
At home, I can wear what I want and curse if I need to (a long exhale still counts even if it sounds like f******k, right?) and not worry about how ridiculous I might look in whatever positions I’ve pretzeled myself into.
For years, I’ve been a subscriber to Yoga with Adriene. I really love her style and her overall energy. However, this year, I’ve decided to change things up. I wanted to try something new because, as much as I love (and recommend) Adriene’s videos, she does mostly short practices and that made it a little too easy for me to “cheat” on how much exercise I had planned to do.
Yes, fifteen minutes of yoga is a great thing, but this year, I’m really trying to get in a minimum of half an hour of some type of movement daily. When I’m tired and see that she has an 18-minute practice that day, even if I planned to do 30-45 min, it’s a little too easy to say, oh, that’s good enough today. And then do that every time…
So this year I decided to try Glo Yoga, and two weeks in…I’m in love. (That link is a referral link that will get you 2 months free.) The site (and app) has a large library of classes that include different styles of yoga (vinyasa flow, hatha, yin, etc.), pilates, meditation, barre, HIIT, strength, and a few other things.
I’ve done six classes so far (vinyasa, hatha, and yin yoga and one pilates) and truly liked them all. The instructors are easy to follow and each time I felt like I really got what I wanted out of the class.
They have a variety of time options, so I guess I could still technically “cheat” but when I search, I search for 30 minutes and up, and so far, that’s keeping me honest. :) The subscription price ($30 a month) is more than I was spending on my other subscription but is cheaper than a gym class, so I’m good with it.
So, if you’re looking for yoga or pilates options at home, it’s worth checking out.
Enhancing my reading: ASMR Rooms
One of my big goals this year is to increase the amount of fiction I’m reading. But like many of us, I can struggle with focus when sitting down to read.
I had a plan to read once I settle in for the night after dinner. However, even though I had a stack of books ready to go, I found I wasn’t picking them up. When I thought about why, I realized that I was putting on the TV for background noise (mainly so my sleeping dog wouldn’t bark at every little thing) but it was distracting me, even when I put on something I didn’t care about watching.
So this past week, I decided to try putting on a YouTube ASMR reading room video on my TV instead. If you’re not familiar, these are long-playing videos of an atmospheric scene that has soothing background noises like rain or snow and a crackling fire or library sounds like someone turning pages.
These are working for me. It’s enough noise to keep the dog chill, and it lets me sink into my reading without looking up every few minutes because of a loud commercial or whatever. I haven’t been doing it long enough to have favorites, but here are a few I’ve tried that I’ve liked.
Library Sounds for Studying
Cozy Old Castle Room with Rain and Fireplace Sounds
Winter Day Reading Nook
Sitting on the Porch on a Stormy Day
A lip balm that makes me want to collect them all
My skincare and makeup routine is about as simple as it gets. I’m a basic drugstore moisturizer girl and if I don’t have coaching appointments, I don’t bother putting on makeup most days. However, I do love a good, natural lip balm.
Burt’s Bees has been my go-to for years, but recently I discovered Hurraw lip balms, and the bee has been dethroned!
These are vegan and cruelty-free, so you can feel good about the ingredients, but what I love the most is how they feel and the fun variety of scents.
These go on really smoothly and don’t feel thick on your lips. Your lipstick can easily go over it. And the scents are fabulous! I have already ordered more types than I need, but so far, I’m partial to the coffee scent and the Earl Grey, but really I haven’t come across one I haven’t liked yet.
They’re not as cheap as your garden variety lip balms, but you can get a three-pack of different scents for $17.95 on Amazon, which isn’t too bad, especially when you know they’re using good ingredients.
Alright, that’s all I have for you today. I hope you have a great rest of your weekend!
What’s making you happy for now? I’d love to hear!
*Amazon links are affiliate links
Cursing during the exhale for yoga totally counts.
I'm another who puts TV/Youtube etc on for background noise and gets distracted so I appreciate the ASMR videos too.
I absolutely loved the reading room videos, I think one or two might get some use as sleep videos for nights warm enough for no heater and cool enough for no ac (our typical sleep noise).
Those lip balms sound amazing... if only they'd package the Earl Grey in with the Chai and coffee instead of the green tea, that would be a perfect trilogy for me.