Walk It Off!

Whenever my mind feels a bit too full and in need of a break, there’s always one thing that helps it to calm down and get things sorted a little. That one thing is going for a walk.

Lately (as you guys know) my mind has been a bit all over the place, and at times it felt like it was just spread as thin as it could possibly get. I knew it was time to do something about that. Needed to get back into the good routines that I used to have. Or maybe it was just time for some new ones.

Then I had a thought. The place where I’m working now is one that I always take public transportation to and from. First I take the subway, and then I change over to a bus. It takes me about 30 minutes from the moment I walk out the door, depending on the traffic. But how long would it take me to walk?

So I sat down and started looking at different routes recommended by Google Maps, and found that it didn’t look so bad. I hadn’t really decided that I was going to actually do this until the morning on my birthday (two days ago) when I got up at 5 am and started my day off with 20 minutes of meditation. Just to get such a good start to the day made me highly motivated to try to make more out of the day, and I decided to take the walk.

The 8 km walk (5 miles) took me about an hour and a half, and it felt so good! My mind felt so much calmer and clearer by the time I got to work, and I held a steady pace for the whole walk, so it counts as a bit of good exercise as well! My best friend Kirsti picked me up after work for our Birthday Pyjama Date, so I didn’t walk home that day. Wednesday I had a day off work, but today however I thought it was time to do the walk both to and from, and I did!

Now I’m not saying that walking fixes everything. My brain is constantly filled with way too much that goes on at the same time, but the walking helps me to sort it. To be able to be on the move, and at one with my thoughts, it just makes it so much easier to see the difference between the important thoughts and the unnecessary ones. To differ between voices and noise.

I don’t think that I will be walking to and from work every day, but from now on, I will definitely do it more often.

There’s something so very therapeutic about going for a walk, and I sure as hell needed it! Most of us could, from time to time.

How Do I Read You Ask?

I’ve been getting questions a lot lately from readers and friends wondering about my reading habits and routines so I thought I would share my answers with you all 🙂

The Real Deal!

The thing about books is that it’s really all about the story and how it is told.

But for book nerds like myself there are other things that we value as well. Like a beautiful cover and how it’ll be a great addition to that future library, preferably one as big as Belle’s in Beauty and the Beast of course!

This is one of the many reasons why my absolute favorite is the book that I can hold with my hands, feel that lovely paper texture and sometimes even sniff it because some of them have that lovely old book smell that warms a readers heart.

But I want to be very clear about one thing: If I don’t like the book, I won’t keep it just because it has a beautiful cover.

It is what’s inside that truly counts!

Listen! Can you hear it?

When you are a dedicated reader you find time to devour the stories whenever you can.

Too many books, too little time! You know how it is..

So whenever I do my makeup, workout, are out and about or can’t sleep I use my Audible App and listen to an audio book.

For me it is the perfect way of “reading” a book when I don’t feel like flipping those pages.

 If you haven’t tried Audible out yet, then click on the banner below for a free 30 days trial and two free audio books!

Oh Kindle, my Kindle!

A Kindle (or any reading tablet really) is a wonderful gadget to have for any book lover.

What opened my eyes to Kindle was when authors started to contact me, asking me if I wanted to read and review their books. I was so honored (and still am, every single time!) but when I was sent the media file I found myself struggling to commit to reading them on my phone or mac.

That’s when the Kindle ended up on the top of my wish list and I was lucky enough to get one for my birthday last year!

Mine is a Kindle Paperwhite and now that I have this darling in my life, I can’t imagine my life without it!

It’s such an easy way to get books in an instant, you can read in bed (without having to keep others up with that bright reading light) and you can bring hundreds of books with you when you travel without having to carry all that paper weight. You don’t want to ruin those beautiful editions either, right?

You can also download the Kindle app for free on any kind of tablet as well if you already have one of those and feel like you don’t need yet another gadget in your life.

All those books! Don’t get them mixed up!

I don’t always have the time or energy (or functional arms at times) to review a book at the very moment when I’ve finished it.

And some books takes some time to get through and have a bunch of characters. When wanting to review books I make sure to take notes while I’m reading.

I try to always have my notebook with me and if that isn’t possible I bring post-it’s (or something of the sort) and of course a couple of pens. I also like to mark out quotes or interesting things that I find in the handheld novels that I read.

With these notes of mine I can stay organized and avoid mixing up all the characters.

The Where? The When? The How?

Now that we’ve covered the things, it’s time to talk about the reading itself.

I am committed to my reading and my exploration of imaginary worlds. This means that I really do make time for my reading.

Instead of being bored, I read. But when I don’t feel motivated to do so, then I don’t. It’s important to not push it so that I don’t find myself falling into a reading slump.

I almost always bring a book (or my Kindle) with me and if not I have my phone and headset so that I can listen to one.

I very often choose reading over tv. I sometimes choose reading over socialization. I’m a book nerd, and I can’t help my self at times!

I can fully understand that my intense reading habits isn’t for anyone but I do encourage everyone to read a little every day. If just a poem, an essay or an article. Broaden your horizons and explore within the sentences written by people that has something inside them that they feel passionate about sharing with the world.

And as an extra motivator Belle and I will share a little secret:

I hope that this answered some of your questions! And if you did not find yours answered then please tell me and I’ll see if that can be fixed 🙂

Have a wonderful whatever it is wherever you are at this very moment!!

Toodles!