Mindful May: A Mindfulness-Focused Month of Mental, Physical + Spiritual Restoration

Last night, I had the most vivid dream about flying—not flying in a plane, but flying through the sky, propelled by my fear of missing an early-morning flight. Despite my amazing and newly acquired (but not so human) ability to fly, I still managed to miss my dream flight, waking up in a panic that I would, in fact, miss my flight home today. As someone who loves to discover the meaning of her dreams, I rushed to find out how to interpret this dream and came across the following interpretations on dreammoods.com.

“To dream that you are flying signifies a sense of freedom where you had initially felt restricted and limited.”

And …

“To dream that you miss your flight or a connection indicates that you are feeling helpless or trapped by some situation. You feel that you are being held back, either physically or mentally. Alternatively, the dream may also suggest that you are feeling disconnected in some aspect of your life—work, relationship or home life.”

After reading these interpretations, I was surprised at how well they related to how I’ve been feeling lately—restrained physically and mentally by everything going on in my life and the inability to settle down and have a real home life.

Let me preface all of this by saying that, despite all of the obstacles and hard work, the last several months of creating, launching and growing Mala and Mantra has been one of the best and most rewarding experiences of my life. But with all of the amazing experiences and opportunities that come with pursuing your passion project and launching a new brand comes a whole list of challenges that are physically, mentally and spiritually exhausting. From the endless travel and back-to-back meetings to the design process and making sure orders go out without a hitch, the work never seems to end—though it’s something I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world!

So with 2014 getting off to such a busy, hectic and sometimes-overwhelming start, I knew I had to make a change in my life. I knew I needed to take the time to step back, live mindfully in my own home, and spend quality time with my friends, loved ones and especially myself in order to nurture and restore my mind, body and spirit.

And because I’m sure many of you have the same taxing schedule and frenzied lifestyle that I do, I thought it would be a great idea to let you join me on this journey toward inner peace, restoration and mindfulness all throughout the month of May—a journey I like to call Mindful May.

From practicing meditation and creating affirmations to listening to my body and soul and just living in the now, I want May to be all about mindfulness and focusing on living each day and each moment in a completely present state of mind. That’s why, all month long, Mala and Mantra is going to be sharing tons of mindfulness-centric goodies, from tips on meditation and inspirational thoughts from influential figures to articles on mindfulness and even a few Mala and Mantra giveaways—all in the hopes that we can help you (and help ourselves) become a more mindful, present person.

I hope you’ll join us on this month-long journey and, along the way, share your own tips and examples of how you stay mindful, focused and present in your everyday life.

Namaste,

JPC