home

5 Essential Oils No Home Should Be Without

2016-12-05 By Monica 2 Comments

Essential oils are concentrated plant extracts obtained by careful steam distillation, cold pressing, or resin tapping. Pure essential oils are far more powerful than the botanicals from which they are extracted. This makes them powerful allies in your family’s health and wellness, as well as a natural ingredient for your cleaning and self-care products. [Read more…] about 5 Essential Oils No Home Should Be Without

It’s the Little Things – February 2014

2014-03-01 By Monica 5 Comments

February is coming to an end and Spring is almost here! Like many of you, I’m ready for the sun. My daughter and her family were in town this month, and we had lots of fun rollerskating. I felt like a 10-year old kid again. This month, Portland was also hit by an out-of-character snow storm. The storm shut our city down for several days, with snow and freezing rain. The weather caused unsafe driving conditions, but also created beautiful ice sculptures on the trees and road signs. Marley enjoyed the snow, although he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. A few weeks later, signs of Spring are at last visible everywhere. Flowers are blooming, and trees are budding. The end of one season is near and the start of a new one awaits.

At LifeOhm, some exciting things are on the way as well. I’ve written a series of yoga articles that will appear on PlumDeluxe in March and April, so please watch for those. Chris Guillebeau’s Pioneer Nation is coming to Portland in March, along with the World Domination Summit in July, and I’m lucky to be attending both. I’m also working on a very special meetup for WDS attendees and hope to see you there! [Read more…] about It’s the Little Things – February 2014

How to Finally Eliminate Clutter from Your Life

2013-08-19 By Monica 1 Comment

Have you ever thought about how your clutter might be holding you back? We all have “stuff” but clutter keeps you from moving forward in your life, leaves you feeling guilty, and makes you feel overwhelmed.

Clutter includes:

Boxes of things you packed away because you don’t want to deal with them,
Items you only keep because they were a gift, inherited, or because you feel you “have to”,
Clothes in your closet that still have the tags, don’t fit, or that you never wear,
Items stored out of fear you may one day need them again, although you haven’t used them in more than a year,
Electronic clutter such as an overflowing inbox, and
Multiples of the same item.

The list could go on and on but what it comes down to is that clutter includes any item that doesn’t bring you joy or enhance your life in some way. Clutter takes up space in our lives and our homes creating unnecessary stress and chaos, and makes it more difficult for us to take care of ourselves and the people we care about.

What Are Your Anchor Habits and Why Do You Need Them?

2013-06-25 By Monica 3 Comments

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” ~ Aristotle

An anchor is a device that is used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. When the vessel starts to drift away from its intended location, the anchor helps protect it by securing its spot and not letting it drift too far away.

When you think about it, some of our habits serve as anchors for us. When we start to drift away from where we want to be, there are certain habits you can start doing that will almost immediately help bring you back to your center and to your intended direction.

Activities or Practices That Help Anchor Us

One of my anchor habits is yoga. If I maintain a regular yoga practice of at least once a week (twice or more times per week is better, and daily is ideal), then it is much easier for me to maintain my other health and fitness habits of eating more vegetables, drinking eight or more glasses of water per day, maintaining a healthy weight, and relaxing more and being present in the moment. When I stop doing yoga, I tend to drift out to sea a bit, my healthy eating habits start to slip, and I feel more stressed and less like myself.

Anchor Habits At Home

Another example of an anchor habit that we often see in the home is keeping a clean sink. You will find if you are able to keep your sink clean, meaning the dishes are all washed and put away or in the dishwasher, it is easier to keep the rest of your house clean. Once a few dishes start to stack up on your sink or counter, it can be easy to begin to drift and before you know it, you have a much larger mess. Making the bed is another example. If you have the habit of making your bed every day, it’s easier to stay on track and anchored with the rest of your room.

home

Before Footer

Let’s Connect