The power of now : learning to be more present

It is often easy to spiral down into a whirlwind of obligations and responsibilities and to live governed by the items on your to do list. But sometimes, you just have to put your phone down. Turn off your computer. Sit still and just look at the window. Breathe in, and out. You get the idea: learn to be more present.

What does it mean ? It is just an expression to encourage you to live in the moment, to be more mindful, more aware of what is going on around you right now. Being more present provides great benefits, such as reducing stress, improving mental clarity or increasing productivity and motivation. But how to achieve it ?

I’m going to share with you some of my tips to help you appreciate the “now”. Here we go.

What did you do as a child ?

Sometimes, we have one of those days. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about : we feel sluggish, bored, tired, and even though we have things to attend to, items on our to do list that are waiting to be crossed off, work, we procrastinate by lying on the couch watching youtube videos or binge watching Netflix.

While work and responsibilities are important of course, I believe it is necessary to give our brains some time off as I talked about here. But what to do ? When shying away from my giant to do list, I usually have no motivation to do anything. I just go on the internet, read random things, or nap, while feeling bad about myself the whole time – you might know the feeling.

Don’t burry yourself in work

This is a more introspective post in a way. I was reading blogs and watching youtube videos this morning before starting studying for my exams. Then, as I reached for my notebooks, I realized that yes, I want to do good at my exams, but that I do not have to work 12 hours a day and learn everything by heart without doing anything else on the side.

A weekend at the Île de Ré

Hello everyone ! After my post on my day in La Rochelle (here), I promised you I’d also share my photos from the Île de Ré (Isle of Rhé), so here they are ! I was lucky because we had such a beautiful sunny day, so my boyfriend and I were able to go for an early morning bike ride on the island and we took some amazing pictures. It was the first time since summer that I was seeing a beach, and it was just so perfect : nobody was there, it was not polluted, it was calm and soothing.

Homemade vegan granola

Because of my exams, I have not been so available lately. I decided to apologize by sharing with you the recipe to make a vegan granola ! It’s such a better alternative to what you can find in stores : not only it is cheaper, it is also much healthier, and taste as good (even better !).