{Stressed?} Top Tips For Restoring Balance

Now that October is here, I wanted to celebrate pretty fall colors with you – as well as to give you some tips on restoring balance.

One way I restore balance for myself is to immerse myself in color..which is exactly what I’m doing by writing this post to share with all of you.

As some of you know, I live in a small coastal town about a half hour north of Galveston, TX.

Normally, you wouldn’t think our area would see a lot of pretty fall colors like all of you who live in the Northeast see, but right outside my window is a giant bald cypress tree with boughs of needles like feathers and it turns the softest melon and orange during the fall, before it sheds its needles in the winter.

Longfellow wrote this about this tree in his 1847 poem, Evangeline: “towering and tenebrous boughs” that “waved like banners that hang on the walls of ancient cathedrals.”

Don’t you love that?

Reading poetry {and trying my hand at writing some } has long been a way I’ve released stress in my life. When you can listen to the music in words, your mind becomes immersed and goes to a different place.

I’m watching this tree start to turn, while laying outside decompressing, on my balcony, on my new daybed from Anthropologie, shown below.

Another thing I do myself to restore balance is to take a morning walk around the lake where I live. I love to practice my photography skills while I’m doing it.

I’ll never be as good as my good friend, interior designer and photographer, Linda Holt, whom I interviewed for a previous blog about how she designs happy living for herself { see that post by clicking { here } but I try…and I sure have learned a lot from Linda about photography over the years. {Get the link to her excellent IPhone/Android photography classes at the bottom of this post}.

This is an image I took on a recent walk that captured the pretty fall colors painting the sky on this particular morning.

There is nothing like a soft breeze caressing my skin for restoring balance and relaxing me and I know many of you reading this probably feel the same way.

For me, though, even though I enjoy this, it’s a challenge as it forces me to slow down and it’s not easy for me to slow down in the mornings.. as I’m such a morning person and wake up ready to take on the day!

It really helps me, though, to take this walk so now I’ve starting listening to a gratitude hour on Clubhouse or tuning in to a favorite podcast, or putting on some fast paced motivating music to keep my mind occupied during my walk.

{By the way, I’d love to know, in the comments, what music motivates you if you, too, take a morning walk.}.

Another thing I do for self care is to treat myself to a delicious, homemade meal. I live by myself, and cooking for myself is not my favorite thing to do, but when I take the time to make a nice meal, and serve myself in a beautiful way, it turns the meal into an occasion and gives me a ping of joy.

Those little pings of joy you feel are signs that you are restoring balance in your life as joy releases endorphins which make you feel happier.

Lighting a candle while eating adds to the sense that this is an *occassion* and a sign to give thanks.

Would it help you to make a delicious meal for yourself, your friends or your family this weekend, and serve it beautifully, as a way to relax?

Another thing I do to help me relax is to decorate my home for fall and I know many of you do the same thing. I found these pumpkins on Pottery Barn’s website, and although I didn’t end up buying these, I did end up buying some others at a local store here, in pretty fall colors, as I like to support local brick and mortar retailers in my neighborhood whenever I can.

My love for illustration knows no bounds…and over the years I’ve bought several illustrations from artist Patricia Van Essche, aka PVE Design. The one below is one of my favorites of hers for the fall season. See a link to her shop at the end of this post where she sells her illustrations on Etsy.

This year, I took up watercolor myself…but only in the abstract. I didn’t want to try to *get good at it* because, for me, I found that took the fun and spontaneity away. However, it definitely helped to release my anxiety during the pandemic..and I have my friend, Gloria B. Collins, to thank for getting me started. I love Gloria’s tagline, #dailyartliftsthespirit.

Gloria lives in the Hudson Valley area of New York on a 1 acre organic farm in an old 1800’s farmhouse, surrounded by a stunning garden of flowers she planted herself.

She has long been known for her practice of growing *slow flowers* and for a period of her life, she was a wedding flower designer.

Below is a wreath that Gloria created from leftover flowers from her garden. Isn’t this beautiful? { See the link at the end of this post to Gloria’s shop, where you can buy the beautiful watercolors she paints of her flowers and the landscapes she visits.}

Have you ever made a homemade wreath? Do you have a form of art you practice or a craft you enjoy?

I’d love to know in the comments!

Lastly, it’s amazing how gazing into a fire leaping with flames – with a glass of wine in hand – will relax you.

Invite a friend to join you, wash and slice some fresh, crunchy apples [ they’re in season ], arrange them on a charcuterie board, buy some grocery story mums in fall’s pretty colors and watch your stress melt away.

I hope this post, full of pretty fall colors, has inspired you to take a walk and breathe in the fresh, slightly chilled air of fall…to remember to take the time to restore yourself…to treat yourself to those things that truly bring you pings of joy ….so you can regain a bit of balance to take on the busy-ness of the season and whatever challenges may lie ahead this week.

As always, thank you for reading and subscribing to my blog. I appreciate each and everyone of you and am always happy to hear from any of you with ideas of what you’d like to see on the blog at leslie@designhappyliving.com.


Leslie
Chief Happiness Officer
Design Happy Living

I invite you to follow me on Instagram for more *pings of joy*, and to use my tag, #designhappyliving, when you post on Instagram.

https://instagram.com/designhappyliving

Opening Image: Flourish Flower Farm
All other images are my own unless otherwise noted.

Links to the shops/classes of my friends featured in this post

Patricia Van Essche’s Etsy Shop

Linda Holt’s IPhone/Android photography class

Gloria Battista Collins’ shop

Below is a link to Anthropologie’s Positano Rattan Chaise that I own, if you’d like to purchase it for yourselves. If you do, I can promise you that it’s wonderful!

[Please note this is an affiliate link. If you purchase the chaise, Anthropologie will pay a small fee to me, at no additional cost to you. This is their way of thanking me for bringing it to your attention.

https://bit.ly/3FiRTY4

Find the Pottery Barn recycled glass pumpkin cloches here:

https://www.potterybarn.com/products/recycled-glass-pumpkin-candle-cloche/