Lauren Kent

How to Incorporate Mindfulness into Your Day to Day Life

When You Start to Focus on the Now, Your Senses and Focus Start to Improve

I love reading non-fiction books, blogs, and watching YouTube videos. Most center around how to, self help and lifestyle topics. I remember as a young girl, visiting our local library and flipping through cook books. Searching for books on the people of foreign countries and marveling at animals of South America. It all took me to another place and helped me learn more about our big, beautiful world. I am a consumer of knowledge.

As I write, it’s interesting how I want to create non-fiction, to talk about topics that interest me. One of those topics is mindfulness. A simplified definition of mindfulness is to notice what is happening now. When you start to focus on the now, your senses and focus start to improve.

Benefits of Meditation

Mindfulness has helped me to slow down and be more appreciative of life. I am able to notice and be aware of what is around me. It’s led to a greater sense of calm. I have a better control over my emotions. My memory has improved. For others, I have read that it can lead to lower blood pressure, reduce anxiety, help with depression and weight loss.

How to Incorporate Mindfulness into Your Day to Day Life

Throughout the day, I try to pay attention to the small details. I listen to birds when walking to my car. I pause to look at the sunrise when working in my kitchen. I listen more attentively when talking to a friend. When brushing my teeth, cleaning the house, or eating dinner, I focus on the sight, sound, taste, feel and smell of what is front of me. All of the sudden, mundane tasks become enjoyable experiences. Peace and joy can be found in the little things.

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Do you practice mindfulness? If so, how? 🙂

If you want more information on mindfulness, here is a link.

Using Divine Intervention to Quit Smoking

Quit Smoking with God’s Help

I have a quick video for you on how to use divine intervention to quit smoking. My last one included nutrition and deep breathing to give up the habit. I thought that I’d add a spiritual perspective to smoking cessation. Let’s talk about inner healing, envisioning life without cigarettes, triggers, and a sample prayer! 🙂

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Create the Life You Want

As a Man Thinks with His Heart, So is He

So, you’re having a bad day. Then, a bad week. It can snowball quickly. We may start to assume that things never go our way. Is it luck or do we create our reality? There is a verse in the Bible that shines light on this topic, Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts, Proverbs 4:23. What if I told you that you can create the life you want?

I do not think that God designed us to live in a state of sadness, anger or self doubt. I can’t compete with him/her. I’m fat. I hate myself. I never have enough money. They won’t like me.

As your thoughts stream through your mind, make note of them. Don’t get mad at yourself, don’t get mad at others. Just acknowledge what you dwell on. Once you realize your thought patterns, you can work on improving them. .

Proverbs 23:7

Now that I live a more mindful life, it’s easier to dwell on what is good.

“Our thoughts become our words, our words become our beliefs, our beliefs become our actions, our actions become our habits, and our habits become our realities.” Jen Sincero, You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life.

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What is one negative thought you tell yourself?

What is a positive thought that you can replace it with? Write it down and keep it with you.

Friday Favorites

What up? I have a Friday Favorites video for you. I talk about a few things that I am loving right now, including sneakers, tassel necklaces, music, collagen protein and avocado toast. Yum! Here are five ways to make avocado toast.

♡ Superga sneakers at Zappos: http://bit.ly/2jjLLWR

♡ Similar tassel necklace: https://amzn.to/2HI9Z7D

♡ Collagen protein: https://amzn.to/2w1cWyO

What is your favorite way to eat avocado?

New music that you are into?

10 Ways to Lose Weight with Your iPhone

Your smartphone is in your hand or pocket throughout day, why not use it for good? Our devices are with us the majority of the time. You now have a personal trainer, nutritionist, and life coach all at your disposal. I have 10 ways to use your iPhone to lose weight. Let’s get started! 🙂

SET AN ALARM

Forget to drink water throughout the day? Yeah, me too. I added an alarm to go off on my phone every hour. After a week, it will be a routine and you can turn the alarm off.

TAKE PHOTOS OF YOUR FOOD

Want accountability? Take pictures of your food. If all of your pics look like McDonald’s and Pizza Hut, it’s time to swap out your meals. Add foods that are colorful and visually appealing.

PLAY MUSIC AND DANCE

Turn up the Daft Punk or the Strokes and get your dance groove on. Your kids may even join in on the fun. Calories burned. Check.

CALL A FRIEND

You are reaching for a doughnut. Put it down and phone a friend.

MANTRA REMINDER

I have an 8 a.m. reminder that pops up on my phone daily. Go to the clock/alarm section, choose label and add your words of encouragement. You might add something like, “Everything I eat heals and nourishes me” or “Progress, not perfection.”

LISTEN TO PODCASTS + RUNNING

Grab your phone, put on your running shoes and stream a podcast. Listening to helpful, interesting content, makes the time fly by and I enter the zone. A few of my favorites are Mighty Mommy, Namaslay, and Happier with Gretchen Rubin. Most podcast apps are free and the episodes are free also.

NOTES SECTION TO FOOD JOURNAL

If you don’t want to take pics of your meals, you can journal what you eat in the notes section of your phone. According to WebMD, people who kept a daily food journal lost twice the amount of weight as those who did not.

ITRACK BITES

iTrack Bites is a knockoff Weight Watchers app. You plug in your meal and the app calculates your points. It is a free app with in-app purchases. If you choose to upgrade for a few dollars, then you have additional tools like restaurant guides, online food database, recipe builder, etc.

YOUTUBE WORKOUTS

O.k., this is one of my favorite uses for my iPhone, YouTube! There are millions of FREE workout videos. Throughout the week, I stream barre, yoga, HIIT and spin videos. Some of my favorite fitness YouTubers are Boho Beautiful, Studio Sweat on Demand, and The Betty Rocker.

BLOGLOVIN

I love finding inspiration on Bloglovin. It is a fun website that allows you to read all of your favorite blogs in one place. Some of the fitness blogs that I follow are Peanut Butter Runner, The Fitnessista, and Carly Rowena. Their pictures are beautiful. They will post workouts, meal ideas, health tips, and clothes. Score. 🙂

What are some of your favorite podcasts?

How do you use your smartphone to stay healthy?

New Perspective on Goal Setting

One of my favorite things to do is to set goals. Little goals, big goals, daily goals, life goals. You name it, I create a list for it. It is such a great feeling to think of what might be, write it down and then work on accomplishing it. We are a few months into 2018, maybe your New Year’s resolutions have come and gone. Or, maybe you have stuck to it and this is your YEAR. The normal suspects might include, lose 10 pounds, be a better parent, get more sleep, run a 5K, drink more water, yada yada yada.

The Desire Map: A Guide to Creating Goals with Soul

My goals have definitely varied over the years, but the theme has stayed pretty much the same. Until this year, when I changed the method to my madness and chose a different route. I read a book that opened my eyes to goal setting, The Desire Map: A Guide to Creating Goals with Soul by Danielle LaPorte.

Danielle explains that we can focus on desired feelings (connected, free, joyful, peaceful, etc.), instead of things. She says that you don’t feel as disappointed in yourself if you haven’t lost the 10 pounds or visited Paris. Maybe instead of doing those things, you visit New York and start to take yoga classes. It’s progress, not perfection. I love this idea. It is liberating and accomplishable.

“When we want to feel courageous more than we want to check accomplishments off our list … When we want to feel free more than we want to please other people … When we want to feel good more than we want to look good … then we’ve got our priorities in order. Divine priorities—the kind that will steer you to the life you long for most deeply.”
― Danielle LaPorte, The Desire Map: A Guide to Creating Goals with Soul

For a copy of the book, go here Danielle LaPorte.

Grab a piece a paper and write down 4 desired feelings that you want in your life.

Share the love and tell us the “desired feelings” that you want to incorporate in 2018.

Quit Smoking for Good

Hopefully, you’ve stumbled across my blog, because you WANT to quit smoking. Good for you! I’ve been there, done that. One of the main reasons that I created this space was to spread hope. And, guess what? There is hope for you to quit. Even if you have tried a dozen times, don’t give up. Nicotine only stays in your system for three days. The hard part is convincing your head and heart that you want this.

If you quit smoking, what helped you?

For all of the smokers, would you want me to start a smoking cessation Facebook group? Or, a 21 day self help smoking cessation program?

Gratefulness Project

We have a 20 minute car ride to school every morning. It had become torture. Parker and John Barton would argue most of the ride. I would turn the music up loud, then louder. The journey had become unbearable.

So, I prayed. Prayer, followed by quiet. Listening. I used to pray and then move on to the next task. But, I’ve learned to pray and just be. It doesn’t have to be long, a few minutes.

Gratefulness entered my mind. I’ve learned when sadness starts in to journal what I’m thankful for. If it works for me, maybe it will work for them. The next morning, the Gratefulness Project began. I ask Parker to name 3 things that she is thankful for. Then, I ask John Barton to name his 3, which is always amusing. Sometimes his response is “Everything God created,” which means he is not in the mood to participate.

John, superman costume

I will share 3 things I journaled that morning. One of the kids will pray out loud and then they will watch a short Youtube kids devotional on my phone. We’ve went from stress and anxiety to adding a positive routine into our day. I actually look forward to our morning car rides. Their little faces light up as they talk about their cousins, the sunrise, and what fun event they have coming up at school. It is magical. 🙂

Parker, cat halloween costume

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What routines have you added that impact your life?

What are you grateful for?

The End of the Rainbow

St. Patrick’s Day is almost here. Are you ready to partake in green beer and pinch your friends? Oh, the fun of being a child, and looking for friends that don’t have green on. It doesn’t go over as well as an adult. A few months ago, we were driving to The Depot to eat dinner. We saw a rainbow and, then, we saw the END of the rainbow! I didn’t even realize that was possible. So cool! 🙂

This morning, I am thankful for new beginnings. Rainbows are a great reminder of a fresh start. Grateful for a new day. Grateful that I am not defined by my past. Grateful that I can choose how I react to situations. Free will is an amazing thing. I love this quote by C.S. Lewis.

What are you grateful for?

Is there gold at the end of your rainbow?

Yoga and Lunch: Nashville with Girlfriends

Shakti Power Yoga and Del Frisco’s

The upside to living in a small town outside of Nashville is that I am CLOSE to Nashville. Two of my girlfriends and I decided to make the jaunt for a day escape. Hot yoga and yummy food rank high on my favorite things in life list.

Our first stop, Shakti Power Yoga. As luck would have it, we took the owner, Lauren Farina’s, class. It did not disappoint. I love my local studio, but it is always nice to have a change in scenery. The classes are hotter and longer also, so the extra calorie burn is appreciated.

We then headed toward Broadway for lunch. Del Frisco’s is located on Demonbreun, near the Gulch. Lunch started with the best sweet potato fries I have ever eaten. To..die..for. We split the heirloom tomato and burrata salad, which is Swahili for Italian buffalo cheese. 🙂 The pesto was on point. But, I’m not sure that I’ve ever had pesto that I didn’t like.

Nashville yoga lunch — Heirloom tomato and burrata salad

Next up on the split, was the prime steak sandwich and hand cut Parmesan fries.

My friend had the roasted baby beets and pan seared scallops.

Before the dash home, we drove to Green Hills mall to run a few errands and grab coffee and cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory.

What are some of your favorite Nashville restaurants?

Ideas for the “perfect” girls day?