At the end of Autumn

So, it's the last week of November already, and time perhaps to quickly review the first quarter of my Year to Change.

As you may remember, the outline looked like this:

When	What	How
AUTUMN	MIND
	Sept: Brain Training
Wk 1: 31Aug-7 Sept		Brain training app
Wk 2: 7-14 Sept		+ words (Scrabble) + numbers (Sudoku)
Wk 3: 14-21 Sept		+ logic (Logic puzzles) + eat treats!
Wk 4: 21-28 Sept		+ Tetris + reading
Wk 5: 28 Sept-5 Oct		+ strategy (Learn to play chess app) + get new perfume ready for next week
	Oct: Mind Changing
Wk 6: 5 -12 Oct		Keep an extract of favourite scent near the bed. Open it & inhale when first waking up, & again as bathing & dressing. Change scent each week.
Wk 7: 12-19 Oct		Use non-dominant hand e.g. tooth/hair brushing, & shower with eyes shut
Wk 8: 19-26 Oct		Do something different e.g. change routine (esp. morning), look at things upside-down, learn something new
Wk 9: 26 Oct-2 Nov		Assess each day & how it could have gone better
	Nov: Health Giving
Wk 10: 2-9 Nov		Eat wholegrains, soy beans, pumpkin seeds, walnuts & other nuts, blueberries, tomatoes, eggs, blackcurrants, broccoli, brown rice, oats, peas, potatoes, spinach, yoghurt, avocados, kale, dark chocolate (but only a little!) & sage. Drink green tea
Wk 11: 9-16 Nov		Exercise: cross-training - build up to 20 mins x 3/week
Wk 12: 16-23 Nov		Read: join a book club & write every day (Goodreads book club UK)
Wk 13: 23-30 Nov		Rest & sleep: learn new relaxation techniques

I made a mistake in my planning for the first month by trying to re-use brain training and games apps - they lacked the novelty value. The lesson learned is that I need new stuff to keep my mind/brain engaged! I did, however, introduce a bit of novelty into my long-standing enjoyment of the app Dragon Vale...

… by starting a new 'park' designed around the cosmology of the ancient Norse people, as we know them from the various sagas and eddas - and which I've been writing a couple of study units about for the Interfaith Theology Seminary, of which I am now a Research Associate. It was fun, and a good way to embed the mythology/world-view in my mind. There's a great site here is anyone's interested: 

https://norse-mythology.org/

Doing things differently during October went well, although I can't say that there's been any lasting effect to doing things with my non-dominant hand, nor that I've become more creative than before! But I do vary my morning routine more now, and I'm still sniffing those essential oils - sweet orange remains the favourite.

November got off to a good start, as I delved into a couple of new-to-me books about wholefood, plant-based eating, and we're still enjoying trying out some new recipes. The chocolate brownies I made yesterday are great - very light, very chocolatey, and full of walnuts, so healthy too!

The other good things this last month are that I've got back into the habit of cross-training three times a week - while watching Netflix programmes that The William is averse to! - and I've put myself on the mailing list for both the Richard & Judy Book Club (yes, I know; but online book clubs are hard to find!) and Goodreads.com, both of which are already widening my book-fishing net. And I'm grateful to Sarah for her recommendations: 'Eleanor Oliphant...' was brilliant, and I've just started 'My Grandmother sends her regards...' which promised well!

The down-sides of the month are that kale seems impossible to find over here, the quality of fruit and veg on the whole remains disappointing, and our hens are still only laying perhaps three eggs a week between the five of them. (But three is better than none!) And, while I am sleeping better than I did, I haven't found any worthwhile new ideas for relaxation, just recycled old ones.

The outline for the winter months - December, January, and February - will be posted here next weekend, so watch this space!