Hello there =)

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of being contacted by Brett at ProFlowers regarding their Bring on Zen campaign. The company graciously offered to send me a bonsai plant hoping it would provide me some relaxation.

Sure, why not?

Life can be so crazy. It’s dictated by planners and notifications and social media. We’re always pressured to do more and to do it all.  Now.  The expectation to be constantly busy makes it easy to miss the special moments in life.

At ProFlowers, we understand how easy it is to get caught up in the whirlwind of life. Which is why we want to invite you to take a moment and a deep breath, and let out your stress while you #BringOnZen.

To help you relax and find a moment of calm in your chaotic life we want to send you one of our bonsai trees, a plant that symbolizes balance and peace, to help bring some zen into your hectic life. We hope your tree will serve as a reminder to find moments of peace in the chaos of life, and inspire a blog post about how you manage to find time to relax and unwind.

This post has been inspired by ProFlowers with the gift of one of their bonsai trees.  Other than the tree, I have not (and will not) be receiving any compensation.  Just a pretty tree, relaxing and hoping to help others find some more peace.  Please visit my disclosures page for more information.

Shall we bring on the zen?

Keep Calm and Grow On

Have I ever told you how bad I am with plants?  I’m really bad.  I mean, like really bad.

How bad are you?
I’m so bad my kitchen table is called “The place plants go to die”.

I even have had people ask me to take care of plants they want to die to help speed up the killing process.  So when I told people about this gift from ProFlowers and that it was to promote zen feelings and relaxation, friends and family were baffled.  How was “The place plants go to die” a zen/relaxing place?

Sarah! You won’t be able to relax! It’ll take everything you have to keep this thing alive!
Relax. I have a plan.

First, let me say taking care of plants has never been stressful for me.  I simply don’t take care of them; I forget about them.  Hence “The place plants go to die”.

After accepting the bonsai offer (and not worrying about what I was going to do with this thing), I learned that my boyfriend has been wanting one. He just didn’t want to make the splurge.

There. Problem solved. He can care for it, I’ll get my zen on and take pictures.

To make it even better, this particular bonsai is an outdoor plant!  Outside is completely my boyfriends domain: grass cutting, gardening, edging.  I help when needed and only do what I’m told otherwise something green might meet it’s doom.

Finding Balance and Peace

As part of my 52 Lists series I did attempted last year, I shared the ways I relax.  From simple tasks (cutting paper) to splurges (massages), I find relaxation a few different ways. I think of relaxing as calming my nerves and muscles; a very physical thing.

Balance and peace, however, seem to be more of a calming of the mind or spirit.  Dare I say becoming more zen-like? ;)

Balance

If you ask most people “where do you need balance in your life?” the answer is almost always work and home life.  With those being the two biggest facets in our lives, that shouldn’t be a surprising answer.

I find that balance between the two is greatly helped by two things:

1. Schedules/time-blocking – Create a schedule and stick to it! Don’t let work weasel it’s way into family time.
2. Saying no or delegating – You don’t need to do everything.  We all know the word no.  It was probably your first word… Use it.  Or delegate the task to someone else if it’s possible.

Time is precious.  Protect yours.  Tweet that.

Peace

Peace is to be happy with what you have and with who you are.

Ok, so that’s not the actual definition but it made you feel warm and cozy didn’t it?  And while it’s not the true meaning, some people spend a lifetime looking for exactly that and some think you have to be at peace all the time to be happy.

Would you settle for a few minutes every day?  Who knows… taking a few minutes each day to be peaceful might lead you to everyday zen.

So let’s take a few minutes each day to be at peace.

• Take deep breaths.  Filter in some calming scents for added relaxation
• Write. Whether it’s daily gratitudes, venting or your favorite scriptures, writing can have an over-whelming calming effect.
• Stretch.  Stretching and working out, although a physical activity, can release endorphin’s in the brain/body making your mind feel better.

Do you have any other ways to add a few moments of peace to the day?

Need Your Own Bonsai Tree?

ProFlowers has several bonsai and tropical plants to choose from.  Be sure to do a little research first; there are indoor and outdoor trees (as I found out).  They even provided me with some coupon codes so you can get your very own tree for less!

Let me know if you get one, I’d love to see it!

How do you find balance and peace in your life?  Will a new bonsai tree be apart of that?