Lady LUX

Get a routine. People who know what they're doing, where they're going, how they're going to use their energy that day, tend to be happier because they can utilize their willpower and energy more efficiently. If you take it as it comes, you're more likely to do things that are energy drainers: pick up your device in the morning first thing and reply to fire alarm emails. Not a great, peaceful way to begin your day. You also react versus act and those things don't energize you or make you feel calm.

Ensure you activate your senses each day with something that genuinely soothes and pleases you. Your environment is essential to consider as you take in more with your eyes than any other of your senses. Something as simple as having beautiful plants or flowers on your table to look at each week can really be uplifting. Listen to music that relaxes you at some point during the day (great before bed or in the morning as you ease into your day) Music is said to inspire you and boost your creativity.

Simplify your life. This includes all aspects of your life. Go through your closets and purge the clothes you haven't worn in the past three years. Get rid of papers you've been keeping forever or put them in storage where they don't take up space where you live. Purging is a form of detoxing but it also makes you appreciate the items you keep. Lose the clutter and clear out your space to give you some breathing room. It's a much more peaceful atmosphere when you're not bogged down physically or emotionally.

Get back to basics. Have more real face-time with people you love. Stop counting on social media to connect with people. These are not true, real connections. People who are more content in their lives have real people in their lives and invest time in relationships.

Behold the beauty of the outdoors. Whether you're a born and bred city girl like me or an avid outdoors person, nothing matches the great outdoors: a sunset over the ocean or a hike in the mountains. Walk the beach, walk in a park, or just walk outside. City streets can be exhilarating and stopping to enjoy how beautiful windows displays can be is appreciating art in its own way. You don't have to step into a museum to be captivated by beauty—it's all around us, all the time. We just need to take the time to appreciate it. A lunch break is just enough to get in your quota each day.

Don't watch television while you eat your dinner. It's such an easy habit and one we often don't even think of as we do it. You don't appreciate the food you eat as much, you don't chew as well, and you eat much faster if you watch TV while you eat. Meals are so much more enjoyable when savored. Pair them with the music you want to listen to, have a conversation with a friend or loved one in lieu of watching a program during mealtime. You appreciate the food, the company, the taste of each item. This too is an art.

Get to bed earlier and read before you go to sleep. Reading is relaxing and a great way to end the day. It's using your mind for something that interests you or is for pure pleasure.

Meditate. Forget all the benefits you've read about. While they're likely mostly true, it is the experience of a continuous meditation practice that is so rewarding. Everyone can do it, whether it's for three minutes or 31 minutes. You can use simple breathing techniques or methods such as transcendental meditation or kundalini yoga mantra meditation. So many ways to be still and allow that mind-body connection to grow and transform you. You'll find much calm and clarity once you commit to a simple practice. You can always build on it. It begins as cardio for the mind and then as you physically sit still, your mind will follow and slow down. It's a beautiful practice and different for all of us.

Explore your hobbies. Doing things you love that take you out of your everyday activities. Exercise can be considered however I'm thinking along the terms of fishing, pottery making, dancing. Embellishing in your hobbies grows you as a person because you're doing something you love and getting better at it simultaneously.

Get enough sleep. I don't anyone who is peaceful and content who doesn't get their fair share of sleep. Go to bed earlier if need be and get a good eight hours of real sleep. Rest is seriously under-rated. Americans are sorely sleep deprived, causing stress and anxiety which impairs your decision making and judgment.

My favorite. Pause. Life can be crazy. Sometimes you just want to scream. Sometimes you want to honk at the idiot who cut you off on the freeway or the person who cut you in line. Pause. You actually have no idea what's happening in that other person's life. How important is it for you to react? It can be a knee jerk reaction however I've found the people who are calmer and more peaceful tend to take a different perspective and note that it's usually not that important to be right and react based on emotion. Better to let the small stuff go and realize you only have your story and your perspective.