home sweet home

ciao le ragazze ed i ragazzi!

(hi girls and boys!)

I am officially starting to get back into the swing of things since returning from my amazing european adventure. hubby and i had a blast. we did our share of exploring (like checking out the parthenon and wandering around olympia) and made sure to sprinkle in some much needed down time - often on a beach! venice was breathtaking and i thoroughly enjoyed strolling through Piazza San Marco. we met fabulous people, ate amazing food and saw gorgeous scenery... it really was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. and, while i know i was concerned about anxiety rearing its ugly head and ruining the trip, it was actually surprisingly tame. yes, i did have some moments of stomach aching moments of panic, but it was so few and far between i hardly noticed it. i thought i would be numb with panic during the flights, but i was fine and actually found myself very relaxed. i thought not really having everything planned out and in my control would cause a freak out, but it didn't. i had one moment of anxiety the first morning we awoke and jumped out of bed to get ready for our adventure in croatia (because my anxiety tends to flare up in the AM) but i breathed my way right to relaxation and it didn't pop up at all throughout the day after that. i was very aware of how my body was reacting to things and if i felt anxious i quickly worked to identify why and start to relax.

and just as it is when i'm home... if i got anxious it was in the morning or when we got lost trying to find our way around. two things that caused me immense stress and anxiety way back when. getting lost was close to being my worst nightmare and mornings were always when i had massive panic attacks. knowing myself and my anxiety so well really helped me to avoid any real panic and it seriously never became an issue. it was really powerful to see how far i've come because at my worst i never would've been able to take a trip like this.

so now i'm dealing with post-travel blues and desperately craving another trip to look forward to.

in the meantime, i'm greatly enjoying getting back to my classes and indulging in much needed stretching and moving because there was little time during the trip for full on yoga and my body has been craving it. and since we've gotten back my internal clock has been off and i find myself waking around 4am (which i'm totally digging!). i've decided to re-commit to my training and have been enjoying early morning runs that energize me and clear my head. all of this is making the transition back to reality a little less painful.

i hope you all had a fabulous week and enjoyed your labor day weekend!