Special Episode - Mindfulness and Organization with Jessica and Kelly from Chasing Brighter

Welcome to Organizing with These, where we simplify and organize our lives for the better. I'm Deanna Mall, your host, here to guide you towards a more organized and enriching life. Together, let's explore practical strategies, inspiring stories, and expert advice to simplify every aspect of our lives. Are you ready to embark on this journey with ease? Let's start.

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Organizing with Ease. If this is your first time tuning in, you're in for a treat. I'm your host, Deanna Moll, and today's episode is one you won't want to miss. As we move from the laid back days of summer into the morning structured rhythm of fall, many of us are feeling the shift in our routines, schedules, and priorities. With the demands of the new season in full swing, staying organized and mindful becomes more important than ever.

To help us navigate these changes with ease and purpose, I'm thrilled to welcome 2 very special guests, Kelly Fox and Jessica Colarco, the inspiring sister duo behind Chasing Brighter. For those of you who might not be familiar with Chasing Brighter, it is an incredible platform that guides you in making midlife your best life. Through their podcast and blog, Kelly and Jessica bring a wealth of knowledge, sharing inspiring stories and expert interviews and practical tips on how to thrive in midlife, whether it's about rediscovering your passions, enhancing your well-being, or bringing more joy into your daily life. Chasing brighter is a go to resource for anyone looking to live fully and intentionally. Kelly and Jessica, welcome to Organizing with Ease.

I am so excited to hear you discuss how mindfulness can play a pivotal role in helping us transition smoothly into the fall. We are very excited to be here. Yes. Alright. So to kick things off, I'd love to hear from the both of you, how has mindfulness personally impacted your approach and your changes in your own lives?

I think first, it's important to kinda talk about what mindfulness is and what mindfulness isn't. And, you know, mindfulness is just a practice of being fully engaged in the current moment, being aware of your thoughts, feelings, sensations without judgment. And there's so many benefits, reducing stress, improving your focus, enhancing emotional regulation. And it's not just, like, for people to sit and meditate for an hour with a blank mind. Right?

And so it's not time consuming. Right. Right? Not not yeah. Something that takes hours.

I think for myself personally, you know, I struggle with anxiety, and I didn't really know what that was so much, until I had kids especially. But, I think for me personally, mindfulness has really helped me stay calm and grounded. It's easy and really stressful moments to kind of lose yourself a bit. And, it's hard to kind of muddle through that without finding a different way to sort of find a calmness and a common ground. And I think practicing mindfulness, like Jesse said, in a myriad of different ways, it doesn't have to be a one size fits all, has really helped me.

Yeah. And I think for me, personally, we grew up, in a in a house where there was maybe kind of like a lot of chaos and a lot of emotions, strong emotions. And so I think for me, it's that emotional regulation piece. Particularly, I was carrying on, maybe kind of volatility into my early marriage, early parenting. And, with mindfulness, it's like I can just be present and I can notice, oh, I'm I'm feeling overwhelmed.

Right? I can take a step back and notice I'm feeling overwhelmed. What's this about? What's happening here? And it kinda gives me that buffer of not just reacting to things and just kinda being in the moment and noticing, without having to kinda jump in and just react.

Yeah. I think you just took the key that you actually noticed it before. Mhmm. Right? Like, you have to you take note of it and then you're like, okay.

So now I'm gonna I'm gonna take action now, and I'm gonna I'm gonna work on that. But I actually wanna go back to how you actually said that met the mindfulness doesn't take an hour. And I think that's also a misconception by a lot of people Mhmm. That they think that it has to be a certain amount of time. Is that what you all get as well?

Like, there's that there's that preconception of, like, oh my gosh. I don't have the time for it because you're supposed to do it for, like, you know, an hour. Is that is that your same feeling? A 100%. In fact, one of the mindfulness practices that I've started to do a lot more recently because I changed my mindset about it is journaling.

So journaling, I feel like I used to see it as like this, you know, it's a quiet morning, and you're pulling it out, and you're gonna spend 30, 45 minutes journaling. No. I quit that. And I I've done that, and it's overwhelming for myself to stay. And now I'm I'm writing a couple sentences.

I'm just having a cup of coffee, and I'm just thinking about things, and I'm just kind of doing this stream of consciousness. And I learned that from a colleague who was like I he's like, you got a journal. And I was like, what are you doing? And he showed me what he did. And it was kind of just fun and exploring how other people are doing it.

But I realized and I think through the fault of my own because I tend to I'm get to analysis paralysis kinda person where I wanna do everything the way you're supposed to. And I've just kind of gone with the flow of it, and it really helped kind of changing that practice and that idea of what journaling is. Yeah. Those brief encounters are important. I have a meditation I listen to that's just under 8 minutes.

Right? Just just 7 and a half minutes of my day. Even just box breathing. You know, you're breathing in a count, holding a count, breathing out a count, holding a count. You could do 3 rounds of counts of 3.

Right? Those are just simple things, just a few minutes, because mindfulness is accessible to everyone. Yep. It's so true. And I'll do that the box method while I'm in the car so that I can just, like, process if there's, like, any, like, erratic driver.

Here in the 305, we have some, like, crazy drivers. So that breathing kinda, like, calms me while I drive. I'm at the stoplight and I kind of like take that into consideration. I just keep on going. Right?

You just have to because there's madness. It's like after school activities, kids are back in school. Right? It's like the world is just becoming busier. And it's just the the focus really is on the mindfulness.

And when you're doing that transition, really, it's also important from, like, the summer to the fall, because that is a transition as well. Do you not do you not see that as well? Absolutely. I mean, I think part of just naturally from summer to fall is this change from a kind of fun summer freedom and just it being nice outside. And there's a lot more activities to do in a lot of ways and a lot more things going on, to fall where it's things start to change.

And, obviously, back to school, especially for us who are parents, it certainly changes our routine. Right? So it gets a lot busier. There's a little bit more freedom because there's no bedtimes. There's no homework.

And then you come into fall, and you've got homework and bedtimes and activities and still trying to carry on your summer, I think that's maybe the transition gets harder because you're still trying to, like, get through your summer bucket list on top of all these other things. And so it does get a a lot more chaotic. Yeah. And I think it increases anxiety and brings on melanchol. Right?

Also, the days become get you get get shorter, and then the anxiety and stress with the picking up of fall schedules and, you know, practices and homework and projects and all of that kind of stuff. So how do you how do you personally take take on that shift of the energy? Like, how do you how do you do that? Like, so that you can become productive even with the change of the seasons. Do you have a do you have, like, a tip for the listeners?

We really recommend building a fall routine, and that can be a lot of different things. I thrive in a routine. I don't know about you, Kel. Kel, do you thrive in a routine? Absolutely.

Yeah. And so it's like, yes. Routines are awesome. I love it. It's harder to get up.

Right? I don't like getting up at that 6 AM in the fall. But then it's just, I know for me, you know, the kids are gone. And so then I have a lot more opportunity to engage in some self care. And so we really encourage just starting with that morning ritual.

Right? And like you were talking about, Deanna, that mindful commuting. Right? Use your travel time. Observe your surroundings.

You can listen to calming music at that time. There's a great podcast I love called wake me up, which gets you out of bed and gets you in maybe about 20 minutes. And I even though, you know, we don't meditate while we're operating heavy machinery, I listen to it sometimes when I'm driving, just to kind of begin a day of gratitude and thinking, okay, like, you you can, you can get in there like, hey, cut me off. That car is going too bad, you know, and it's like kind of getting out of that and just kind of pulling pulling back a little bit. I think the fun part about coming into fall is similar to moving from winter to spring is this idea for me of, like, organization.

And, you know, I know, Deanna, we talked to you a couple weeks ago about it. I think this is a great time to get organized. Things do get chaotic. So not only you having those routines, but reestablishing or, being more consistent in your systems that you have to stay organized so that you're not frantically running out the door forgetting things, when you've already got this busy schedule. So I think in a lot of ways, that helps for me in mindfulness is also knowing that I have a, like, a calm home.

Yeah. That's true. Yeah. It's true. No.

No. No. It it really is. And you can mindfully let go of those things. Right?

If when you transition into seasons, it can be a time to simplify and declutter. Right? And so mindly let go of things that aren't serving you anymore. You can really incorporate mindfulness into decluttering. Diana, we loved all of your advice when we talked to you.

It's just again, I think we love the the idea of ease of organization. Right? Again, trying to make everything a simple way because I think a lot of us are so hard on ourselves in what we're trying to do. We are so hard on ourselves. And again, you know, we are our worst critics.

We judge too hard. Mhmm. And, I actually wanted to say that it's taken me personally, a while to get into journaling and also doing meditation. So I've actually incorporated that in my own personal schedule, but That's wonderful. It didn't happen overnight.

Like, I have to I have to share that with you. Then so I like how you said, you know, doing it at your own pace and making it happen. So I typically do it at night, but if I don't finish it or I don't even get to do it, I'll try to do it in the morning real quick before everyone wakes up. That's like my quiet time. Yeah.

I think that's great. Just finding a time. Right? Morning, midday evening, finding what's best for you to engage. I was definitely one of those people that would say, oh, I'm just not a person that can meditate.

That's not me. I can't quiet my mind. That's not something I can do. And so you're right. It takes, it takes time and giving yourself grace and trying.

I remember reading I read this book. I can't think of what it was called, but it was, written by Gandhi's grandson. And he said that Gandhi used to say, like, look at a picture and then close your eyes and hold that picture in your mind. And then once it disappears, that's okay. And then keep practicing, and soon, you'll be able to hold that picture in your mind longer and longer and longer.

So I think about that too. It's like, okay. I tried to meditate. It was 30 seconds. I'm over it.

I can't I'm done. Okay. And then you keep trying, and then that can grow. To what Kelly and I have done over hour long meditations. You know?

And so but it does start, okay. It's 30 seconds. I tried the day. A practice. You know?

It's something that you keep working at. Yes. And, you know, mindfulness can also be looked at differently for everyone because it depends on their own lifestyle. 100%. Would you right?

Because I think everybody's lifestyle is just so different. But if you if you if you have the mindfulness and the practices, I think you could possibly make that work in everyone's routines. Yeah. You can do mindful eating. Or I was even thinking because we're talking about fall and transitions.

I was thinking, I like to, with with mindful eating, put pumpkin puree. Just literally put pumpkin puree in my coffee. K. And then I can sit right, and it makes it a pumpkin my pumpkin flavored latte. And then I can just sit and have that and enjoy it.

It's cooler outside, set outside. And so, there are simple little things that you can do where you just are kind of, you know, savoring flavors during fall. Yes. And the cinnamon and Yeah. That's awesome.

What you know, like, the pumpkin that you mentioned, apple cider. I mean, I don't know. So Mhmm. Here in the 305, we don't get to I guess we could treat ourselves to some of those spices. I see.

But we would I mean, we could possibly do our own way of winter like. So but we do so that we could feel that, you know, fall season change and the winter approaching. So I just laugh because we're still in hurricane season. So, you know, there there you have it till the end of November. So so yeah.

So it's just kinda like a heat advisory in September. And then Oh, you are? Really? Have a heat advisory? Mhmm.

Yes. But that's okay. Like, I just let tell you what. Right? With mindfulness, we learn that.

Right? Your mind can create your reality. So Yes. If I fill my house with pumpkins You go right ahead. And then you know what?

You go right ahead because everyone that walks into your home will be so happy that they did. Right? They will be so happy that you did. If so, for sure, for sure. Do you have any, tips or ways for anybody that's like a stay home, you know, a a stay home mom or do I or even like a busy professional or any, like, any of those empty nesters?

Is there anything for mindfulness on on, you know, any roadblocks that you might or have you had patients or clients that have had that you could share any of their stories and how they've overcome that so that they can become mindful, so that they can go and continue on in their lifestyles? You know, I think for me, in terms of practicing mindfulness, I don't do the same thing every day. And I think in terms of adopting a routine, maybe I'm doing the same thing. I have a, like, a short list of things, the ways in which I practice, but every day, it's different. But I'm I'm a person of routine where I am practicing mindfulness.

That is the routine, but how I'm doing that regularly is different. I think finding that finding the calm, finding a moment, a quiet quiet calm, whatever that means, and, and not putting a label on it in a way that it's like, oh, I'm doing x. I need to do that. Like, if you're watering flowers in a quiet moment of the day or just these moments where, even if you are doing something, but there's a quietness about it. You know, I even the other day, I went to the gym, and I forgot my headphones.

And I was like, oh my god. What am I doing? But there was this weird quiet thing about just doing my own thing without any noise too. Mhmm. And I think if if you're an at home parent or working from home, I think getting out in nature.

Kelly's talked a lot before about, nature walks. Kelly is very good at, what's that called when you recognize the leaves and the plants and right, Kelly? That's an interest. I feel like when we've got a new tribe, you're like, oh, isn't that I have this weird obsession with trees. Yes.

Okay. Alright. And so it's like, you know, going on an on a nature walk. If you have to have the kids with you, I've done before I printed out, like, a bingo card or whatever, you know, with, like, an acorn and a pine cone and, whatever, and I used it to get my kids out of the house and excited when I would wanna get fresh air. So if you can get out or even just sitting outside and, you know, nature can be really healing.

So for people at home I think for people who, you know, maybe are commuting like we talked before about trying to make that really purposeful, I like Tibetan singing bowls, you know, like, the the sound sound immersion. You can find, the audio and listen to that in your car. And we already talked about box breathing. Yes. You know, there are a lot of different grounding techniques that can help us.

A grounding technique I I like too to kinda bring us down to is, a couple of them to kinda get your brain going if you feel like you have a lot of stress and anxiety, Counting backwards from a 100 by sevens. Oh, okay. That's a good one. How about and lists. Like, I'm gonna list in my head, you know, every movie I ever saw.

I'm gonna list, all the kinds of serials I know. And then finally, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 grounding technique, which is very mindful. So it's you think of the 5 senses. I tell my clients, it doesn't matter if you if you mix them up and you you but it's, like, 5 things identify 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, and one thing you can taste. And if you do it in different order, that's fine too.

But, like, with the smelling and the tasting, that's good to have gum with us, mints with us. That can help us be mindful of just focusing on the flavor or, like, with the senses, having, aromatherapy oils around, and then you could kinda focus on on that sense. And so and we can even do grounding exercises, pick something up. You know? Oh, this is my pen.

It's black. It has a pointy tip, and just describing it to yourself. All of those are grounding and mindful exercises we can do that are really quick, especially if we're really a, you know, a busy person. And those are actually easy to do. Like, even the like, you just said, you do, like, the counting the backwards by 7.

It's not like you have to have something to make it happen. You can do it on your own. Mhmm. Right? Right?

You just have And so what you just gave was amazing. And you know, what I just love about, your podcast, Chasing Brighter, is how you focus on the the midlife is definitely your best life. And I just think that that's just amazing and how what you share. But I also like how you go into the books. And when you do your books and you review them, you really are the best book critics ever.

Like, I just so love that. Because you're honest about it and you actually go through and you highlight the pros and the cons and how that works in someone's life. And that you don't hear that often. So I actually want to say thank you, because you recommended a couple, so I'll be taking on some notes later on. But is there a book now that you could recommend to one of our listeners and we can talk about it?

Yeah. We got a couple books, Kel. Oh. You know, I think one of my favorites, more recently is The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes, especially for middle aged women, all of us going through our own our our own journey and just hearing her listening to her talk, reading as she talks. But, I loved her advice, and, you know, it just really resonated with how she grew up and how she views, you know, family and career and just navigating through life.

I thought she had a lot of really great great advice. And it was about this idea of saying yes to things. A lot of us, you know, we come up with these preconceived ideas of things, and they hold us back. And so it's like, what are ways that we need to just push through that stuff that's holding us back? Yeah.

Oh, I like that. Yes. Okay. So it's more of saying the yes instead of saying the no. It's more of saying the yes so that you can can Correct.

You're moving forward. Right? You're moving forward as opposed to going backwards because we want to. We wanna continue our lives. We wanna move forward in our life.

And so that that's actually very inspirational. I like that because a lot of people wouldn't think about that. They would say they would think differently. Yeah. Yeah.

And I think in regards to kind of mindfulness, Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat Zinn. He's kind of given credit for bringing mindfulness to the states. He brought in the seventies, and he has access even on YouTube, you have access to a lot of his meditations, but he's a great person to go to if you wanna kinda get your feet wet and begin a journey of mindfulness. Is he one of your favorites? You can tell him that.

Well, I was introduced to him a long time ago. I took a training on mindfulness. And one of the things that, I guess, the moment from him was just, when he says your mind wanders, just notice it and let it come back. And I just think, for me, I was really judgy. You know, like, we're talking about, oh, my mind wanders.

I can't do this. This is too hard. The end. But about, like, just being curious and noticing it, and that's okay. I really like that.

Oh, I like that a lot too. I do. I like that a lot. Because we we actually do that. We probably do that more than we actually want to admit.

Yeah. Right? Isn't that true? Right? I mean, it's true.

I mean percent. And it's but it's okay to acknowledge it, and it's okay to say, listen, it happens to me. Because at the end of the day, it happens to all of us. And so for those, I would think, that say that that never happens, then they have an issue. I mean, I don't know.

Yeah. I right. Like you were saying before, just noticing it and not the judgment, like, on my bracelet. I made one similar, I think, for you, Kelly, but I wear a bracelet and the beads say flow. And it just reminds me, like, let it come, let it go, let it flow.

Like, it's gonna come. So, like, judging yourself because something came and you have a reaction, you have feelings isn't gonna get you anywhere. But it's like, let it, you know, notice it, let it be there, and see if you can kind of let it go and let it flow. Yeah. Yeah.

I think my my this is just my personal take, but I would think that a lot of people have a hesitation on letting go because they're afraid. Is that something that you possibly have seen? Is that is that, like, the one of the main is that the major roadblock is what I'm saying? Is that they're just afraid? They're afraid to let go because they're not sure.

It's like that unknown territory. It's like there's the hold on to something that it, like, is some sort of power over them. And we all have it. I have it. You know?

In any given moment where there's I think the cool thing about, like, doing a long meditation, Jesse and I have done these, like, 1 hour meditations for, a while, and it really took a long time to work up to it. But when you're done with those moments, there's this freeing aspect where things are less weighty. And we give everything a lot of weight, And we get really wrapped up into something. Right? Like, oh my gosh.

My kid needs to get all a so they can get into this school or that school. And that's not on you or whatever and, like, how to let these things go that you can't necessarily control and you think you have to. And you think you can well, if I don't do this, what's gonna happen? You kind of go through this whole mental thing instead of, like, just letting things go and letting the world work out the way that it needs to work out. And I think our generation is has a really hard time with that.

For whatever reason, I think a lot of it is just we maybe we held on on having kids later in life. We started a career. We have a lot more control. And having letting go of that control is hard. Mhmm.

Yeah. And and I think noticing whether something's serving you, you know, I love there's a guided meditation, the one I I talked about earlier that short it says, is there anything hanging on from the day before? And so I like to try to think about that. And then she says, let it go, let it flow, and be recycled through the earth. And something about that just clicked for me, And Kelly and I used to do all of these things when we were young with 4 h and recycling.

We used to give talks about recycling. Mhmm. And so I was like, I love that idea of, just like, oh, okay. It's gonna be used in a different way. So I can let that go, and that energy is gonna hard time letting go of a lot, particularly in the past, has been resentment and, you know, the blame game.

And, I read something or heard something that they said resentment is drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. And so I was like, oh, yeah. Right? You're you're hurting yourself. Right?

You're just hurting. You are not serving yourself by holding onto these things. Right? And you can let that go, and that can go somewhere else, and you can let in something new that's better that will serve you. Mhmm.

And what about our kids? Like, do you think that they could start doing mindfulness as well? Like, is there an a certain age, or do you think this is only for, like, you know, 25 and above or for the age group? Do you think kids No. Always.

Totally. Like, the grounding number 3, 2, 1 grounding I use when I had a kid who was having a tantrum. You know, very little very little. And I was like, let's see 5 things you can see, and then it got them totally off, you know, whatever they were screaming about. I I know it's one of the things that's going around for whatever reason.

I had not heard this so far until recently, but smell the roses blow out the candles. Have you both heard that? Mhmm. For breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth? So particularly with a lot of those all the time.

The in and the out. Okay. Yes. And I'm trying to read the book Breathe. I'm I have that book in my, queue for Audible.

But, there's all different kinds of ways we can breathe. But, really, for activating the parasympathetic nervous system, it's in through the nose and out through the mouth. And so it's like, yeah, just teaching kids very young, I would try to hold them. And to me, when my kids were little, I would say, you know, do what I'm doing. Breathe in through the nose, out through the mouth.

But I love this new one I heard of smell smell the roses, blow up the candles. So that's something that a very young child can understand, just the just the breath. Yeah. I think, if anybody has Alexa, any Amazon Echoes or whatever, they do a 1, 2, 3 minute meditation. So I have trained my kids when they need a moment of calming to just say, like, Alexa, do a 1 minute meditation, and it'll it'll do that.

So that's for them learning to calm. And I think the breathing exercises are really good. And for my kid who's really my youngest son's really competitive. And so sometimes if I notice he's having a hard time winding down in the evening, like, before bed, we will have a competition of how long it takes you to breathe in and then how slowly it takes you to breathe out. And so it totally changes his view of what he's doing, and then it really works.

I find, for both of my kids, 5 really deep breaths and breathing out is, like, the sweet spot of where they start to kind of reset their mind. And especially for times, like, with school starting or a lot of anxious moments going on right now, I think just doing that and learning for them to do that, can hopefully help stick with them. I don't know, Dianna. I mean, you've got some old your older girls too. Yeah.

No. So I used to do the 5 I do I did the 5 to 1. Like, so I did that concept. Mhmm. Sometimes it stopped at, like, 3 and then 2 and but, you know, there were times where we went into 0, but then we stopped.

You know, we had those moments, but, but yes. But, no, I actually did it along with them. Yeah. Yes. Just to get them started.

So I don't know. Do you do did you do that or you still do that as well? Just to show them how it works. Yes. Like, so that was with me.

So I did that with them. And then when I started the 5, then at you know, because it was like a repetitive. Right? And they they knew how it was how how how it would go. Then they did it on their own, but I did it initially with them.

And then I actually still did it internally with me because there was just something that made me also calm inside. Yeah. I agree. And there's also, like, a great thing just because I was talking about parasympathetic nervous system, and we did a reel on it, but just legs up the wall. It's a yoga pose where you lay on your back and put your legs up the wall.

Mhmm. I used to do a lot of, like, nighttime yoga with my kids when they're little to wind them down and to do stretching. And we've talked about this on our podcast a lot, but I think these new generation, like, Gen z, I feel like is already operating at a higher vibrational level. Like, they're much more in tune to that. Our boys went away to baseball camp together, and they were 12 years old.

And do you remember, Kelly, they they called us and they couldn't sleep. And so I bought, like, an audible, like, meditation or something that then Dominic had access to, and then they listened to it for, like, an hour. And they were but it was just so funny to me that they were receptive to it. And then they called back and they were still like, we can't sleep. But then they tried, and they listened to it.

And I mean, I can't even imagine when I was 12, if my mom would've said, listen to meditation. I've been like, what the hell are you talking about? But it's just, like, I think they're more receptive. I think they're a little bit more spiritual. And so I think there's no reason why you can't, you know, teach them any of these skills.

That, unfortunately, that's what Kelly and I talk about all the time. That's why we have Chasing Brighter because our generation is midlife, and we're like, oh. What's my next step? Right. In other words.

Now for the for the kids though, for the kids though, do you have, like, a recommended meditation app that you that you think works for the future? I did what I did for my kids is we have an Oculus, you know, the the VR virtual reality headset. Okay. And, you can do meditations. Let me see if I can find the the exact meditation that we have.

There's an app called Tripp, t r I p p. Okay. And Tripp goes with our Oculus Quest. And, there are all different kinds of meditations, and it's very visual. And so it will have you almost kind of making, like, a game, and it shows the particles.

So once you breathe in, it it has these particles. Like, you're supposed to breathe in the particles and breathe out the particles. And then there's a kind of a game where you, try to, like, get the coins with your breathing. And so I did, have my kids do that. It was part of, one of our you know, when we have summer, it's like you have to do these things before, you know, you can have access to your electronics.

Yes. And so even though that is electronic, I was like, you have to meditate for 10 minutes. That's really cool. And then, they were kind of doing that. And then I I even have brought the headset into work, with clients because it's a visual to help us learn, about breathing.

But I think that's a great one. I love that one. That's great. That is good. I wish we had that growing up.

That that actually cool. Wouldn't that have been cool? Wouldn't that been really cool? Right? Mhmm.

Our kids are so I think they're bringing what we had, like, the basics. You know? We have, like, the basics. It still work. Don't get me wrong.

Right? But now they've taken that, and they brought it to another, like, another level that we've never even in a 1000000 years would ever have dreamt that would ever existed. Well and it's so interesting because was it you, Kelly, that sent me that? There was a comedian talking about mindfulness, and, like and he was, like, all we had was mindfulness. You know, we were laughing when you play the game sitting in the car and you would race, you know, the raindrops down the window, like, you would be right.

There was nothing to do. Like, there was nothing really to do. Mindfulness in the hindsight. So it is mindfulness. Like, we had a lot of sitting and staring and a lot more downtime.

And so, I think now it is important that we're more intentional in showing our and guiding our children because they have way less quiet time. Like and I know we've gotten used to it. Kelly, same with me. I forgot my headphones the other day at the gym, and I was just I'm sorry. What what am I supposed to do without having something in my ear?

And so we all have a hard time being quiet now, and so, we have to create opportunities now. Yes. And but at a different level, which I think is not is not too bad. It keeps us on our toes, right, to see what what actually would work. Like, what level.

Right? Like now there's there's all these different levels to work with, which I think it makes it even more I think because there's so many other ways that we can now go there through that mindfulness, I think we can experience a lot more to see what really works for us. Yes. Because not everything works for us. Right?

Yes. Mhmm. I totally agree. So I think that that's kinda nice. And it's just like Kelly was saying, it's a practice.

Right? It's not perfection, and we can integrate, and Right? It's not perfection, and we can integrate in in small, consistent ways that fit our lifestyle. And we don't know if we don't try. And then we're like, okay.

That didn't work. Let me try something else. Right. So for the trying though, what do you suggest? Like, at least, like because, you know, a habit in the lifestyle is like 2 weeks 90 days.

But do you consider that to be part become part of the, like, the habit and the lifestyle? So, like, 2 weeks and give it 90 days, or do you do you have, like, different time frames for this to make it stick, so to speak? Or don't give up is what I'm saying. Like, don't give up. Like, not like, you know, you did the 3 seconds and you're like, yeah.

I'm done. But so, like, how often? Like, what would you recommend? I think we like, do you to try something daily? Cal?

Yeah. That's what I mean, I think you you need to do something every day. Mhmm. Every day. It's a simple practice, and it can be whatever you want it to be.

I think you start with a minute, and you I think, to Jesse's point, the idea is something that will kind of, like, hold your attention and bring you the calm. And, you know, any of us who have, an Apple Watch, there's a one minute breathing app on that. So there's a lot of resources. There's apps you can install. There like, I think Fitbit even has something, but also just sitting sitting in the calm, quiet, sitting out in nature, just kinda making it a priority, and then growing that over time.

But, also, again, it's idea of fitting it in the nooks and crannies of your day. Like you were saying, Deanna, you like to do stuff in the kind of in the end of the day. Mhmm. A lot of people tend to do the practices right end of the day or in the morning. Jess and I, used to we kind of got out of that routine because we got busy.

We were doing a 1 hour Monday meditation together, in the middle of the day. And it was kinda nice because in some ways on Mondays, your Mondays get hectic. Mhmm. But if you take that midmorning or middle of the day moment, kind of, like, regrounding you, and then it helped kinda set for set you for success for the rest of the week. So, again, it's about trying different tactics and figure out what works for you.

And, also, I think a guided meditation is helpful versus just, you know, trying to have a blank mind, like maybe having someone guide you through it. A meditation coach Tara Brock is wonderful. She has a podcast, t a r a b r a c h. She's a meditation coach. She has her PhD in psychology.

She's really incredible. And she has, like her meditations are all different lengths, all different topics. Mhmm. And so, I mean, she's got hundreds of episodes on her podcast that you can access. And I think YouTube is great.

I I tell my clients, like, go to YouTube. Like, you could look up meditation for stress, meditation for mothers, meditation for entrepreneurs. Like, put it in, YouTube, and and you will find something in there. And there was one I listened to, and it was supposed to also be, like, hypnosis or something. And he said, even if you fall asleep, it's okay.

It will still work. Right? So just, again, giving yourself grace, it's okay. Just the intention is so important. Yeah.

In fact, speaking of meditation for every shape and size, I usually, recommend this to my clients right before, I'm a consultant, so right before we do sort sort of major project go live. But there's a meditation. It's called the honest meditation. It's h star, n e s t, meditation. It's all it's filled with a lot of expletives, and it has a 2, 5, 10, and 15 minute.

It's Jason Headely. He also has a YouTube channel, and they are hilarious. If you're at a point where you're frustrated with people and I'll be like, F this, this is BS, and be like, Breathe in, breathe out, F that. And so, it's really hilarious. And, for a lot of us who might find that a little cathartic in moments of our lives, I think, again, that's why there's something for everyone.

Yeah. And, well, we have to laugh. And all of this, you have to laugh. Right? Like because if you're too serious I mean, I don't know about you, but then it gets, like, really, like, really intense sometimes when you wanna be, like, relaxed.

Yes. Right? When it gets, like, really intense. So I like that one. So that you said that was Jason that was Jason Headley.

Henley Henley. Okay. Alright. So, yeah, I mean, because you have to lighten it, whether it's the effing day or the, like, whatever type of a day it is. Right?

You just kinda have to let that go. Yeah. Yeah. No. That's awesome.

That's absolutely amazing. Oh my gosh. Well, I have to say thank you to the both of you. You have just inspired us all, and I hope that you'll come back again. Maybe we can do like another change of season.

I would love to have you back again. Thank you again so much for sharing your wisdom. It's been a pleasure having you on the show. And to our listeners, be sure to check out Chasing Brighter for more inspiration on how to make midlife your best life. To our listeners, be sure to check out Chasing Brighter for more inspiration on how to make midlife your best life.

In the show notes below, we will share with you how you can continue staying connected with Jessica and Kelly. Until next time, remember to stay organized, stay mindful, and enjoy the season ahead. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe to Organizing with Ease podcast on your favorite podcast platform and leave us a review. Your feedback helps us grow and reach more listeners like you who are passionate about living their best lives. And remember, a new episode comes out every Thursday at 8 AM.

So mark your calendar and join us. Until next week, take care, and keep shining bright.