A steady flow of challenges have occurred this month and I don’t get excited when this happens, but I remain curious to what each one wants to show me.

When life becomes stressful, I look for quiet moments to practice the breath and sometimes this includes watching a calm, 10 minute video on one of my favorite YouTube channels, Reflections of Life. Recently, I saw this one posted a year ago and the title jumped out at me with, “You Are Good”.

The workplace has offered up stressful situations, which happens when your career hinges on customer happiness, but I made a couple of decisions personally that backfired. I’m seeing Dr. Jason this week for the first time in 7 weeks, but I’m concerned he’s gonna look at my bloodshot eyes and say the same thing he said in October…”You need to breathe more”.

These videos are uplifting and the scene inside this guy’s house confirms the life I’m believing for exists. The background full of plants and the egg-shaped swing hanging in his house, are 2 things I want for my next home. The camera catches him sitting in the swing, gently swaying while knitting, which I learned how to knit scarves last year, but what really got me was…the cabinet full of Matcha bowls.

This year, I learned how to make a bowl of matcha, but I started out simple with a set I found at World Market. Purchasing the entire set guides you through every step and it’s the process that has a calming effect on the nervous system. Plus, I was overly infatuated with the ceramic egg for the bamboo whisk to rest upon.

Swirling the tiny bamboo whisk around the inside of the bowl is hypnotic and helps me find my breath. The process is slow and focused because there’s so many steps involved with lots of pauses. We become aware of our breath in moments like these.

We know from past history that this too shall pass and eventually the clouds will part to rain glitter over Barb’s world once again. Meanwhile, it helps my world stop spinning to Matcha the moment.

And here’s the video.