Life Updates

Monterey CA 6/2024

  Well, it's been quite some time! I will try and blog more during breaks from school but I didn't realize things moved so fast and it has been this long. Lots has happened! I got engaged to my partner... now fiancee... in February. I wrapped up my first full year of teaching high school. Ezra graduated Kindergarten. My brother moved to Monterey and my fiancee is moving in. Phew, yes that is a lot of change! Lots for the good, but still change!

We went to the beach a week ago and I forgot how fulfilling it is to feel the water and sand and just bask in the sights and sounds of the ocean. The waves crashing, the smell of the salty hair, and the serene feeling of laying down in the warm sand made my cup full again. I love my job, I love being a mom, I love being a partner/sister/daughter, but life is DRAINING sometimes. We need these little breaks to stay afloat. 

Ya'll know I love me some mindfulness and this is the perfect example. How does the ground feel right now? Where are you laying/sitting/standing? How would you describe the atmosphere in one word?

And with that, enjoy you summers. Stop and be. Unplug. Look around. Life is happening. 

xoxo, Lala

New blog, who dis?

 

Welcome to the new blog! About two years ago, I moved to Instagram and Facebook only, trying to focus on facebook as a blog. Well, that didn't happen! To be fair, I also started grad school and teaching so I was already stretched thin. I graduated in December with my MA in Education. Now, in the classroom, I teach high school English. My son Ezra is now starting Kindergarten in the fall. My partner Amelia and I are still going strong. I've been holding it down since, mostly on IG. 

Taking it back though to the blog, writing is a form of therapy for me and I've been blogging in some capacity ever since college. I miss it. I miss creating a post, connecting in a deeper way than the constraints of a caption. 

So, here we are. My new blog! I will try to post 2-4 times a month but part of this process is to not set expectations for myself. I want to just enjoy the day to day and if it happens, great. If it doesn't, that is okay too. 

What kind of posts do you want me to write about? What questions do you have? Let's see what unfolds!

xoxo,

Lala

A Lesson In Mindfulness from the Kindergarten Classroom

Originally published April 11, 2022

Life moves fast. Like, it's already the end of the school year and Ezra is almost 4 fast. We are getting ready to move to a home that I will be renting with my brother. I am still knee deep in grad school work. My allergies are crazy.

But, I still need to remember to breathe.

For my action research project for grad school, I taught my kindergarteners how to take belly breaths, which is the kid way of saying deep breathing. In a way, I also re-taught myself. I did the exercise of deep breathing and buzzing out like a bee, hissing like a snake, and exhaling up like a whale.

And, let me tell you I changed too. It's funny how we do something to help others and it ends up helping us too in a way we didn't even realize we needed. I strayed away from my daily practices of mindfulness. In my search for a way to calm my classroom after lunch and teach the little bodies how to handle big emotions, I reminded my big body how to handle big emotions too. Emotions that I had been sweeping under the rug. All the daily stress is now being tackled with breathing and writing, not being thrown into a pile for another day.

Sometimes us adults need to go back to the basics. Breathing is fundamental. Opening your eyes and just saying "I am." is brave and bold, especially in the storms of life. But, we can't forget the day to day too. Don't save your mindfulness for a rainy day. Take this reminder from my classroom and breathe.

Place your hand on your heart and belly. Breathe in and feel your belly balloon fill up. Breathe out and buzz like a bee.

Buzzzzzz,

Angela Pena