I love my boyfriend. He is incredibly kind, empathetic, thoughtful, patient, handsome, brilliant, charming. He even has an accent.

He’s amazing. Until he’s not. And one of the times that he’s really not is when he has post-travel exhaustion.

Fact: constant travel is grueling on the body.

No matter what class you’re riding in, planes and trains don’t offer much opportunity for circulation, stretching and proper sleep. Suitcases and shoulderbags can be killer. And changing time zones? Well, you know.

There are a whole host of travel-related tips that we’ll be covering soon.* For now, though, there’s one change we’ve made at home that has made a huge difference:

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Ah, the simply super results of a consistent yoga practice…..

This yoga art isn’t mine (sources point to Design by Danielle as the brain behind it). Regardless, I agree on all counts!

Recently, a teacher gave me and my classmates a homework assignment: complete a journal entry about what you want in this life.

I think about this often, but I’d hadn’t taken the time to compose an answer to this specific question. So I did.

Here is what I watched myself write:

I want a life of choice, of balance, of love.

I want a life of experiences, and delicious, spicy curries, and chocolate cake. Of simple, comfortable fabrics to wear, of clean air and sunlight. Of fresh drinking water. For everyone.

I want a life of giving and receiving, of working hard and playing fiercely, a life of vulnerability and openness and naked risk.

I want a life where mistakes are lessons, not regrets. Where details are remembered only to the extent that they make someone feel treasured, and then they are forgotten, so that we can see the big, beautiful picture together.

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Here’s one of the inconvenient ironies about self-care: the time you need it the most is often right when you have the least motivation to do it.

Just remember the last time you really fell off of the wagon. Maybe you’ve:

• snacked on a pint of ice cream instead of edamame… and then got “oh well, what the hell” syndrome as you ate a whole pizza for dinner?
• worked like crazy all week without sleeping and kept going nonstop until a nasty cold took you down?
• quit exercising and, instead of compassionately picking it back up, you beat yourself up?

I used to do the same things.

And then I learned a new way.

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Image Courtesy of chocolatecoveredkatie.com. Get her fab recipe at the link below!

Recently, I had this very sad eating experience.

It was almost as disappointing as the time my boyfriend and I went to a fabulous, “innovative” Parisian restaurant and, when told I was vegetarian, they proudly served me a plate of steamed vegetables. (Quelle horreur!)

This time, though, it was all me.

I was working on something, and decided that it was time for one of my very favorite foods: chocolate cake.

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