Meditation: Hit the pause button

Every single morning I lace up my pair of high top All Stars. I’m not trying to boast about my awesome shoes, what I’m saying is that I take the time to relace the entire shoe every morning before I go to work.

This takes a few minutes. A friend of mine who has the same style shoe doesn’t bother, he just wraps the laces around the top. I could easily do that as well, in all honesty, no one would notice the difference. It’s not about the look though.

This few minutes of what other people would call tedium, I consider to be meditative. It helps me take a moment to clear my mind, take a breath and just slow down the world. I’m about to embark on a journey into the belly of Toronto’s rush hour (I take the subway, it’s hell) this break helps me prepare for the hectic day. It’s a pause.

We don’t always have time to sit down and meditate on a regular basis, so sometimes we have to supplement with pauses. Just like taking a multi vitamin to supplement your diet, taking a pause every so often can really refresh your brain and reduce stress.

I’m not just talking about lacing up a pair of high top shoes. You can take a few minutes to hand wash your dishes, or do that sweeping you’ve been putting off for the past few months and just use it as a moment to center yourself and chill out.

Just Chill. And drink some soda... I guess? Should I end articles that way? No... that would be stupid.

Yell at me!

I started Chilled Soda as a place to share all the chill things in life, I have a lot of plans for this site and already have a bunch of stuff prewritten but I thought I would take a chance to chill out a bit and ask you for a bit of help.

YELL AT ME!

I want you to tell me how I’m doing, tell me what sucks, tell me what rocks. Do you think I should focus on some things over others? Do you have ideas for a new section? A new feature?

I could use all the ideas and opinions I can get. This blog is a project of love and is a conglomerate of experience from 3 previous blogs of which I made mistakes and learned from them and I really want to make this one shine.

I am officially asking for guest posts, questions, rants and more from you.

Simply use the ‘Contact’ link you see above, or use the comments section of this very post to say whatever the heck you want. To submit a guest post please email me with the idea first before writing it out.

I am always willing to answers questions of course. Do you want to know more about me? Want to know about my writing background? My chill background? My previous blogs? Maybe even my inspiration for starting this?

Wow, that last paragraph makes me feel really full of myself.

So I guess, after all this I simply want to hear from you. Tell me stuff, I’m here and I’m listening.

Also, I love Pokemon.

Cool Books: The Joy of Less

The Joy of Less is a book by Francine Jay, a writer who is better known as ‘Miss Minimalist.’ You can pick up a copy here. (Note: This is an affiliate link, I make a small commission if you buy the book via this link.)

The book goes over the basics of minimalism and how you can start to live in a minimalist way as simply as possible. If you have never heard of minimalism, it is the art of removing all but what is absolutely necessary.

Studies have shown that clutter leads to stress which can cause a whole host of problems. Minimalism can really help you chill out.

Here is a description of the book from the official source:

“Part One provides an inspirational pep talk on the joys and rewards of paring down. Part Two presents the STREAMLINE method: ten easy steps to rid your house of clutter. Part Three goes room by room, outlining specific ways to tackle each one. Part Four helps you trim your to-do list and free up your time, and explains how saving space in your closets can save the planet.”

The book has already received tons of praise and has been touted on national TV, radio and all over the world wide web.

I actually had a chance to interview the author on one of my old blogs, here is an excerpt from that interview:

What got you interested in minimalism?

I fell in love with traveling lightly. I realized how wonderful it was to travel with a small backpack, with only the essentials, instead of lugging around a heavy suitcase. When I was on vacation, I felt like I could go anywhere, and do anything, because I wasn’t loaded down with stuff. I wanted to have that same feeling of freedom in my everyday life, so I decided to get rid of all my excess possessions. I wanted to spend my time and energy on experiences, rather than things.

What we’re your first big steps?

My first big step was realizing that I had “enough” (well, too much, actually!) I tried to make a list of everything I owned, and found it completely overwhelming. From that moment on, I sold or gave away everything that I didn’t truly cherish or use regularly. I was determined to live by William Morris’s quote: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

How do you suggest my readers start?

In my book, The Joy of Less, I describe the STREAMLINE method -- ten easy steps for achieving, and maintaining, a decluttered home. The first step is “Start Over.” Basically, I recommend completely emptying the contents of the room, drawer, or closet you’ve decided to tackle. Then, carefully consider each item in turn, and decide if you really want to return it to the space. I think decluttering is much easier when you’re deciding what to keep, rather than what to toss.

School of Chill: Just how good for you IS green tea?

I’m sitting here drinking a cup of green tea (which has a few peppermint leaves thrown in for taste) and I just had a random thought: I’ve always been told green tea is amazing for your health... but how true is this?

Being a scientific type, I ventured out to seek the answers. Being a lazy nerd, by ‘going out’ I mean I searched the internet for cited sources... This is what I found:

According to the Harvard medical journal, green tea’s main health benefits come from it’s make up of ‘flavanoids.’ These little buggers are natural, plant derived antioxidants that have been shown in studies to do some just plain awesome stuff.

First of all, these things help fight free radical damage to your cells. According to some folk this can help fight aging, but honestly, that sounds like a bit much too me. What HAS been proven about these antioxidants is that they have been linked to a lower chance of getting certain cancers, fight diseases and more. It's this free radical fighting power that keeps the cancer's at bay...

A Chinese study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed a 46%-65% reduction in hypertension risk in regular consumers of oolong or green tea, compared to non-consumers of tea. This means green tea may be able to help with overall high blood pressure.

Another reported effect of drinking tea is that it helps you maintain healthy cholesterol levels, though I can’t seem to find the original text of the study that proves this, which does cast some doubt to the claim.

Another interesting point I found: In 1999, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of a study at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Researchers found that men who were given a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those given only caffeine or a placebo. Many weight loss drugs use green tea extract because of this.

Hot Stuff: Lapsang

Lapsang is a tea. Lap Sang is an amazing tea. Lap Sang is my all time number one favourite tea in existence... And from some
one with a serious tea obsession, that’s saying a lot.

Lapsang (souchong) is a black tea that is smoked, usually over pine wood. this ‘smoking’ of the tea is unique to this variety and gives it a very cool flavour. Some have described the taste as similar to a fireplace or old tobacco. That’s right: it is like drinking a fire.

The flavour is incredibly intense and unique, which is why you will either love it or hate it. Any loose leaf tea store should stock it and will happily let you have a sniff, and you will probably know from that sniff if you want it or not. One great writer described it thus: "a man's tea, deep and subtle and blended in some rugged place,"

There are a lot of different stories describing the history of this tea. The one I was told long ago was that traders, selling tea, would travel across countries to make the most money. As they travelled they would have fires at night to keep warm. The smoke from these fires carried over to the tea they had stored and effectively smoked it. At first the traders thought it was ruined but after tasting, fell in love with it and decided to sell it as a new tea.

The story found on wikipedia states thus though: “The story goes that the tea was created during the Qing era when the passage of armies delayed the annual drying of the tea leaves in the Wuyi hills. Eager to satisfy demand, the tea producers sped up the drying process by having their workers dry the tea leaves over fires made from local pines.”

In all honesty no one really knows exactly how the tea was invented. What I do know is that I LOVE it and can’t wait to get my hands on some more. Tea store, here I come!

Chilled Music: Kings of Convenience

Kings of Convenience are a chilled out indie band based out of Norway. The exact town they are from I can not spell or pronounce. The music they make it soothing to the ear, laid back and tackles such hard topics as love and girls.

Their first big hit was called ‘I’d rather dance with you’ and garnered international acclaim and one hell of a cute music video. Watch it here:



Honestly though, my favourite is not as well known. Mrs. Cold is off their newest album called ‘declaration of dependence.’ Check out and purchase the album here. (Full disclosure: that is an affiliate link, if you buy the album I get a small cut.)

Here’s that song:



The band has worked with some of the bes tin the industry and even had one of their songs remixed by Royksopp. The music can be described as indy acoustic/adult contemporary with very soothing vocals. The two lead members of the band had known each other for years before starting in music together. They actually met when they were ten and took part in a geography contest.

Finding Zen: White Noise

I recommend music, books, blogs and more to help you find new ways to chill but one of the best methods I’ve ever discovered is the simple use of white noise.

White noise has been used for ages as a way to help people fall asleep, help calm people down and more. While sleeping it can help drown out some more ‘shocking sounds’ which might wake you up. Giving you a more restful sleep.

Some people believe that white noise is helpful for stress and the like because it reminds us subconsciously of being in the womb, which is actually surprisingly loud.

So here are a few options to get your white noise on!

Simply Noise
http://simplynoise.com/

Simple and to the point, simplynoise gives you a slider and a few options. Not into white noise? BAM! Here’s pink! My favourite thing to do is set it to brown noise and have it oscillate. It helps me concentrate. For example, that’s what I’m doing right this second!

RainyMood
http://www.rainymood.com/

Not so much white noise as it is a pretty specific sound. Rainymood emulates a thunderstorm in your speakers. You hear lightning, rain and even a few birds chirping. It’s dark and beautiful. While listening it brings up memories of real storms past.

Play some music along with it for the ultimate experience. I suggest some oldschool freeform jazz.