# data[].attributes.body
For my wellness pursuit, I decided to further my guitar playing skills. I did this by setting aside time for myself to practice. Sometimes, especially during school, I struggle to find time to play music. I set aside 30 minutes for myself after school to play and have been for the last 2 weeks. Sometimes it's hard to get inspired so I listen to music first and the urge to play guitar becomes too strong. I feel passionate, inspired and happy when I play my heart out to my favorite songs. (all of them being being greenday)

# data[].attributes.body
My wellness pursuit is making more time for being in the moment and with that time I incorporate art. About every other evening for 20 minutes I have been painting. I added a picture of one of my works in progress as a yogi and artist. The most fulfilling part of this practice is having accomplished a goal (mindfulness) as well as a material project to base my progress off of (art). After this time I usually feel more grounded.

# data[].attributes.body
my pursuit is working on my mine and body. so my PT and meditation kind-of go hand in hand. in the mornings as i am waking up i do some lite meditation to lighten the mined and pre-per for the day. so fat it has been incredibly helpful to get out of bed in the morning

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
A work of poetry I've been reading lately, titled "The Princess Saves Herself in This One." It's something of a memoir, looking at life from a poetical POV.

# data[].attributes.body
I decided that, for my wellness pursuit, I was going to write a poem each day, simply put. Though reading and writing poetry is something I really do love doing, it is not a pursuit I have much time for with school, athletics and other extracurricular activities. For me, personally, poetry is a way to reconnect with myself and my emotions, a way to step back and be mindful. So far, for the past couple of days, I have been taking between 5 and 10 minutes before bed to sit down and write down my thoughts, as well as read a bit of poetry if I have time. This certainly has been aiding my overall wellbeing. These activities are very calming. It has still been a little bit tricky finding a solid chunk of time to write, but overall, my wellness pursuit has been going remarkably well.

# data[].attributes.body
I've grown up in a family that has a deep appreciation for music (particularly lyrical tunes that involve belting) and although i am a busy person, taking seven minutes out of my fifteen hour day has been an easeful way to cultivate this love of singing and ukulele I have let sink to the background. Even though my commitment is only seven minutes, I'm not gonna lie, sometimes i don't deeply crave practicing this hobby. But then, the moment i pick up the ukulele and begin to sing like nobody is listening, i remember how much it feeds me.
I read a quote by Hans Andersen that reads "where words fail, music speaks"
I couldn't agree more.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
My battered copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (not ill cared for, believe me, just very well read; it was my mother's). 

# data[].attributes.headline
Reconnecting with My Love for Reading - Grace

# data[].attributes.subject
Reconnecting with My Love for Reading - Grace

# data[].attributes.body
I have loved to read ever since I learned how, and it brings me great happiness and comfort to indulge myself in a good book, often a fantasy novel. However, in the past few years, I have had much more homework than I ever used to, and due to this I have had to work hard to ensure I obtain the amount of sleep necessary for me to be healthy and not become ill. Because my afternoons are on any regular school day filled with extracurricular activities and then homework until either it is too late and I know I must sleep or my parents insist I go to bed, I thought that this wellness pursuit project offered the perfect opportunity to reconnect with the books I love so much. I have usually been reading in the afternoons after I get home or before I go to bed at night. I have been enjoying rereading the Harry Potter series which I have read more times than I can count, but have not had the opportunity to for a least two years. This pursuit has been enormously fulfilling for me. Aside from simply loving the literature, I laughed the hardest I have laughed in a very long time at a passage in the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix chapter O.W.L.S on Sunday: "Even by Harry's low standards in Divination, the exam went very badly. He might as well have tried to see moving pictures in the desktop as in the stubbornly blank crystal ball; he lost his head completely during tea-leaf reading, saying it looked to him as though Professor Marchbanks would shortly be meeting a round, dark, soggy stranger, and rounded off the whole fiasco by mixing up the life and head lines on her palm and informing her that she ought to have died the previous Tuesday.
'Well, we were always going to fail that one,' said Ron gloomily as they ascended the marble staircase. He had just made Harry feel rather better by telling him how he told the examiner in detail about the ugly man with a wart on his nose in his crystal ball, only to look up and realize he had been describing his examiner's reflection" (Rowling 717-18). So all in all, this has been an extremely rewarding wellness pursuit.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
The cover for the audiobook of The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

# data[].attributes.body
I suppose that my project revolves around a sense on inner peace. Meditation is an action I try to take every day.  I unplug, steady my breathing, and close my eyes. I've also been listening to this incredible drama, The Idiot, for about 10 hours (started it before the project started) and it helps me relax. Drinking tea and eating oranges also helps me get into a state of calmness. I intend to try out a diffuser (and maybe candles). Also, I know that this doesn't really count but, Walden, a game is super soothing to play. Anyway, I feel very serene after doing these things, and look forward to what the future holds.

Merci, Stirling Thornburgh

# data[].attributes.body
I've always had goals and ambitions in the gym, especially due to being surrounded by a lot of gym rat type friends who are dedicated, motivated and getting stronger every week. I have recently had a personal goal to go to the gym at least 4 days a week for at least 2 hours each time. I want to see growth in muscle around my body on a consistent rate. I have friends who motivate me around the world, for example i have a friend in France who does calisthenics in the mountains, I have friends in Utah, Seattle and California who do power lifting, I have surrounded myself with people I want to keep up with, its motivating. I do think theres more to the gym then just picking up a weight, with this goal i will learn self discipline, patience and dedication. The gym puts structure in my daily routine, even today when school started at 9:30am, I got up at 6am and went to the gym to start my day. with this structure and can push myself to work around it like going to sleep earlier and eating better to sustain my muscle growth.

# data[].attributes.body
For my first wellness pursuit I chose to do meditation because I’ve been feeling Extra  are stressed lately Never making time to do half an hour of meditation to relax and it’s been feeling because I’ve been noticing that I would feel less stressed and calmer when I finish meditating although for me it’s hard to sit still for that long but I try-Lorenzo

# data[].attributes.body
As a family, we've been playing games after dinner.  Favorites include: Catan, Trash Pandas, Toss Up, and Telestrations. Right now, Trash Pandas is my personal favorite.

It is nice to have time to connect and enjoy some HYGGE.  The only downside means that dishes don't get done until way too late and my other wellness goal of getting to bed earlier isn't happening.