Challenge within a challenge: Minimalism update- A mindful bare faced walk

I started my minimalism challenge around mid December and with Christmas happening it took a bit of a backseat. So with the final day of the challenge being the 15th January, I’ve got a bit of catching up to do.

This weekend I didn't have anything to do so I thought I’d get a few of the things ticked off the list. The first was to have a day unplanned and so I started this by watching what was on TV while having breakfast, instead of watching something I recorded. I ended up watching a bit of Saturday Kitchen and then some of Red Carpet Confessions on E! where I got an idea for something to learn this year. I then did another part of the challenge where I learnt to enjoy solitude by being alone and away from background and chatter from TV and social media for a few hours. To do this I did another part of the challenge which was to go for a walk and practice mindfulness. I took a few pictures of my walk which add a filter came out pretty well.

With enjoying solitude and switching off from everything this meant not listening to my ipod. I'm one of those people that love listening to music and preferably like there to always be some noise. So having nothing to listen to for a few hours meant I only had my thoughts to listen to which was quite daunting.

And I did another thing off the minimalism challenge in going bare faced. This wasn't a huge challenge for me as I don’t wear a lot of make up to begin with.

The site I got the challenge from said to do this by picking a familiar route and taking in all the surroundings. So I picked the Garden City Greenway which was a route that I used when training for my 50km walk a couple of years ago. I picked a pretty bad day for it as it rained quite a bit and the route was pretty muddy as a result. I didn't do all of the route and it’s nearly 14 miles, and I veered off it a few times, went through a wood which I hadn't done before, and went off to explore Willian a bit also. I then ended up in Letchworth and had a look in Letchworth library and I saw quite a few books I want to read. 2016 is definitely going to be the year of reading!

I only intended to walk for 3 hours tops, but I left the flat at 11 and returned just before 4.30. The rest of the day I spent watching Dinner Date with Charlotte and her boyfriend Dan and a few other programmes as well.

Your senses do open when you switch off, but a tip if you’re going to go for a walk to practice mindfulness….don’t go before lunch. There’s a fish and chip shop on my road and walking pass that place I got a nice smell that made me crave it for a fair chunk of the walk.