I like a good drink.

It’s in my bio—my love of hoppy beer.

I also love a glass of wine after a long day and a shot of tequila on a Saturday afternoon.

But I’m pregnant. I can’t drink. Truthfully, my husband’s pints of hoppy ales make my stomach turn—and the smell of wine, just forget it.

So, last week when I had a horribly shitty day and my obvious end-of-a-bad-day/beginning-of-a-great-evening solution would have been an extremely generous glass of wine, I was left with, what the hell do I do with myself?

What do I do with my frazzled nerves and my overwhelmed heart and my tear-hair-out monkey mind?

I went to yoga class.

I walked in at 6:15 for the next class that evening and the studio manager sitting at the front desk was absolutely shocked to see me. Because I don’t take night classes.

No, at night I hole up with my family and cook and read books to my child and talk with my husband over stirring pots of yumminess on the stovetop—I do many things, but going to yoga class isn’t one of them.

But I’ve found this whole new me within my pregnant self—within this self who doesn’t drink alcohol—and I like her.

To be fair, I’ve been an emotional mess throughout this pregnancy.

My hormones have not been kind to my sensitive feelings and life didn’t get the memo that it was supposed to go easy on the pregnant lady. Actually, these last few months have been some of the most stressful of my life, and alcohol was not going to be there to help see me through it. Thank God.

Seriously, I just told my husband the other night—when I’m nearly positive that he wished I could drink—that I felt so blessed to have been forced through this intensely troublesome period of time without the convenience of drinking my beloved beer of choice (Hop Devil IPA, from where I used to live, if you really want to know).

It’s reminded me that even though I easily get anxious and even though life isn’t always fair in the amount of stressors it hands out at a time, I’m capable of breathing into and through life—just me, no alcohol necessary.

And I can honestly say that I’m sure I’ll have a beer or two periodically after my baby is born, but that I genuinely do plan on turning down alcohol more often than not.

Because that yoga class I took the other day, at 6:30 at night? It felt awesome—I felt awesome.

And I like me, even on my freaked-out-at-life days and especially when I could use a drink—because that’s the me who has some things to learn, things like patience and acceptance, surrender and how to practice real yoga.

And my real yoga begins when I walk out of that studio door and I get into my car and I’m forced to inhale and exhale and just experience my life.

And sometimes having a few glasses of wine while cooking dinner helps, but, more often, I only wake up thirsty at night and still have the same damn problems in the morning.

So I’m taking a pregnant pause to slow down and breathe into my life instead of glossing over it and, sure, some moments are better than others, but I want to be present for all of it.

Because if I hadn’t had that difficult day yesterday that caused loud tears to spill down my cheeks, then I wouldn’t have had my little girl come up to me and, being extra silly, make me laugh to cheer me up.

In life, we have bad times, but there’s nearly always good right there with it, if we can open our teary eyes enough to witness it.

And maybe for you it’s not alcohol but exercise (I’ve certainly run miles of life’s challenges away in my past too) or sex or something else that temporarily numbs our human experiences.

But what if, for one evening, we all paused before going into auto-pilot and chose a different way to deal with life?

What if for one day we chose to feel it all and breathe into the pain and into the joy and we stayed present, no matter how hard it was?

Well, maybe, we would find ourselves doing that the next night too, because life was actually easier when we dealt head-on with our burdens and emotions and thoughts.

And maybe every day could just be living our lives—loving our lives and ourselves—one breath, one moment at a time.

Photo: Quinn Dombrowski/Flickr.

This article first appeared on elephant journal.

The post What Happened When I Took a Breath Instead of a Drink. first appeared on Jennifer S. White.

Many worthwhile things in life really do take hard work and practice.

Here’s a list of 10 things that, when practiced daily, will serve to make your life healthier and happier.

1. Mindful eating. When you’re about to pop something into your mouth, ask yourself if you’re doing so because you’re hungry, or if it’s for another reason. There’s nothing wrong with eating something just because it’s good or because you’re socializing, but food is meant to be fuel for your body—and practicing eating with awareness will serve you physically, as well as mentally and emotionally.

2. Positive thinking. If you frequently catch yourself being a Debbie Downer, then spend more time practicing being conscious of your thought patterns. There’s an underlying truth to the concept that thoughts become words and words become actions, so speak your words more carefully—and positively—if you want to have a more optimistic outtake on life.

3. Giving. Giving from a place of love and joy within yourself brings joy and love back into your own life. Practice giving without any intention of receiving, and you’ll likely find you have more to give than you thought possible—and more space to receive life’s happiness in return.

4. Yoga. As one of my teachers said to me this weekend, practicing yoga is practicing connecting what you’re thinking with what you’re doing. If you’re driving your car, you’re thinking about driving your car. Trust me, all of us need to practice this. Why? Because we’ll get more fulfillment out of what we’re doing, and because there’s so much joy in the little things that we miss when we let our minds wander.

5. Listening. Listening is another thing we all need to practice—and I’m not just talking about waiting for the other person to finish speaking so that you can say something. Nearly all of us are also guilty of is trying to fix others or trying to offer advice. Practice listening to someone else and try to refrain from speaking in return. Often all we really want is to say something out loud to someone else, not to be told what to do.

6. Breathing. Okay, I know we do this on our own quite naturally and without practice, but practicing breath work will benefit your body and mind by bringing yourself into yoga (re-read #4) and focused, deep, steady breath is intensely calming to you physiologically. Try this simple three-part breath. Think of your lungs as pitchers and then “pour” the air into the bottom, just like a pitcher, into your belly (deep into your lungs), then breathe into your chest and then up into your throat. Take in one more bite of air and, again like a pitcher, “pour” the air off of the top, exhaling out of your throat, your chest and your belly. Make sure to sit up straight with your shoulders down and back, and try to breath as slowly as you can.

7. Saying no. Practice using your voice, so that it matches your heart. If you find yourself often saying “yes” to a commitment that doesn’t serve you or really isn’t even possible for you to do (and then bowing out of this commitment later), then say “no” the first time around. Think about why you want to say “yes.” Ask yourself what you’re afraid of. Usually we’re afraid of disappointing others or afraid of rejection, but you’re letting yourself down if you spread yourself too thin.

8. Say yes. On the other hand, how many times has a new friend asked you go go to lunch, for example, and you said “no” when you could. Possibly you wanted to, but again encountered fear (fear of not having enough to say; fear of not having enough in common; fear, fear fear). When life hands you opportunities that are healthy for you and healthy for your life, are you saying “no?” Say “yes” instead.

9. Turning off technology. My giving blog also shared another idea with my readers: giving up overuse of technology. I’m by no means saying to stop emailing, using Facebook or reading the news. I am, however, suggesting that instead of flipping on the TV or your laptop when you’re bored that you, I don’t know, go outside or read a book. You know, things that have existed for many, many years that you stopped doing because you’re iPhone’s quite handy.

10. Self-love. How do you love yourself? You begin by speaking kindly to yourself  (re-read #2). Has your inner voice become quite harsh? Would you speak to a friend or a stranger the way that you speak to yourself? I truly believe that the first step towards loving and accepting yourself is to talk to yourself the way that you would a child—lovingly, kindly and patiently.

If these little tips seem easy, then congratulations. You’re much farther along then I am.

Many of these practices might seem easy in thought, but give them a shot, every single stinkin’ day, and see just how difficult—and rewarding—they can be.

So go ahead, turn off your computer or phone (after you share and comment on this blog, of course) and then commit to doing any, or all, of these practices—starting today.

Photo: Steve Corey/Flickr.

This article was first published by elephant journal.

The post 10 Things We Should Practice Every Day. first appeared on Jennifer S. White.