Que Cerra, Cerra

In which I work on becoming Aware, to Act and Relax.

The school year has started with a huge bang: The Bee is adjusting to her new school, I am taking an online class, the library is bustling with activity and there is that pesky thing called everything else. Weeks in to this new school year and I am still trying to juggle it all. Last school year I made the error of thinking that there would be time later (ha) and my familiar tactic of wait and see has proven to be quite a joke. There never seems to be enough hours in the day and short of curling into a ball and losing myself in a book or watching mindless television for hours (trust me…this is only a temporary fix) I decided that something needed to be done in order to keep me sane.

Enter Cerra. From their website:

Cerra™ experiences help you be aware of your thoughts and feelings, act with thoughtful  intention, and reflect on your experiences, leading to a happier, more balanced life.

Just from this blurb, Cerra sounds like just what is needed. However with my life being so wild and crazy I thought I didn’t have time for myself let alone what felt like yet another social media thing. But one night after The Bee went down for the night, the cat was fed and I found my mind racing and me about to inhale a bag of chips, I decided to give it the site a try. I *DO* spend quite a lot of time online and my thoughts were that I wouldn’t feel quite as guilty for spending time going through the site since, ya know, it was for research.

Again, from the website:

Cerra™ experiences lead you on your journey to a happier, more balanced life by helping you be aware of your thoughts and feelings, act with thoughtful intention, and reflect on your experiences. Our engaging products, highly interactive website and supportive web community all exist to help you grow to be your best self.

I was a bit doubtful; have these Cerra folks met me? But instead of frowning and turning my nose up I decided to give the website a try. The motto for Cerra is Be Aware, Act and Reflect and as I pondered what these words would mean for me, I did stop to reflect if I were living my life or merely going through the motions. The Cerra site constantly encourages one to reflect, be aware, act and as I surfed the site I found myself allowing the time to go through and to be OK with the time I was taking for myself.  Online there are moments to experience; short breaks from your day encouraging you to be aware, act and reflect. These moments take the shape of yoga poses and stretches which are very soothing after being hunched over a computer all day. The moments can be things that you pick or custom matched depending on your mood.

As a blogger, I was sent a program kit which had the following items:

• Three Tea Bags in Grounded, Creative Energy and Gratitude varieties
• Creative Energy Sensory Oil
• Dissolving Notes and Pen
• Sample Sized Lotion
• Gratitude Keepsake Notes
• Cerra™ calling cards you may share with friends and family
• An informative Cerra™ Booklet and Journal

The energy sensory oil was a pleasant scent that forced me to relax and focus. The tea was wonderful it has been warm in my neck of the woods but instead of my morning coffee I took time to prepare and savor the tea. The dissolving notes presented a solution inadvertently. I had left the notes in the kitchen and one got wet. Instead of bemoaning the fact that the note, well dissolved, I used this as an opportunity to let go of some of the stress I had been experiencing over the last two weeks. The stress didn’t immediately go away but it was cathartic to have a symbolic release of some of my problems.

The sensory oil set I received became a family affair. My mom and daughter each claimed fragrances that they enjoyed and attempted to embody and embrace the principles each represented. There are seven intentions that one is encouraged to embrace in order to thrive. Grounded, Creative Energy, Gratitude, Loving Kindness, Courage, Wisdom and Inspiration and each comes with a fragrant oil to rub on pulse points in an effort to help you stay in the moment. Mom loved Wisdom and The Bee claimed courage. I really felt moved toward creative energy. We all agreed that the scents encouraged us to take the intentions and own them.

My favorite part of the Cerra experience is the journal. As a blogger I have often given up the written journal for an online option using pen and paper as a way to keep track of things I am going to do online. With the Cerra journal I found that I really reflected and made myself aware of where I was mentally and emotionally as I wrote.

So far I have really found that the Cerra experience has been right for me. I can use it as I’d like, taking time to physically act, emotionally become aware or just live in the moment. Cerra is free and available to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. There is a shop to purchase some of the the things I was given but even without shopping this is such a wonderful way to renew and reflect.

The time I have taken to really focus on me and where I am mentally and physically has been a delight. The initial guilt that I felt for taking time for myself…gone and I do feel that I can experience moments with a clarity and reflection that I was lacking before.

This is the first in a series of posts that I am sharing about my Cerra experience. Hopefully you will join me.

Gaining awareness,
-r