It has been a hot minute since I have sat down to write a blog. However, one of my goals this year was to get back into blogging. Blogging brings me so much joy and peace and I am so thankful to be able to be doing it again. So thank you to everyone who stayed with me while I took a very long hiatus. I am hoping that I can continue to offer something useful to you. For those of you that are new here – Welcome. I am so happy that you stopped by.
Today’s post is going to be about staying well during the Winter months as we anticipate Spring & Summer.
1 // Self care
This one is so important. In the midst of everything going on around us it is so important to take some time for yourself. There are so many different benefits to creating a self care routine and practicing self care on the regular. Doing this can help reduce stress and anxiety. The joy of self care is that it looks different for everyone. Find something that you enjoy doing that helps you relax and something that you can spend at least thirty minutes doing. Something that I have done over the years is having at least one self care day a week. It’s also okay to just start off with trying it once a month and build up to the once a week. Really you can formulate how often you feel you need it, when you want to do it, and what you want to do for self care. That is the beauty of it all – you don’t have to fit into someone else’s time or what they want to do because this is all about you.
2 // Eating well & getting enough sleep
As I have gotten older I have realized more and more how important getting enough sleep and eating well is. I often try to get around eight to eight and a half hours of sleep every night. I find that when I am eating well and sleeping well that I feel better overall. If you are like me and have trouble falling asleep some nights I have found two things to be helpful. The first one is melatonin – this has been something that has helped me significantly (please consult with your dr.). The second one is a method called the 10- 3-2-1-0
10 hours before bed stop drinking caffeine.
3 hours before bed no more food or alcohol.
2 hours before bed stop working or doing any homework
1 hour before bed turn off all screen time and electronics.
0 is the number of times you will hit the snooze button in the morning.
Eating well and wholesome foods is such a game changer. We try to eat as many whole foods as we possibly can. No we are not perfect in this aspect but what I have found is that when we are eating a more whole diet the better I feel both mentally and physically. I find that I have more energy and I also find that I sleep better. Do some research on eating more whole and organic foods and the benefits of it.
3 // Exercise
This is another one that has proven to be great for your overall physical health but also mental health. This is one that also looks different for everyone. If you do work out at home I encourage you to still get outside to go for a walk or do some sort of activity outside. Plus going outside allows us to soak in more vitamin D which is necessary in the Winter months. Our bodies need some sort of activity to help us build the right supports for our immune system. Staying active and being active are a great way to help those supports. Exercising can be done at home, outdoors, or at a gym. Exercising doesn’t have to be something you dread but rather something you look forward to. They say it takes twenty-one days to build a habit so start with one day at a time and build up to that twenty-one days.
4 // Being intentional with your time
I am sure you have all heard the saying we all have the same twenty-four hours in a day. I think it is important to be intentional with time because often our brain space is taken up with a lot of “things”. I think by being intentional with your time you are able to clear some of those open tabs in your brain because you are spending more intentional time completing tasks or doing things. This has been such a game changer for me because I often have so many tabs open in my brain that I find it hard to focus and with that I find it hard to be intentional with the time that I do have in the day. What has helped for me is writing down all the things that I have to get done in the day and then writing a list of all the things that I would like to get done in the day. This allows me to see exactly what I have to get done and free’s up space in my brain to be able to do this. It also allows me to be intentional about how I am spending my time.
5 // Stay hydrated
Water is such a key aspect in our overall health. 60% of our body is made up of water. It is so important to be drinking enough water throughout the day. I used to be really bad at this one and I could tell – I finally invested in a good water bottle that I love there is just something about having an aesthetically pleasing water bottle makes me drink more water – anyone else feel this way? There are many health benefits to getting your daily water intake some of them include more energy and improvement in brain function, weight loss, better sleeps, helps with overall physical performance and so many other benefits too many to list here but I encourage you to do some research into the benefits of drinking enough water.
Those are my tips! I hope that this has inspired you to start to incorporate these into your life if you don’t already.
Esther Brianna
Esther Brianna 