What's your intention?
Many families want a healthy lifestyle to look and feel their best. To have the energy and stamina to play with their children and to remain comfortable and pain-free. So it would be surprising to come across someone who does not want to live a healthier lifestyle.
So why is it that many struggle to achieve their goals towards health? Why are disease and pain common enough to keep my previous acupuncture practice busy? Why isn't there enough time in a day to do what we know we should be doing?
Have you achieved your goals for a healthy lifestyle? Do you start your day off right? Do you fall asleep with satisfaction, knowing you took steps to be your best self? Even I struggle with this, and I have dedicated my career to holistic health.
Let us start with a clean slate today and work towards a healthier, happier lifestyle.
How do I clean my slate?
To create change, we must stand still and recognize where we are. Then take the first steps forward towards the life desired.
A fresh start, a new beginning, the onset, or square one. Most people don't succeed at living their best lives because they're too busy, overwhelmed, or not knowing where to start. I know I've felt this way too.
We recently sold our home, my business, and all of our belongings to travel the world... with a toddler. As a result, my life turned upside down. The three months it took to make the extreme transition is now a blur to me as I went into survival mode. I lost all routines and healthy decisions. And now I'm in the middle of a jungle with the nearest grocery store over an hour away and lacking my usual healthy staples.
I am cleaning my slate now. Join me.
A fresh start is needed when we want to change, a reset. Instead of thinking of how we want to alter our lifestyles, think of starting fresh. What do you see when you imagine a healthy lifestyle? What does this mean to you? What have you always wanted to do each day for yourself? What are your values? Where are your problem areas? What prevents you from getting there?
Now, where do we start? First, clean that slate and prepare for the life you love.
Prepare for Success.
To reach your goals, knowing how and why to get them is essential.
This week, choose one thing holding you back and eliminate it. We want to clean the body and mind as well as the slate. To start fresh, we need to refresh and clarify. Creating new routines, especially those that include exercise and nutrition, is much easier if you're not working against yourself.
Whether it be alcohol, or binge-watching tv, ask yourself, "what prevents me from waking up early each day?" "What stops me from being my best?" It's a difficult question, and the answer can be even more challenging. Whatever it may be, eliminate it. Try it, at least.
Clear out those cobwebs, pressure wash the muck off your life, and be prepared for success in the upcoming weeks.
When it comes to changing your lifestyle, old habits die hard. My goal is to help make a holistic and healthy lifestyle easier to achieve by creating routines you love and crave.
Wake up early to take care of yourself and achieve many holistic tasks.
Set yourself up for a great day by winding down properly at night.
Sleep soundly through the night and wake up feeling refreshed.
Reduce stress and improve coping mechanisms for the world and its challenges.
Feel radiant from the inside out.
This can be achieved without adding more to an already busy life. By setting up simple and enjoyable routines that work for you, convenience, ease, health, and a natural glow are possible.
Specific daily routines, such as morning, evening, shower time, and mealtime, can quickly become natural to the point where you won't even think about the tasks.
I strive to help smooth out your days to create more time and enjoyment while obtaining a holistic lifestyle that will benefit you and your family.
Life can be challenging. You can be ready for it.
Be a Tree.
Feel your roots unwind and dig deep while your branches stretch wide to soak up the sun.
I first found yoga in Costa Rica about 12 years ago. I happened to be housemates with a yoga teacher who didn't believe I would take her free class every morning over the next 3 months of our stay. I proved her wrong.
At a mere 22 years old, my time in Costa Rica had always been my "healthiest and happiest." It's where I found myself, crawled out of my shell, and became strong, independent, and capable of doing anything I wanted.
It's also where I discovered the incredible benefits of a solid morning routine.
Makes sense why I'm back here now with my family, right?!
Yoga became a foundation for me, my strong point, my magical grounding powers that enabled me to take on the world, no matter what life threw at me.
There was only one thing that could stand in my way… me.
Anytime I lose my yoga routine, my health and contentment waivers. Stress pushes against me, and my resolve weakens. Simply getting out of bed on time is a challenge. I'm knocked out of balance.
So, here I am, back in Costa Rica, after selling all my possessions, home, and private practice. So, I figured it was only appropriate to get back on track by starting my mornings with yoga.
Only this time, I'm going to become a teacher. I purchased an online Yoga Teacher Training course a couple years ago and never even started it. Granted, I got pregnant during a pandemic then, so there's that.
My favorite pose has always been the tree pose. There's just something about it.
Drawing up from my roots planted in the earth and reaching high up towards the sky and universe above. I feel fully grounded and extended at the same time.
Have you ever felt a sense of enlightenment while hiking through the forest? Or, as in my case now, the jungle? The purity and lightness that comes from being amongst trees are palpable.
Now, be the tree. Take in that power, regardless of the environment around you. Awaken the strength, opening, and groundedness within.
A Bit of Yoga Philosophy for You Trees.
Beyond stretching and exercise, yoga stems from an ancient time of health and well-being.
There are a set of guides known as the Sutras. This guiding path consists of eight limbs and aims to pave the way to enlightenment or self-discovery. Here are the 8 limbs:
Yama: moral discipline
Niyama: positive observance
Asana: posture (poses)
Pranayama: breathing control
Pratyahara: sense withdrawal, or not being overwhelmed by or reactive to the senses activated by your environment around you.
Dharana: concentration
Dhyana: meditation
Samadhi: Enlightenment
There's a great passage in Mark Stephens' book, Teaching Yoga, Essential Foundations and Techniques, that really stood out to me. In honor of the tree pose and theme here, I'd like to share it with you:
"Yama creates the roots for living clearly and honorably through ethical being. Niyama is the trunk of the tree, establishing a base of purity in one's body and mind. Asana creates the branches, extending strongly yet flexibly to move with the breezes of life. Pranayama is symbolized by the leaves on the tree, drawing in the life force through the exchange of breath. Pratyahara is the bark protecting the tree from outer elements and preventing its essence from flowing outward. Dharana is the sap running through the veins of the tree and its leaves, keeping the body-mind firm. Dhyana is the flower of whole consciousness, slowly ripening into the fullest fruit of the practice, Samadhi, pure bliss."
Yoga has many holistic advantages and can be done by most, so I will focus on yoga as my physical activity pillar of health. I'll undoubtedly include other fun and efficient ways to maintain fitness. Still, yoga will be my foundation and integral to my morning routine.
If you prefer a different type of physical activity to start your day, by all means, stick with what you love. I'll be discussing the histories and benefits of many forms of exercise over time (leave me a comment if you'd like me to touch on a specific form of physical activity). Still, I encourage you to look deeper into your favorite exercise technique to understand the benefits of your passion and take your practice deeper.
It starts now.
Stop, collect your thoughts, and consider where you are.
Take a deep breath, and close your eyes. Connect to your roots, reach out through your leaves, and feel your flowers bloom.
Clear your slate.
Now ask yourself, “what do I want?” Imagine your perfect morning that leads to feeling your best and starting the day strong.
Next, think about what’s holding you back.
Take the first step, and eliminate the first obstacle. Then, marinate in that perfect morning dream. Know it can be achieved.
Join my journey to discovering the perfect morning routine. The evening routine allows for the best start to the next day. A shower routine that leaves you feeling refreshed and radiant. Meal times that are mindful and satisfying.
Subscribe and follow my adventure while creating your own journey toward holistic health.
See you next week to begin the morning routine!