4 wellness practices i am taking with me into the fall
As the summer nears the end, this is typically the time where I become eager for fall. While I love each and every season in its own way, I find the fall is my most favorite — shh, don’t tell the rest.
This summer, I’ve been integrating new wellness practices into my routine that I plan to continue to strengthen as I move into the cooler months. They’ve served me, in regard to both my physical and mental health, significantly and I look forward to the value they’ll bring me throughout the remainder of 2023.
Spend 1-2 hours off my phone first thing in the morning: This is one of my newer practices, of which came with lots of resistance. It is habitual for me to wake up and check my emails or texts upon turning off my alarm — I can imagine others can relate. However, what I am realizing, is this is robbing me of the mindful time I could be spending instead. Also, our minds are most impressionable in the mornings — that said, what we are consuming can be enormously influential on our minds and our stress response. Scrolling social media, reading emails, or responding to texts can be stressful and influential on our physiology. I am choosing to wake up and instead, read, journal, and meditate. It has been so nourishing for my mind and soul to utilize the first few moments of my day in a more wholesome, productive way. I read a chapter or two in my book, I practice gratitude in my journal and reflect on how I’m feeling, and have been using the Peloton app to practice a 10-15 minute guided meditation. I challenge you to audit your morning routine and identify where you might be able to integrate more mind body supporting habits. This is one of my most favorite things to work on with clients as I truly feel it is foundational to your day and optimal wellness.
Tongue scraping: Tongue scraping is a new wellness practice I’ve integrated into my mornings and I don’t know if I can ever go back — it is now an integral part of my wellness routine, for the sake of oral health and full body wellness. Tongue scraping has been practice for centuries, all across the world. It originated in Ayurvedic medicine, an ancient Indian system of medicine that approaches wellness from a whole body perspective. Our mouth contains a whole community of bacteria, like the gut as well as other areas on the body, that are both good and bad. The bad bacteria can cause bad breath, tooth decay, gum infections, and more. With the interconnectedness of the body in mind, supporting your oral hygiene inevitably impacts your whole body. Check out more information on tongue scraping here.
Meditation and deep breathing daily: As a person prone to anxiety, this has transformed my daily routine! I have ebbed and flowed as it relates to this practice and I finally feel as though I’ve established it into my routine as a consistent daily habit. The benefits of meditation and deep breathing span far beyond just emotional, as it benefits our physical and cognitive health as well. Meditation is a valuable tool to spend time in introspection. I spend a lot of time with clients encouraging them to become observers of their own thoughts — as behavioral changes on our wellness journey are contingent upon our mindset. Once we are able to familiarize ourselves with what our thoughts are saying, we can respond to them in a more productive way. Oftentimes, the thoughts were are having, while they’re automatic, they’re not always the most helpful. Meditation allows us, for a brief moment, to step away from distractions and the chaos of the day to day, and harnesses the opportunity to reflect on how we truly are feeling. From there, we can transform our lives. Afterall, self-awareness is the key to transformation. Building self awareness is essential along your wellness journey — for the sake of mind, body, and soul. Additionally, deep breathing is an integral tool in nervous system regulation. Chronic stress is everywhere — and in most cases, we don’t even realize it. When we are stressed or exposed to stressors, the part of the nervous system, the sympathetic nervous system, otherwise known as “fight or flight,” is activated. In the modern world, the average human is inundated with stressors — from a nasty work email, to rush hour traffic, to the food we eat, and more. Our physiology is exhausted. Deep breathing is key to flipping the switch within the autonomic nervous system — from sympathetic to parasympathetic, or the ‘rest and digest’, relaxation response. Spending time in the morning, and even at night, to engage in intentional deep breathing can transform how you feel from day to day and build your body’s resilience to stress.
Mid day walks: Ever since moving, I have had to carve out 10-15 minutes, 3-4x a day to take my golden retriever out for a walk. I didn’t realize how much of a benefit these walks would bring both my mental and physical health. Disconnecting from my tasks for the day and heading out for sunshine, a podcast, and some steps has transformed my routine. It has given me the opportunity to break up my day in the best way possible. Getting sun exposure help supports hormone health and promotes a healthy circadian rhythm — critical for quality sleep! Listening to a podcast, an audio book, or just the sounds in nature promotes learning and mindfulness, both essential for wellness and personal development. Movement is medicine — I firmly believe that — and interrupting my day for short periods of time to get outside and walk reboots my brain, helps to reduce levels of stress, and promotes creativity and focus.
Which ones are you taking with you into the fall? Which ones can I support you most with? If you need support, follow the link below to schedule a free consultation.
