Hello October! It’s been a while since I’ve sent out a newsletter and I’m so happy I’m finally getting this sent out to you! I’ve had this in my drafts for a while but life has been BUSY! September 2023 will hold a special place in my heart as I got engaged and ran my first-ever half marathon!

This summer was fun, HOT, busy, and everything in between. There were large markets, late-night ice cream runs, packaging orders, taking product pictures during golden hour, and back porch dinners. I think one of the reasons that this summer has been so impactful is due to the routines that I’ve crafted.

QUALITY SLEEP:

I’ve been on a health journey for the past 6 months to a year. Every single wellness personnel that I have in my village talks about the importance of quality sleep. I’ve also turned to Dr. Andrew Huberman, who hosts a podcast called the Huberman Lab, to help get scientifically backed tips and tricks on how to achieve quality sleep. I’m aiming to get over 7 hours (this meant I had to shift a major goal in my life to a later timeline. I was waking up at 5 AM to study and this was really impacting my sleep hours), an hour and a half of deep sleep, and hopefully 2 hours of REM sleep (rapid eye movement). I try and have my room clean of clutter to help with the relaxing rituals of going to bed. I keep my room as dark as possible (even putting a pillow over the crack of my bedroom door!), and keep the room cool.

Huberman Lab podcast episodes that I’ve gleamed great tips from are:

DAILY MOVEMENT:

I’m sure this has been drilled into every one of us since the beginning of time. I’ve found that running, walking, and hot yoga have been mental health lifesavers. I work a busy healthcare job that requires me to be on my toes, problem solve, and work with a wide range of people that can sometimes (some days A LOT) leave me feeling drained, irritable, or sad. Taking time for yourself, even if it’s for 10 minutes, to move your body, get your heart rate going, and sweat a little bit does wonders for your headspace. I find that on the days I’m too tired to go for a run or take a yoga class, just going for a quick walk and listening to my latest audiobook or podcast lets me disconnect from work and bring myself back to my body.

RELAXING/GETTING OFF YOUR PHONE:

I realized how often I will be doing an activity I really enjoy or surrounded by people I really like, and then will notice that I’ve been scrolling on my phone. LAME! So, I’m reducing my phone time and becoming intentional about what I allow myself to consume digitally. It’s really hard to make the switch from phone scrolling and digitally consuming to something else, but I’ve decided to spend my relaxing free time with more reading. I’m trying out new genres, authors, and styles of books.

CONSISTENCY:

I know this seems generic but I thought it would be good to throw in here anyway. A large portion of my growth and moving forward has been consistency. Consistency in whatever I’ve decided to accomplish and how to get there. An example of consistency that I’ve really benefited from is meal prepping. I go grocery shopping every Saturday afternoon and meal prep on Sunday mid-morning. Having everything laid out for me for the week so that I can quickly grab all the food I need for the day from the fridge when I’m running out the door has been a game changer. Don’t feel discouraged or overwhelmed if you decide to also meal prep and it’s too much. I started out with just breakfast, then breakfast and snacks, etc. until I had all my meals together for the week. It was a slow but consistent process of me getting to where I am now.

If you feel inspired by this newsletter to read more, go on afternoon walks, focus on your sleep, whatever it may be! I hope you decide to stay consistent with what is important to you. You are worth every drop of energy and fight to get where you want to be in life, to be the type of person you want, and to achieve your goals.

Fall Habits

The Wild Collection