I have been in a little bit of a funk recently when it comes to my daily habits, rituals, and routines.
I’ve been navigating an extremely challenging year of my health which has left my body in just-doing-my-best-to-get-through-mode most days which has led me to choose less than ideal habits such as scrolling through my phone first thing in the morning and watching TV once my son has gone to sleep some nights right up until I go to bed.
And the thing I reminded myself of recently is how good I’ve felt in the past whenever I’ve gently committed to building rituals and routines into my day that support me to find a little more calm, peace, and nourishment - and break the cycle of doing the things that don’t truly fill up my cup too.
And if I’m being honest, ever since having my son back in 2020 my rituals, routines, and habits have gone a little out of the window - I’ve tried at times to re-anchor them to my day but then another sleep regression or nap transition or health crisis of my own would arrive and I’d be back in that just-doing-my-best-to-get-through-mode.
But thankfully past me knew exactly what current me needs and this week I decided to do two things:
1: Re-download the habit tracking app that has worked well for me in the past - it’s this one.
2: Commit to six gentle daily habits that I know ground me into more joy, calm, and nourishment each day.
Some - like a daily walk and reading before bed - were already happening more days than not but others - like meditiation, stretching, and stopping my morning scroll - are previous habits and rituals I want to re-anchor to my days in this season.
Here are all six of them:
1: No scrolling for at least 30 minutes after waking up
Here’s the thing: I know this is exactly what I need to start my day well. I’ve committed to this habit in the past and it’s done me the world of good. But then somehow I fall back into the pattern of scrolling through my phone first thing to ‘help me come round’ and wonder why I feel so overstimulated as I start my day. I know this one simple habit alone will make the world of difference - it’s just on me now to make the most nourishing choice each morning when I wake up.
2: Meditate
And this takes me to the second habit I want to re-anchor to my day - a simple meditation routine. I haven’t meditated consistently since my son was born three years ago but this week I resubscribed to Calm and I’ve put my AirPods on top of my phone when I go to sleep so the first thing I do now when I wake up is pop them in and do the Daily Calm and it’s only been a few days of this new routine so far but it’s already making such a difference to how I start my days.
3: Stretch
Alongside meditation I know that gentle daily movement does my mental health the world of good but I was feeling a little stuck recently as to how I can build this back into my routine now that my health is much more challenging than it was before. I used to have an online subscription to Barre3 which I loved but the vestibular symptoms I’m living with in this season means that longer, more active online workouts just aren’t ideal for my body right now.
But then I was very excited when resubscribing to Calm to see that they now have a Daily Move option too which are short 5-8 minute vidoes with simple and gentle movement routines to ground us into our day (and this isn’t a Calm sponsorship 🙈 It just happens to be the app I’m using right now for meditation and movement!)
And these Daily Move videos have been perfect for me - they’re short and sweet, there are lots to choose from, and they’re focused more on the mindfulness aspect rather than the movement which feels really accessible to me as a chronically ill human.
Here’s an example of what a Daily Move is like if you want to try one 👇🏻
4: Daily walk
This is a daily habit that is already pretty frequent in my routine - most days I’m getting outside for a walk in the city we live in, whether it’s to run errands, to go feed the ducks with our son, or one of our regular trips to browse the bookshop. But it’s such an anchoring piece of my day that I wanted a way to bear witness to when I make space for this and visualise its importance in my day too.
5: Read
This is another habit that happens most days already in my routine as I always have a pile of books on my bedside table ready for me to dive into. But whilst I’ve been going through a challenging flare of my chronic illness recently I’ve got out of the habit of reading before bed as I was struggling a lot with my vision with my vestibular symptoms but now that I’m thankfully on some medication that’s helping me heal I want to get back to my bedtime routine of finishing each day with a good book again.
6: Vitamins
And the final habit is rebuilding my vitamin routine - I had a pretty thourough routine up until a few months ago when I stopped taking all of my vitamins as I was experiencing some nausea and wanted to eliminiate everything to see if could figure out what was causing it. I know that when I take a certain blend of vitamins it can help with my migraines, fatigue, and brain fog and I just needed to get back into the habit of it now and rebuild my routine - I’ve anchored this to my bedtime routine which helps me make sure not to forget to take them each day.
As you can see nothing on this list is groundbreaking, just six simple habits and routines that support me to find more calm, joy, and nourishment in my days. It feels so good to be ticking them off each day, to show up for myself in this way, to remind myself that I have so much agency over how I navigate and experience my days.
I’m sure I’ll report back in a few months once I’ve had more time re-anchoring these to my daily routines too - wish me luck!
And what about you - what are you favourite daily rituals, routines, and habits?
Until next time,
Jen
I loved this 🫶🏼 Such a gentle encouragement to take a look at my habits and if they’re serving me in this season. I want to start making the morning walk a regular thing because it does make such a difference to my mood and energy.
Contemplating if I should make a rule with myself: if I want my AM coffee then I need to go for a quick walk first! Should guarantee I get that walk in anyway 😅🧡
Jen! Congratulations on reestablishing these habits in your days 🥳. My current habits that are tied to my values are leaving my phone plugged in in my office so I can be present with my spouse in the evenings and journaling once a week. Cheering us both on!