Author of Be Ready for Anything and Build a Better Pantry on a Budget online course
I hope the challenge is going well for you so far. Here are the small habits we’re incorporating into our daily lives.
- We’re drinking water before we drink other beverages.
- We’re adding a serving of fruit or veggies before each meal.
- We’re adding more movement to our day.
- We are performing 5 minutes of gentle stretches before we get out of bed in the morning.
Just these habits will be very helpful in making 2020 a healthier year.
Today’s challenge
Are you resting enough?
This may sound counter-intuitive when I’ve been talking about more movement, strength training, and stretching. But it’s not. The body needs rest and sleep to recover from the additional exercise you’ve been doing. Here are some suggestions.
- Track your sleep. You can do this electronically with a variety of apps and gadgets, or the old-fashioned way with a sleep diary. Here’s an article about the vicious cycle of sleep deprivation and here’s one with some suggestions for insomnia. Lots of folks, my family included, have found truth in the studies that show how a high-quality CBD oil can help with insomnia.
- Take one day a week to do nothing more than a gentle walk and your stretching exercises.
- Relax. You can’t be busy and productive every second of every day. Even (or maybe especially) when it feels like the work will never be done, you need to take a bit of time to shut off your mind and distract yourself from the stressors of day-to-day life. You deserve at least a half-hour a day to soak in the tub, to meditate, to reconnect with your religion, and/or to spend time in nature.
At the same time, I must caution you against taking this advice and going overboard. Rest, like anything else, must be done in moderation. You can’t take an entire week off because you did a challenging hike and your legs are sore. Give it a day to rest and then get back out there. This is how we build on our fitness.
Resting isn’t as easy as it sounds.
I know for a fact that taking time for self-care isn’t always as easy as it sounds. We all have so many responsibilities, we want to be well-prepped, we want to be fit yesterday.
But as the saying goes, you can’t pour from an empty pitcher. You have to treat yourself with the same kindness you would treat another person you saw struggling.
How do you relax and rest? How much sleep do you get? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
My best chances for a good nights sleep is to keep well hydrated but stop drinking anything half hour before dinner. I wake up thirsty of course but there is a whole quart I get to drink. The before bed stretches as I mentioned before will keep me from writhing in agony as I try to relax. I also have used EOs valerian, vetiver, and spikenard to help stop the monkey mind. EO galbanum takes care of any leftover anxiety from the day. I have some in my BOB. Also not eating anything three hours before bedtime. If it’s really out of control after all these measures or I’ve left anything out, CBD seems to a quick way to finally konk out. I don’t start with CBD because it only lasts about four hours for me.