5 free things I'm doing to uplevel
Happy Sunday, Soothers. I don't know about you, but I often forget that the basis of our emotional and mental well-being starts in the body. It can be easy to get seduced by complex programs outlined in self-help books, or 30-day programs online that promise freedom from anxiety ever again, but that all involve cognitive processing and work.
So much healing and feeling well can come from our basic physiology, which we often largely ignore, or think is too basic and simple to make us feel better. I was reminded of this when I had a really low and depressed January and February, where I was having ruminating thoughts, irritation at everybody around me, and anger and sadness flaring up. I was doing all manner of EFT, journaling, inner child shit, just to feel like I could get back on track. "WHAT ANCESTRAL ISSUE MUST I HEAL NOW?!" was the kind of thinking I was having.
Then I went on a spontaneous trip to Florida for 3 days and came back and felt like an entirely different person. We watched sunrise every day, I worked with my feet in the sand, and we watched sunset and were off screens each night.
Oh yeah... sun. Nature. Earth. The food we eat. Reduced screens.
These MATTER.
Let's dive right into these tactics I've been loving this spring that you too can do.
#1 Sunrise light first thing in the morning: I've been on a RANT about this lately but it really is incredibly lovely. I guess it's had a moment too, with lots of all sorts of health and wellness influencers singing sunrise light's praises, but when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Sunrise light signals the start of so many productions of hormones in your body, and can better regulate melatonin, to appetite cues, to mood. Way better than rolling over and scrolling with that blue light blasting straight into your soul. How I do it: Every night I google what time the next day's sunrise will be. Then I set my alarm for 5 minutes before that. When the alarm goes off, I don't turn on any interior lights or look at my phone. Stumbling in the dark, I use the bathroom, have some water, put on some clothes and trundle outside to my yard and stare up into the sky like a bleary-eyed but hopeful baby bird. HEAL ME, ORB OF LIGHT!
Which leads me into what I pair my sunrise light with...
#2: Earthing on the ground. Earthing is simply touching your body and bare skin to natural surfaces like the ground, sand, ocean, whatever. I've read research that suggests 45 minute a day (cumulatively, not all at once) is ideal, but do what you can. The idea here is you are grounding yourself to the electromagnetic field of the earth. I have no idea if that is true or not, but I can tell you, you'll never go wrong being outside more with fewer clothes on. I'm only a sample size of one, but this practice makes me feel grounded, calm, connected, rooted. The New York Times recently wrote about the healing power of dirt as well.
#3: Hypnosis. There's one issue I'm working on in particular that I had a hypnosis teacher create a custom audio for me around (I'll report back later after I've had more time to listen to it if it works) and I'm listening to that every night. But before I did that, every night generally I'll pop on either my ThinkUp affirmations or a hypnosis track and drift off to sleep. I like Andrew Johnson's hypnosis tracks and Michael Sealy on YouTube, particularly this one about clearing subconscious negativity.
#4: Eating a savory breakfast. I got this tip from the Glucose Goddess. No sugar, no carbs. That's right, NO OATMEAL. No cereal. No toast. No muffins or donuts. Protein, veggies and fat. I typically cook up two eggs, some chicken sausage, some veggies and some beans and maybe add an avocado. I had a client do this (she had been eating oatmeal and fruit for breakfast) who thought she had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, her energy was so fatigued and exhausted. She made this switch and her exhaustion went away entirely in under a week. More on the why and how here of blood sugar regulation.
#5: I quit drinking alcohol. It took about six months, but since I stopped drinking in September of 2023, six or so months later, it was like a switch flipped: anxiety - gone. Depressive issues - massively reduced. Irritation? Nope. As a casual binge drinker, this took me YEARS to admit, but there is nothing good about alcohol for you, especially if you have anxiety or mood issues. I think not even that 1-2 glasses of wine once a week or the martini once in a while, especially if you're a highly sensitive person. Especially if you're 35+ and possibly entering peri-menopause. Alcohol messes with your hormones and moods in a deeply serious way that we cast aside. Quitting it costs nothing. Why not try it out for 6-9 months? What have you got to lose?
So that's what I've got for you. What are you finding is working to help you uplevel?