- Not using alarms to wake me up in the morning
There are some studies that suggests that morning alarms interfere with our circadian rhythm. (Our circadian rhythm is our body’s 24-hour internal clock). My sleep drastically improved after turning off my morning alarms one day. The ability to trust your body to awaken when it needs to is a beautiful practice to me. Particularly because alarms often shock my body and brain when I wake up, interrupting my sleep cycle and making me feel low-spirited. Alarms do, however, work for some people, but I no longer choose to frequently use them.
2. Listening to podcasts
I tend to commute back home every weekend from my school and sometimes listening to music for 2 hours straight gets tiring especially when I replay the same playlist/albums over and over. So I started adding podcasts to my drives and it has changed how I use my time during the commutes and makes them more enjoyable. It’s free entertainment, easily accessible, and I always learn something new. I also started to occasionally listen to them during my walks or workouts. Ever since I added this habit to my life, I’ve noticed that it makes me a better listener which conveniently helps me become an even better student while I listen to class lectures.
3. Stretching every morning
I added morning yoga/stretches into my morning routine two years ago and there is not a day where I do not stretch my body every morning. Yes of course there are days when I’m low on time to stretch but five minutes is better than zero. Our body has/creates tension and stiffness after a night’s rest and stretching helps relieve it. As a student, I’m always sitting at a desk so I tend to do more stretches aimed towards neck and lower back pain. Stretching also helps decrease the allostatic load. (Allostatic load is sorta like the “wear and tear” of the body resulting from repeated compensatory physiological mechanisms in response to chronic stress.) Basically chronic stress = allostatic load. But stretching = less allostatic load.
4. Using the notes app for everything
Need to make a to-do list? Write it down IMMEDIATELY into your notes app. Heard a quote that you relate to? Write it down. Want to have a quick journal session but no pen and paper with you? Write in the notes app. My phone is most likely the one item I carry with me at all times so I make sure to use the notes app to my advantage. This year I really wanted to focus on the little things. It’s truly the simplest moments that I crave to remember. Using the notes app, I write down my favorite moments so I never forget them. I have a notes page titled “Favorite moments from 2023” and it is strictly for the little and simplest things that make me the happiest. For example, on April 6th I wrote “After Thursday dinner, my mom and I went to fill up gas in my car. During the drive to the gas station, it started raining and we started blasting music and sang together.” Moments like these are the ones I want to remember. Although we tend to remember the big and significant moments in our lives, i strive to appreciate the small moments as well. If I didn’t write down that memory from April 6th, I probably would have forgotten it. and I never want to miss out on a chance to remember that my mom is truly like a bestie to me. So this is your sign to start writing down little moments in your life so you never forget them. ❤
5. Honoring the season of life I’m meant to be in
I sometimes feel like my life is running on autopilot, yet I always feel at peace. Throughout all of the stages of my life, chaos does not have a place at the table. I cultivate a deep sense of peace within myself in order to respect the season I’m in. Yes, there are times when I wish I could skip over the phases of life I’m in and just live in the future, but what would there be to look forward to if I completed everything now? The quiet times are just as crucial as the busy or bountiful ones. More often than we know, our bodies really do reflect the cycles of nature and we should continue to appreciate every second of it.
MySimplicity 