Episode 18 audio

Steff Gallante31min

Steff Gallante

00:00

Hello, you lovely human. Welcome, welcome back. I have been under the weather for the last week or so. And so I am really grateful to be on the mend. And also wanted to offer apologies, if I sound congested at all, if you're going to be hearing, you know, coughing and things like this, I have taken a lot of time to rest, and recover. And I'm grateful for all of that space and the ability to do that. And also felt well enough to come and have a conversation with you today. So I hope that this message, this space and time, this episode find you doing okay. And if you are needing some grounding, some uplifting some space, some softening, I'm hoping that you'll find it here. The shift we need to talk about today is if you want more ease in your daily life, or, and or feeling more in control of your day. And when I say that, I say that in air quotes, because so much is out of our control. So when I talk about feeling more, in control of your day, I'm talking about over the things that you can actually control. All of this feeling more at ease, and feeling more in control of what you can control. It all starts with your morning routine. Here's why a morning routine, it sets the tone for your day. And it is a hugely great support to your body and your mind. A morning routine allows for a steadiness to happen and for a steadiness to continue throughout the day. And allows for a connection to yourself from the very beginning of the day. This will support you throughout your day. So my friend, I come back to this statement, if you are craving more peace, more ease and quote unquote control in your day. Overall, this is a really important place to start. A morning routine is going to connect you to practices that you can come back to later on in the day. And it will also make it more likely that you'll turn to supportive self care practices. When faced with challenges. The reason for this is you'll already have the habit in place of caring for yourself. And the fact that you start the day, that way, immediately caring for yourself is hugely important. Because we're creatures of habit, right? And so when shit gets hard, we naturally turn to what we know. And so if every day you're starting the day, by taking care of yourself or most days you're taking care of yourself first, you will naturally turn to that. And based on the practices that you choose in terms of connecting to yourself, you will turn to yourself for answers. during challenging times you will turn to yourself for checking in for gauging what needs to be done. And so instead of always reaching outside of yourself for answers or guidance, you will turn inward. And it will be more likely that you will turn to these supportive practices that you use in the morning. During these hard times. And if nothing else, if even if the rest of your morning after you do these practices or the rest of your day goes awry, the energy from what you did to support yourself will support your nervous system even when you are losing your shit or the world is on fire. And establishing a morning routine will also ensure that you'll come back to it the next day. All will not be lost and you won't be kind of left floundering. I have so much more to say about this. But I want to pause here because I want to talk a little bit more about spring since that's the season that we're in. And so for the spring remember over all It is really important to remember that spring is not a time to be fixed or rigid within anything that is that you're doing except for, you know, that commitment to showing up for yourself. So allow for fluidity and organic actions, movements, decisions based on how you're feeling, or based on circumstances that kind of just pop up or present themselves. And so when it comes to your self care practices, this time of the season, or this time of life is not about getting it right, or doing it perfectly. And also remember, as we've been talking about, over and over, consistency is not synonymous with discipline or rigidity. Right, you can be consistent, even if the practice changes day to day, you can also be consistent, even if you don't show up to the practice, tomorrow or the next day. Discipline does not mean that you have to do something the same exact way, every single day, right, because we also want to not bypass ourselves, and rigidity, sometimes we need to change things based on our circumstances or based on how we're feeling. And so when we allow space for that, we're actually able to meet ourselves better and more compassionately, and also are more likely to maintain our practices or continue with them. Because we don't just throw it out the window when it doesn't fit. Also, another thing to remember, the spring is generally a Kapha season, which means it's dominated by the earth and water elements, it's why we see a little bit more rain, we still have some cooler mornings, or cooler evenings. Also, there's a thawing out that's happening. And kind of that slowness that happens in the morning and overnight and, and and also in the evening as well. But some days, especially in the earlier part. And right now, I mean, we're in the last week of April, this is still the earlier part of spring, there may be some strong vata elements, right? That's that movement, that's that dryness, that flexibility or even that wind Enos as an undertone for our day. And remember that on a larger scale, spring is a transitional period between the dormancy of winter, and the heat and brightness of summer. So depending on where you're living, there may be different energies at play throughout the season, including the presence of Pitta energy on warmer days, especially in May, or towards the end of May, into the beginning of June. And this all needs to be considered every step of the way. So an understanding of where you are energetically in terms of what energy is dominant with the new is going to be important for you, if you haven't already been kind of paying attention to that, as is an understanding of how the seasons energy affects you anyway, right? Whether you are whether the day is dominated by kapha, energy, vata or Pitta energy, and how is that going to affect you based on which energy is dominant in you. And so we've been talking about this quite a bit for the last few weeks, but I wanted to make sure I reminded you, especially in case you're new to the to the podcast, this episode, I don't want you back what in the world are you talking about? So my friends, generally in the spring and uplifting and warming morning routine is key, especially because you know, the mornings tend to be a little bit cooler. And it jives with the brighter morning, and can balance that cool moisture, sometimes heaviness of that spring that we kind of feel, but also adjust if where you live it's kind of variable or

Steff Gallante

09:18

it's feeling very bright that morning. And maybe not necessarily warm, but the energy is kind of heightened, then you might do something a little bit more grounding. And once it gets to be a little bit warmer, you may do things that are a little bit more slow moving and not so heating. And so the important thing is to always be on the lookout for okay, what energy is kind of present outside what's Nature giving me How am I feeling? Do I feel kind of aligned with what's happening? I can kind of go about my day as I normally would, or do I need to maybe shift some things to restore a little bit more balance so This is what you always want to be paying attention to. Now, when it comes to your morning routine, there are tons of practices that you can do in the morning to support you throughout the day, right, because we're thinking not just for right now, but whatever we do right now will then support us later on, I have eight recommendations, and I say eight, not so that you can be like shit stuff, I don't have any time to add one more thing to my morning routine, forget eight, please hear me out, because some of these things you may already be doing. And so what it may be is that then you're just creating a little shift to make what you're already doing more potent. And some of these practices may be completely new. But the good thing is, they don't take very much time. So let's dive in. First things first, what is really important is to begin your day by waking up at or by 6am or at sunrise. Now, it's also more fun to kind of keep your morning wakeup time pretty consistent at or around the same time each day. And so waking up with the sun or by 6am is really important because the vata time of day, and at six o'clock in the morning, it doesn't come back around until two o'clock in the afternoon. And so being able to use that mobile energy to your advantage is going to be really important because once we get to 6am, from 6am to 10am, we get to Kapha time, which is more slow moving and steady. And even though we want steadiness in our day, we want to take advantage of that vata energy to get us out of bed, to get us into some movement to then also begin our, our, our practices that are going to create ease and grounding within ourselves in a way that is going to be fruitful for us. And so this is a beautiful time to change the neural pathways in your brain with really intentional practices to kind of be at that veil of Dawn where nighttime turns and today, it is the best time to gain knowledge, especially about yourself. Allowing yourself to start to start your day at birth at or before 6am allows you to build more peaceful time and energy into your day and create a deeper connection to yourself. So that way you can manage stress a little bit more about a little bit better. And so I encourage you to as you're kind of considering getting up at or by six o'clock in the morning, I encourage you to do a few things, change the label of your alarm to a message that is really motivating and kind of maybe Hello beautiful it may be let's get it started. You may put it in an affirmation that resonates with you or meaningful intention. So you can change the label of your alarm, you can have your alarm be a song or a sound that is uplifting to you that feels like you are waking up to something beautiful, something that will leave you smiling and happy to get the morning started. And if you don't want to disturb the house, as you wake, I totally get it. And so you may have this very low, you might even create a playlist that you can listen to in earbuds or headphones to kind of get you moving out of bed in the morning. or later on as you kind of go through your morning routine. And if waking up at 6am is going to be quite a shift for you maybe start small with increments of waking up 15 minutes earlier, you know for a week and then push it back another 15 minutes for that second week, it may take you a few months for you to really get settled into this shift long term. But I have to say it's really it's really an important one because the later you wake up the deeper you'll be in Kapha time, which is going to be that grounding time, which is why we tend to feel pretty groggy, and then that slow moving energy kind of sticks with us for the rest of the day. But getting up ahead of that will help you to keep that vata energy moving so that we there can be some lightness to to that to what could have alternatively been kind of like a stickiness in your morning. Number two is going to be offering a prayer or expression of gratitude for waking up in the morning. We talk oftentimes about gratitude practices. And some of you may have a prayer practice that is something that you really look forward to in the morning. Great. I encourage you, though, in addition to whomever or whatever it is you're praying to or for whatever it is that you are expressing gratitude for, I encouraged you to also say, outwardly audibly, a, an expression of gratitude for waking up. Because what a gift it is to wake up. Right. And we often forget what a gift it is to be here on this earth. And even though it's not lost on us, how often do you say, I am grateful for waking up. And I find that when we express that it softens the worries, it softens. And I don't mean that it makes them go away. But remember, our worries, our doubts, our fears, our stressors, they naturally get heightened in our mind, right, they may already be big, but we tend to snowball them. And I find that expressing this gratitude for waking up, slows or stops the snowball effect, and allows the worries, fears doubts stressors to be as they are. But as they are without the drama attached. Of course, this could be a time for devotion to yourself, to your community, to your gods, to your ancestors, to your elders, to all that will come after you. And so taking that time is going to be really, really beautiful. The third thing is getting up out of bed and using the bathroom, emptying your bladder your bowels. If you are not having a regular bowel movement, first thing in the morning drinking warm water. And I'll talk about that in a little while. This will help you to regulate. And so if ever you've had to potty train a child or a an animal, excuse me, you may have brought them to where they would go to the bathroom even if they didn't have to, but to get them on a schedule. So the same thing applies, you could also simply just sit on the toilet for, you know a period of time, even if you know you don't have to go. But it's starting to train your brain towards that. But evacuating your systems is gonna be really important because remember, the purpose part of the purpose of sleeping is for you to digest and regenerate and that digestion and regeneration that happens during the sleeping time. There's going to be an elimination process with that and you want that. So getting rid of the stuff that you don't need, the stuff that doesn't serve you is going to be really important. The fourth thing is hygiene, particularly oral and face. And so tongue scraping is a very important oral care process. It removes sticky buildup of just junk that accumulates throughout the night. And also from like undigested food, undigested experiences, and instead of swallowing all that so kind of like then take some residents within your body you get rid of it. And also tongue scraping stimulates digestion, which is something that's really important because we want to eliminate stuff and we will also want to stimulate digestion for our morning breakfast. After you scrape your tongue you'll brush your teeth. And then I also recommend oil swishing now oil swishing in mainstream media in the West has been taken out of context and has been used kind of in like a weight loss situation. But this is not what we're talking about. Here. We're talking about simply using sesame or coconut oil in your mouth. That's liquid for about a minute swishing it around like you would any sort of mouthwash and then spitting it out

Steff Gallante

19:12

to remove any excess or lingering toxins that tongue scraping didn't get in teeth brushing didn't get and then you can massage your gums with the the oil residue and then rinse out with warm water. I have to say those three practices very, they're very intimate practices. I have to be honest and also just such a beautiful expression of self care. Because you think about it. I mean, like you're talking with your mouth, you are eating with your mouth. You are expressing love with your mouth in many different ways right and so to take care orally is so important. And then you might also splash cold water on your face in your eyes. This helps us to feel more awake and also ease and like cooling and soothing and relaxing the eyes as well. Fifth, we get to drinking water now room temperature water or warm water first thing in the morning after you've brushed your teeth is so important because it'll aid in morning evacuation and also stimulate digestion as well. In the cooler months, you could have lemon water, lime in the summer, maybe even a dab of honey, if you wanted to, I just leave the water on my bed stand from the night before and it's usually pretty warm except for in the winter months. And then I drink it, you know, once I've brushed my teeth, I drink it. And if I have not already gone to the bathroom, usually going to the bathroom soon after that. So does get you on a pretty good schedule. And so that's something important to consider. Now the sixth thing is quiet or alone time or and or quiet it'll and or alone time because you know it's important, especially for those of you who live with others or you have an early start to your morning in terms of work or you know, you work with others, you're right into being with people, whether that's in your household or somewhere else. That requires a lot of our energy. And it's important to have time to connect to yourself in a quiet way will oftentimes like for in the car, we're commuting, we are either on the phone or listening to music, none of those things are bad. But it is important to build a practice of being quiet. And being by yourself. Now, you might do this in a breathing practice, you might meditate, you might simply just sit quietly looking outside the window, or maybe it's drinking your coffee. While sitting down and looking out the window. It could be your tea, but allowing your self time to connect to yourself to calm your nervous system to study yourself. What do you want, what do you need? How are you feeling and adjusting whatever it is that you do based on how you're feeling based on what it is that you need based on the needs of the season as well. You might even create a special space or nook in your room or somewhere in your house for inquiry time for journaling. Or maybe it's moving your body which brings us to the next item where maybe you decide to move your body through gentle stretches. Or maybe it's you know, strength training or cardiovascular exercise. The morning time between six and 10am is a wonderful time for exercise, as is that same time period in the evening. And then adjusting with the season. You know if if the day is kind of sluggish and slow, maybe an invigorating practice to promote clarity and uplifting and energy for the day. If it's a day where things are kind of unsettled, maybe you need to slow things down and have a more grounded practice or exercise that's less intense. And when the heat picks up, you might do some light hearted or exercise that doesn't push you to your limits. So deciding to be quiet and spend some time by yourself in the morning can look a lot of different ways. And some ways that I haven't even discussed in this time. But I'm sure you can come up with some things on your own. But that quiet time is going to be important. And moving your body even if it's for five minutes or for two minutes. Or if it's a full workout. It's really up to you what you have the time and the capacity for. But it's a really wonderful way to connect to yourself again. And then the last thing I have for you is to sit and eat your breakfast, sit and have your breakfast, let yourself not be too rushed. Rather than eating on the go. If you can manage it just so that you can allow yourself that grounded time to eat, to be with your food to be with whomever you might be eating with if that's anybody or enjoying the process of eating simply by yourself to connect into your food, that nourishment you're taking in. As you're getting yourself yourself ready to resource yourself for the rest of the day. This might take some prep for the night before that's okay. And so that might become part of your morning routine. And remember if you are taking in caffeine in the morning, one to two cups of coffee or caffeinated tea by 10am. And trying to limit or not having caffeine for the rest of the day. Because it does take us time to work through that caffeine. So with all of these practices that I've offered, I want to offer some points of inquiry for you to consider. So you might consider how does your morning typically start? And how do you want to feel? Or how do you typically feel during your day? And then how do you want to feel? How would you like to be in your day? You might also consider where do capitalism white supremacy, culture and old beliefs or habits show up in your morning routine? Because they surely do. And maybe even consider, is this something that happens all the time, like the past, like how you are currently experiencing your morning? Or how you're currently currently experiencing your day? Is there a pattern? Does this usual is this kind of usual thing? Whether that's every time for the spring? Or is it kind of consistent throughout the year. And remember, there's no judgment, there's no shame, right, create space for this inquiry, because you may need some time to sit with all of it. And then to get started, what I'd offer you to do is identify if you're doing any of these practices already, and maybe one or two that you can start to shift, right, maybe I offered a practice you're already doing but I offered a little bit of a different way to do it. Maybe consider implementing that shift, maybe there are two things that you can easily begin and start with that one, or those two for the next week or two. If it's something completely new, you're going to maybe try to come to the practice three to four times a week. If it's a shift that you're kind of making to something you're already doing, maybe you're going to aim for five times a week. The idea here is to get the habit solid, where it doesn't feel like it's part of your to do list before you add on. Because it's not like Okay, I did this one thing I think I haven't kind of set I know I need to add another thing. There's no timeline for this. Because I talk about morning routine within the holistic self care collective my mentorship group, I talk about morning routine, once every season. So we'll talk about this again, in the summertime and again in the fall and again in the winter. So you don't have to worry about getting it just right are making sure that you're doing it all in, there's so much time, right? The idea is coming to the practices to simply just take care of yourself. Remember, also, above all else, your practice can shift day to day and should shift based on how you're feeling whether or not you're balanced. And if you're not balanced, in which case then considering which energy is most dominant. And what needs balancing. Also, along with your bandwidth, which is your time, the time you have to do something, and your capacity, which is your available energy. So deciding to shift something based on time or available energy, do it deciding not to do something because there isn't enough time or because there's not enough available energy. That's okay, too. Right? So I said aim for five times a week if something is being shifted or three to four times a week if something's new, but know that that can change, right? Try for it. Try to create that consistency, but also remembering that life has lifing and you've got to adjust along with it. And then for those of you were like, you know, great, this sounds really great. How do I take this a step further? Well, that answer would be establishing a weekend routine that's not too different from your weekday routine.

Steff Gallante

28:56

I know. Sometimes we like the weekend to be very leisurely and leisure is important. But some of these practices that allow ourselves to feel at ease in the day, they're still important to do in the weekend as well. My friend if you could use some help creating space for inquiry creating space for consideration of these practices. Remember that our May community circle is next Tuesday, May 2 at 7:30pm. Eastern time. Remember that or maybe you don't know in the community circle you'll be held in the same care us so fiercely give to others. During this 30 minute session, we are going to pause get quiet and turn inward with Curiosity will create mind space, connect to our collective breath, meditate and amplify our self care. It's here that you get to put your baggage down for a little while and even leave some stuff that's not serving you. You can create space in time for Are you to just be as you are without judgment or expectation. So join me to slow down time to disconnect for from the world for a little bit to amplify love and connection and bask in your own goodness. You can register at stuff go on ebay.com/community-circle sliding scale pricing is offered starting at $1 and there is a free option too. And in case you're looking for more spring guidance for your self care routines, remember that the spring sanctuary our virtual retreat has been moved to Sunday, May 7, from one to 4pm Eastern and 10am to 1pm Pacific time. You can register for that at Steff gallante.com/spring Join me for one or why not both just saying the links for both of these events are going to be included in the show notes. Until next time, my friend please be kind and gentle to yourself just as you would those who are most precious to you whether that's a human, animal, baby or a plant. I'd love to hear your thoughts about the support and guidance that I provided in this episode so please please please reach out and share them with me. And if you've been loving the show please share it with your nearest and dearest and leave a review or a rating. Above all my friend remember you are a badass and you are enough now go and be your favorite self and be well

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