Habits Archives - Page 3 of 10 - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Bird Yoga Pose For Balance, Strength, and Flexibility

Bird yoga pose is one metaphor in life that can help you soar and help with your body balance, strength, and flexibility. It’s a healthy way to kick start your year. Learn what these poses are below. 🦅

Eagle pose is one bird yoga pose you can do anywhere. — More about this “crouching tiger” looking photo below 🐯

Today I’m gonna share how bird yoga pose (and actually 4 bird yoga poses) can help you get some of the tight kinks out.

Below I spend time on Pigeon Pose because I think it’s underrated for all the benefits (especially if your joints need some flexing).

And I believe everyone can use yoga no matter what profession we have or how active we are (as we tend to do repetitive actions that the body can get irritated with).

At some point, some part needs a stretch… and if you keep up with stretching, then the body cells remember the stretched feeling… and you don’t have to grease up the joints as much to get there.

I remember I took a season away from yoga at the beginning of my yoga journey and I thought I would have to start all over again.

I was surprised and happy to find that was not the case. I did lose muscle, but the time off actually restored certain smaller worn muscles. They appreciated the time off 😊

It’s like getting rest on the weekends. You probably need more self-care time than you initially think.

…Like if you take a few days off, your body kinda can unwind but isn’t totally relaxed. It’s ready to jump back into busyness, but that’s not good for your body.

And if you take a purposeful year off like I did to discover, travel, and recoup, you may sleep like a hibernating bear (and bypass a mid-life crises later on if that still exists).

You could call it a gap year or sabbatical.

Then once restored and feeling like a million bucks, your body wants to get back in action. And that brings more meaning and purpose to your life.

In contrast, ignoring the body can catch up with all of us at some point, but the good news is we have a chance to make healthy changes along the way.

When we’re in a busy season, carving out time to work out is hard work, and so many of us don’t get to do it, or we prefer to spend our time with other fun or catch-up activities.

Plus, how exciting is it to talk to others about your workout instead of a fun outing event you had?

…But like many good things for you, they are not exciting.

Like habits. But little by little (and in micro-habits) they make a difference… and the sooner you do them, the sooner they stick.

Yoga fitness is one (less intense) way you can do and stay consistent with fitness habits. 🧘🏻‍♀️

And if it’s important for you to check off working out for your week, consistent yoga could be your Savior… and you never know, could pivot you into other fitness areas as you discover more about your body.

You can do yoga anytime and anywhere without a change of clothing (or babysitter).

If I told you some of the unique places I did yoga, you’d probably laugh… like I did once on a cold, swept restaurant floor and on a busy, warm sanded beach…

Wearing stretchy pants, I even showed off my Bird of Paradise pose to my co-workers.

I found that adding fun challenges with step and move goals, kept me motivated. And keeping the eye on the prize helps… like staying energetically healthy as life progresses.

…I think we all want that in our lives so we can have a high-quality of life as our generations are living longer.

That’s where the bird yoga pose and poses I mention below can help. The poses can relax and stretch you (both body and mind).

And since none of us can fly on our own (at least not today), this is the closest we can get to being a bird. 😁

An inspirational bird yoga pose (that can be goals) could help encourage you to work on all or one of these core yoga areas: strength, flexibility, balance (holistic fitness), and body alignment because one side is usually tighter than another.

…Or, one slight tweak move in a muscle can be all you need for that nagging pain you or others have been complaining about in conversation.

Yoga isn’t a rigid practice (…it’s individualistic), so you can call it stretching if it’s less intimidating and can stretch your imagination to wanting to give it a GO.

The name of poses are really just to help you know which poses to get into, but your body and its needs are you-nique, so tweak the poses in a way that makes you feel good (and doesn’t hurt)!

In case you’re new or consider yourself a yoga beginner, yoga stretches should not give you a wincing pain or any agony where you’re biting your lip.

So that helps for you wanting to come back for more and to try all the bird poses!

…And if you’re not in alignment for certain poses (likes ones bearing the weight of certain body parts), you won’t necessarily feel the misalignment at the moment.

It could show up in a day or two, like when you work out with weights.

…So use good form in the pose moment.

Stretches should feel like you needed the stretch, and the longer you hold the stretch… the less tight it becomes, wearing off the tight kinks.

Of course, if you have any injuries, avoid those areas until they fully heal.

But other than those caveats, yoga can solve most daily and accumulated nagging sore muscle issues!

I’m living proof 😊

So with that encouragement, here are 4 inspirational bird yoga poses to work on and towards (and btw, you won’t end up on all 4’s even if you start out that way, so you can test out your flying ability just a little).

Crane Pose – is a good mat pose for building strength in arms

In this one, you’re supporting your body with your arms. Your feet start off on the floor and then lift off.

You want to be careful not to twist your wrists (the good form is keeping them straight on your mat and perpendicular to your matching left and right shoulders).

When I went through a short season where I stopped doing my arm exercises like push-ups, getting in a Crane pose was like starting over.

I had to build back the arm strength that this pose requires. Your body may feel that way or may not have those issues, but instead other ones in other areas.

Yoga is a journey and that’s what I think keeps it interesting. You’re always working on something.

For you, it could also be strength and/or a combination of flexibility and balance (or all of the above). We all start somewhere with our one and only body, so keep trying.

Pigeon Pose – is a floor or mat pose good for developing flexibility in the hip, legs, knees, and butt(ocks)

When you have tight quads or hips, this pose can help get you outta that quandary.

As with most yoga poses, there are many variations… and if you want to keep your arms and legs on the mat the whole time, that’s an option.

You want to find the body spots that are tight and sore and work on those. You can do this by moving around your pointed straight back leg after you get in the Pigeon Pose (that btw, your leg isn’t supporting the weight of other parts of your body so it’s OK to move it around in this pose if that doesn’t offer your body any pain).

Pigeon Pose can help with your largest muscle groups like your quads, your glutes (butt), plus the tight muscles surrounding your knees that you wouldn’t easily be able to get to in everyday positions.

We underestimate how much we need our knees to easily work to be mobile.

In Pigeon Pose, each side won’t necessarily be equal in terms of tightness and you’ll realize that quickly.

So give more attention to the side that needs the longer stretch.

The easiest way to get in this pose is to start in Downward Dog (your “V” with all 4’s planted) and then hinge your body and arms forward with one leg you want to have in front.

Do this like a flow motion (also called Vinyasa).

Then sit down on the mat focusing on squaring (aligned) hips to your shoulders.

The opposite leg will rest straight (not bent) back behind you with the top of your foot on the mat.

You should feel long and that can feel good in itself!

With this bird yoga pose, you can also work on opening your shoulders if you can reach back and grab your bent leg and foot.

This is a chance to look up to the ceiling or sky.

It’s a nice break for your neck.

If you regularly cook, clean floors, or work on a laptop on your lap, you may not realize how many hours you’re looking down all the time, and that hurts your neck that supports your head, brain, and reminder… your mind control center.

Well, when it’s put that way!…

But anyway…

In this active Pigeon Pose, there’s a good opportunity to look up (and restore your neck).

OK, this reminds me of movie theaters… have you ever sat in the front row of a movie theater? 🎭

I haven’t been to one in ages. But when I was a teen, movie theaters were often packed and we’d arrive later and not having a choice, had to sit in the front row just a few feet away from the big screen.

That felt like the worst movie scenario at the time. We had to crank our necks and gaze up for the entire movie.

Looking back now, we didn’t know the yoga neck-posture benefits we were deploying back then. You may remember me next time you’re at the movie theater 😉

So deploy that head up move in your active Pigeon Pose… or you can gracefully go into a more passive Swan Pose (like in the theater production Swan Lake). 🦢

This is almost like a resting child’s pose, but a great stretch all around as your arms are stretched long on the mat and your one leg behind you.

I love this bird yoga pose as you feel graceful as your body is stretched from one end of the mat to the other (maybe why ballerinas love it too).🩰

If you have tight quads or muscles you can’t seem to get to in your regular stretch routines, this pose can do the trick over time or days.

The longer you can hold the pose (like minutes at a time), the better the benefit. You feel the healing working when you ever so slightly move and the tightness eases up.

It feels good just talkin’ about it 😉

Eagle pose – is a good standing balance bird yoga pose

On earth, eagles are harder to come by in the world. They were an endangered species and can fly higher than their prey and vultures.

That’s the meaning behind: “I can fly higher than an eagle” song verse in Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings” song.

This one takes a little body coordination memory. Just remember, the same side where one leg is lifted off the ground is the same side where the arm/elbow will wrap underneath the other. Don’t overthink it!

Then in union (the definition of yoga), the hands will meet.

When you’re in this pose, you feel good for being able to stand on one leg in balance… and you can do this anytime and during commercial breaks.

Or even in regular clothes, like this photo of me below where I’m in a dress wearing big costume jewelry ready to go to a holiday event, but still getting the benefits of my eagle here 🦅…

Bird of Paradise – is a pose that challenges flexibility, balance, and leg strength (…and isn’t a bird at all. It’s a tropical orange flower that could be found in this type of paradise environment at the Miami Botanical Center).

When you can do this Bird of Paradise pose, then you can be thinking you reached yoga paradise

The Bird of Paradise pose is a complete mind-body pose (and not one in awareness where I want to be wearing a dress without showing too much of my flower if ya know what I mean!). So you’ll just have to trust me here and give it a try yourself.😉

And if you want to know the mind-body mechanics of the bird yoga pose, I wrote a past blog post on this great mind challenge bird of paradise pose.

If you can do this pose, then you have a good shoulder opener, leg strength builder, and torso flexor, all-in-one.

Plus your mind will be stretched in a good way (focused and in the moment).

Just something to consider especially if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed and stuck in life… Bird of Paradise yoga pose can be a nice little goal to take your mind off for a brief moment.

You can change your outlook one bird yoga pose (and day) at a time… like I did being one with this Takahe bird (or blue hen if you prefer).

Orange Coffee You Can Make at Home

Orange coffee as in orange juice in the coffee is a powerful tasting combo. You may be scratching your head wondering how that odd combo is… that works unlike other citrus.

Below I share a couple orange photo inspiration as to what brought this on me…

And I understand if you need a ‘lil nudge because we’re used to separate cups and glasses for the two drinks.

Part of a popular American breakfast has both OJ and coffee.

Orange Coffee

Orange juice and coffee are a delicious combo that takes away the bitter notes and instead of 2 glasses you have one delicious drink.

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

4 oz fresh orange juice
4 oz coffee
1/4 tsp cardamom (optional)

Instructions

Add orange juice to coffee. Tip: freshly squeezed orange juice will come out more pure in tastes. Using sweeter oranges like navel or Cara Cara oranges provides smooth balance to a dark coffee.

But you gotta admit adding orange juice to your coffee sounds convenient (one less cup). ☕️

If you’re at a breakfast buffet, it’s one last cup you have to carry.

I’d say… also a smart idea that makes sense for boosting the immune system during holiday travel season… and calming anxious moods that oranges do. It’s good to carry one on ya!

Plus, orange 🍊 adds a nice flavor to your black coffee. Think of it like orange and chocolate or cocoa… another drink idea. 💭

Oranges brighten up your cup o’ joe choices.

And if you’re a Vata, you love the variety and oranges!

In a cup of coffee ☕️, the orange flavor comes through nicely… half orange (or at least 1/3) to half coffee makes a brightened, pleasant taste…

And you can tone down the sweet with an earthy spice like cardamom for a more exotic orange coffee (where I was inspired by orange trees 🟠).

The best way is with liquid orange juice you can freshly squeeze or mix with prepared juice. You can also use orange zest if you don’t mind the solid textures.

Those are the best ways for the zesty flavor punch to come through.

And the home healthiest way is with fresh orange juice and cold brew coffee.

…Cold brew coffee has less acidity than regular brewed coffee ways. And fresh orange juice has less acidity than concentrated juices you would buy at the grocery stores.

If acidity is a concern, you can add spices like cinnamon and ginger to help tone down and counteract effects.

The caffeine in coffee btw is loaded with antioxidants that are good for not only quick cognitive reasons, but also improving heart health.

We all love that! ❤️‍🔥

And when you use fresh whole oranges, you bypass sugar added to processed orange juice from concentrate.

You get the Vitamin C and A antioxidants plus minerals and fiber.

Orange juice sales ramp up in the cooler winter months when people are thinking about ramping up on Vitamin C for cold and flu season.

And as helpful nature would have it, oranges are winter fruits.

That’s a great way to start the morning!

They support happy hormones and reducing stress hormones. Gotta love that too! 😀

Your choice of orange is based on your preference and where you are.

For a sweeter orange, you could select a blood orange, navel orange, or a Cara Cara orange.

You can also sometimes find oranges year-round depending on if there’s a good sunshine season.. That’s why Florida and California are the abundant king and queen orange states. ☀️

A Florida orange has thinner skin than California navel, and are more like Valencia oranges that are the most common kind internationally and around the world.

You can tell where you are located just by the oranges in the stores and trees. 🍊

…Like these Spanish ohh-ahh orange trees I saw. Can you imagine these fresh ones for breakfast?

I had my first Sevilla orange for the first time years ago and it was coffee life changing. That was one of the years I spent Thanksgiving overseas.

And then back home n the States, had Sevilla orange coffee that was inspired by my fun visit to Spain.

…As fun as these peppermint arches in Cordoba. 🎪

Circadian Rhythm Is Affecting Your Happiness

Circadian rhythm is our internal body clock that’s a part of nature and Ayurveda (the study of life). It affects how birds migrate and the happiness of our house plants. 🪴 These things affect us.

And circadian rhythm indirectly affects our mind-body and how tired or happy we are. 😊

Circadian rhythm quietly affects our sleep, feelings of energy or zapped energy and our cognitive ability or disability.

It’s an underrated important factor in our happy daily lives.

In this article, you can learn all about circadian rhythm from changes in our daily environment and easy tweaks you can make, so you can impact your happiness.

Circadian rhythms are deep and affect our spiritual lives deep within us.

It has a ripple effect from the outside…

So we want to make healthy tweaks to our lifestyles to keep the circadian rhythm balance humming along nicely.

One powerful way we can control our circadian rhythm is with the light and dark influences in our lives.

That’s as natural as the first verse and creation chapter of the Bible..

In modern terms, if you work night shifts and sleep in the day, your circadian rhythm changes.

Work shift shifts create mood swings. Try saying that 10 times fast.

We need natural visible blue light in the day that’s naturally strong from sun light.

…And yes daylight is the same blue light we’re warned about that comes from computers, but 100,000 times stronger. 🌞

💡And that’s the first easiest impact we can make.

My first understanding about circadian rhythm was not from light vs dark lessons, but in an Ayurveda class discussion about sounds.

From the experience we each received a unique, natural primordial sound that was happening at our time of our birth. It starts with “Om.”

As a miracle, those sounds are as natural and spiritual as birth.

These are part of the first earth sounds we heard in our echo chamber sound booth coming out of the womb. We could probably feel the sound energy happening then because we’re spiritual beings tied to an energy bigger than ourselves.

So I learned that circadian rhythm was part of light and sounds… and as part of our sight and hearing, it closely affect our minds.

Our minds are wired to our affected wakefulness, alertness, memory, mood, and slow (or quick) cognitive function that end up impacting our daily happiness and mindfulness with relationships.

And if our happy mood is down for a season, then we can feel dark or void inside.

As a visual, all you have to do is shut your usual window blinds for a week and that throws your circadian rhythm off.

And sliding down that slippery slope, you’d feel off. It doesn’t matter if you’re a sensitive person or not… all that matters is you’re human.

…Like when we change our clocks for daylight savings and we’re off of our rhythm for a day or two.

And this rhythm is tied to our sleep and how tired we feel.

When you sleep closer to 9 hours and still feel tired, you can rationalize the tiredness with working more hours, clock time changes, stress, season changes, or even getting too much sleep.

But more sleep isn’t the answer.

When you’re cranky and it feels like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed and maybe carry around the bad moods, they creep into lower quality or less productive work. It takes more energy to get the same bare minimum things done.

And that can lead to our loving sides affected and our relationships taking a back seat.

This can become crippling if you shut out love and let in the negative and fearful spiritual tendencies that become the surrounding air breathed.

This can happen as easily as when you’re too preoccupied busy to notice your surroundings, or you let your ego take over your thoughts and play thought tapes over and over again.

It’s subtle to you as you pay less attention.

E.g.o. (edging God out) clouds over and those behaviors hurt productivity and happiness.

Letting in more light wind (spirit) is going to sway you in the right direction out. Instead of south, you head north in the opposite direction.

You can naturally find your way out when you know from experiences which way is up (as your natural wisdom helps you).

Knowing can come from tapping into your quiet space and spiritual self that often comes from gut instincts (not logic).

Sometimes answers pop right in… and sometimes you have to mull on the peaceful thoughts longer.

Because light and dark is a spiritual battle not based on reason…

Some of the battles can be avoided.

How? Patching a simple early fix like more blue light in the waking hours already mentioned, so you have more energy ⚡️ in the day that circadian rhythm regulates… and this helps you get to bed at normal times.

Blue light is a good answer, but it often gets a bad rap because of warnings to shut off digital devices late at night… which is good to do.

But in the same light, it’s not emphasized enough how much natural blue light you need in the day.

Tip: Be just be sure to wear UV-protected sunglasses and sunscreen in sunlight.

Because UV and blue light aren’t the same for your health, but often gets confused in today’s world. UV is harmful.

With enough blue light, then you can get the normal sleeping patterns that can reset the lower spectrum or first few hours of deep sleep (Delta sleep) when the body mostly resets and repairs.

That’s why you hear of people who only need 4-5 hours of sleep… and it’s enough.

Often they have a strong purpose (or busy season) and what they will do in life, like getting up for the New York Marathon race, voting, or taking in a new travel adventure.

Then sleeping at the bare minimum for the daily body repair is enough because excitement carries over or their Pitta drive drives them.

But if the minimum sleep isn’t achieved, then no amount of coffee, 80’s music, or a jolting pine eucalyptus candle is going to revive.

Sleep is irreplaceable.

In summary, these are a few healthy reminders:

-Get back to your light-dark/day-night schedule and normal sleep times.

What unnaturally took you off your circadian rhythm can be restored with natural healthy moves, such as:

-Listen to nature sounds like birds chirping by the river, or the pitter patter of rain. Those were part of nature when you were born and can revive you. Today, you can use technology to get those effects and drown out manmade construction and technology sounds.

-Add sleep-inducing foods with melatonin and B6 to help your sleep like eggs, bananas, nuts, yogurt, and avocado.

Those sound like breakfast food 💭 and if you’re having a hard time sleeping, like warm milk, these types of foods are helpful.

-Create a 3-day rule for yourself in self-discipline. If you don’t get better in 3 days or after the weekend has ended, then commit to fixing it in other ways like changing your routine that isn’t working for you now and in your quiet spiritual space.

-Breathe in words of inspiration like that from the Bible to get back to nature and your loving roots.

The Book of Psalms is one love letter full of natural wisdom and blessings of peace, love, and hope.

The timeless words are in weddings and funerals because those are the biggest pouring out-of-love events.

And those loving feelings and words can help turn your off-balance circadian rhythm feelings into happy good.

Turn on the light and naturally get a ‘lil happy today. You’ll be glad you did! 😎

Brain Fog Is Often Spiritual

Brain fog is a way to describe the forgetfulness nature that Ayurvedic Vata minds commonly daily express that we accept as part of us.

Our morning habit choices we choose could be adding to brain fog. — Brain fog accumulates in our daily lives.

In this article, you can learn all about brain fog from our daily environment and simple things we can tweak. You’ll also learn how brain fog isn’t always bad like when it’s from spiritual sources.

Brain fog is the general symptom description for not being able to think clearly.

Often this is when you want the mind to work for you.

Brain fog moments often shows up as confusion, lack of focus, or forgetfulness.

So brain fog would make sense as an explanation for simple memory blips.

But there’s more to this from a spiritual lens that I explain further below on how you can see it as a benefit and a blessing at times.

Because usually brain fog only has negative connotations in our practical culture.

And this article provides some healthy lifestyle tips to eliminate those daily negative brain fog aspects, plus presenting the balancing Vata brain fog positives (that’s a common built-in feature in our Vata mind nature).

In either positive or negative case, we don’t often sit around and analyze what’s going on with brain fog when our minds are in the clouded mist.

And what we experience is usually harmless, like forgetting eye glasses on our heads and looking everywhere for them.

While that can be comical, it’s extra minutes of distraction when the answer was sitting on you above your nose.

For daily routines and tasks, Vatas often create forgetfulness habits to set reminders and purposefully not forget.

High Vatas have active minds of worry-anxiety, more so than Pittas and Kaphas that can have other brain fog distractions.

This btw happened to me when I baked a healthy dessert for the morning and next morning. And the next morning, I forgot about all about it in my mind’s distraction.

A simple scenario like that happens to all of us at some point.

…And when I remembered the forgotten cool peach dessert, it was actually when I would appreciate the bite more after lunch so it could be an enjoyment positive experience.

In your daily life, if someone ever asks you why you didn’t do something and you answer I forgot, you often don’t get a lot of out-of-the-ordinary questioning.

Because forgetting is so normal.

Forgetting can also be healthy for us who like to control ideas. You let go of controlling your mind or the device in front of you that you’re tethered to.

This can invite in creativity inside us and help us let go of rigid ways.

But then there are also negatives such as cognitive decline brain fog instances we want to help prevent. It’s the “elephant in the room” but a diagnosis growing in our world, and that’s something we can be aware of and doing something about in our lives today.

Preventative Healthy Living Helps With Brain Fog

Brain fog can grow when we have these elements in our daily lives: high-processed foods, pesticides, phthalates, non-purified air, and mold, to name a few culprits in our modern lifestyles.

They alter our bodies and that affects our mind in the body-mind connection and in our mental health.

Processed foods for example become whole nutrient-stripped in the plant process (as in factory plant 🏭).

Organic plants 🌱 are better options where we don’t find the same trace levels of pesticides that are found in non-organic foods.

If you garden, you know what natural sprays you’ve used or not used in your care. And when you bake like I do, you know what ingredients you’ve added. You know the wholesomeness details.

In grocery stores, we see the ingredients in our carts we’ll be using to cook with or eat. And we can read labels.

But we don’t see the processes in-between, so this makes comparing foods an apples to oranges experience.

Cheese is an example. Rennet that is found in some parts of the world isn’t the pasteurized cheese process found along the shelf rows in our American grocery stores.

The goat and sheep’s cheese that the Sardinians farm and eat isn’t what we find in our guts.

And for daily coffee drinkers, switching to organic is good for preventative health as coffee is naturally high in mold.

Mold is a brain fog offender.

Organic coffee is considerably more expensive and more difficult to source, but it’s out there when you look and put your health first.

You can get resourceful and save money by buying whole roasts and then doing the grind work yourself. You can feel much more grounded like your coffee when you do. 😊

Daily clean air is also going to be healthy preventative help against the brain fog cause. Developing daily hayfever-like allergy symptoms is one common sign.

And building in more wellness habits and healthy intentions to your life is going to help you most in your sleep, health conditions, and mental fatigue. Yoga is one way to bring in more self-awareness intention.

When you calm and relax your mind and self that also brings down your stress and anxiety levels that help Vata brain fog.

Calming and Relaxing the Mind

Good answers and thoughts show up when the mind is calm and relaxed, and not anxious or worried like when running with high Vata brain fog symptoms.

When our minds are under stress, often we can’t think of the answer when put on the spot.

If we’re asked a Family Feud game show question like what is the first thing you do in the morning?, we can usually come up with an answer. And maybe one that lights up on the board.

But when someone asks us the same question in an interview where we know others will put judgment on what we say, we can’t come up with the answer under mind stress.

We could just give a safe answer.

…Or you may surprise yourself by blurting an answer that surprises you.

Those answers that pop up in memory unexpectedly often come from our spirit.

The answer that pops in our mind come from our deeper wisdom inside us.

We didn’t rack our brain for the answer. They just entered out of no where.

Those thoughts can be blessings when you connect-the-dots.

I’ve had a lot of time and spiritual experiences to teach me wisdom lessons learned to show me this.

Over time, the lessons gave me a different perspective to gain the deeper meaning behind those memory moment lapse blessings.

Once you know you can’t go back to not-knowing and wouldn’t want to as cracking the code secrets toward a happier life.

And you can notice when thought lapses land in aligned perfect timing.

That’s when it’s a spiritual miracle and blessing.

An example is we forget what we were going to say from our rational brain from losing our train of thought.

We get other thoughts that enter.

In groups I attended, we called these other thoughts: popcorn thoughts. These answers come from our heart as though we didn’t process the thought first.

If it’s a helpful suggestive thought, it’s often helpful for others to hear who need the suggestion.

If you can get over what others will think or any insecurities you have in those moments, and blurt out what you’re thinking, often it helps someone else.

You don’t necessarily know how it will help, but it does when you dare to stay vulnerable in sharing.

They are spiritual collaboration opportunities that are expressed when you speak them aloud. You can feel good about showing up.

In the same token, sometimes others blurt out something you needed that sticks with you. It’s the same when purposefully listening to a podcast or a message that you need.

So we’re giving back in a way.

We can all contribute and give back in the energy of life in this way and without much effort.

If you want more of these opportunities to show up and are willing to have your day rearranged in some way, ask quietly aloud or in self-talk: what can I do today to be helpful?

Then be prepared to be useful to others. 😊

And in daily life, these prompted thoughts and memories will show up more frequently if you pay attention (that’s an active move).

You could ignore and override those thoughts to stay on your linear agenda.

That’s how I was until I knew better.

As a planner, we don’t prefer going off course. But over the years, I grew to embrace impromptu thoughts entering, seeing this new spiritual perspective.

And maybe that would help you.

Spiritual impromptu thoughts help you align and redirect to a better way, day, and life. They lead to a life of more purpose, happiness, meaning, and fulfillment. 🎉

So you can be curious next time and openly ask yourself: why did I have ____ particular thought? And see if you get anything back as a thought.

Most likely you won’t immediately.

But that makes you consider another way of thinking and living that can be spirit-filled and coming from deeper inside of you that knows deeply what you want.

And you can stay curious and wondering until something clicks like it finally did for me.

So if we wonder about those spiritual impromptu thoughts, that opens the door to our exploring our spiritual wisdom inside us that isn’t brain fog.

This can be our new norm.

And for our daily mattering lives, we can invite in ad hoc thoughts in our mantras, meditation, and centering to help advise us on what to do next.

Self-Care Wheel for Kapha Imbalances

Self-care wheel balance is heck-yeah! needed in the colder months when our unleashed Kaphas are in full-force…

Wheels in motion take you to where you want to go. A wheel can go slowly or fast, but no matter what speed its default is to move forward (unless you purposefully choose to reverse). And, this article is about moving you forward and bettering your life this season. 🎡

If you understand the nature of Ayurveda as our natural healthy design, then you’ll be able to use that insight for better self-care and restore natural seasonal imbalances.

Like on the exterior, if you have super dry skin every winter along with a skinny frame, then you’re likely a natural Vata body (and not a Kapha body). If you tend to hold extra body weight and metabolize slowly, then Kapha is your natural way. Both feel the cold extremities as traits.

And as natural as having a Kapha body, some of us are more Kapha minded. Or we get imbalanced with tired Kapha moods.

That’s sometimes how I feel in the mornings (when Delta sleep is more like it!).

We can have a Vata body and a Kapha mind (and vice versa) as a simple example. And, there are 9 organized combinations if we want to keep it simple. Because you may be one born dominant in two body or mind ways (doshas). And mind and body connect in the daily mind-body connection to how you think, act, and feel.

The good news is you can positively impact and gradually change what you don’t like by your lifestyle choices. It’s nature vs. nurture where nurture is what you’re living today.

…You don’t have to settle for what you’re born with as lesser personality and traits you want to change.

Genetics is a tougher one to influence and turn the rudder on, but not impossible… and lifestyle tweaks and choice prevention can completely change a lesser situation or a higher probability likelihood.

And so, this article is meant to help you connect-the-dots and live your best life you can today with better lifestyle choices!

I’m focusing on Kapha here because all of us have a little of Kapha going on and that can be heavy in this seasonal time of year (where we hear more cough-as life). 😷

But here I share what I learned circa 2008 that has stuck with me, and what’s newer that I applied starting in 2023 to support healthy daily living intentions and prevention.

…And we know a healthy body translates to a better happy day where we get to do more and make more choices on our terms!

Letting in self-care influences give us more daily joy and balance. When you add better sleep, energy, spiritual, and love self-care into the equation, those move the needle forward. 🧭

A self-care wheel just like that can be the practical guide toward priorities tipping away from the heavy Kapha mind that makes it hard-to-get-going in the morning… or that makes you feel more depressed during colder seasons.

…Where growing up, we called this the SAD season (seasonal affective disorder). I went through this every February in my teens and early 20 years (when one that age should have had more energy). Lack of supplemental Vitamin D and sunshine affected the happy hormones we didn’t know much about back then. Winters were colder in the mid-Atlantic region where I grew up.

But, today we have more self-care knowledge and winters are warmer, and sometimes 70 degrees in some regions. So you can use the better products and circadian rhythm advice out there to your self-care wheel advantage.

…Plus, my healthy lessons learned (that btw get better with age 😉). Below is the skinny on what could help you get the self-care wheel balance you’re needing today.

✨ And these are some obvious Kapha Signs to look out for 👀that may be affecting you (and your self-care wheel):

Kapha Sign #1 (Sleep/energy):

Sleep and energy together because they are so closely knit together. 🧶

Do you find yourself needing more sleep in the cold weather seasons? Or maybe you’re consistently tired?

And that’s a bummer because less sleep means less time enjoying the day or being productive. Not enough sleep, you also lose free time and can lack energy as downsides.

Number of sleep hours are important, but better quality sleep is the better biohack way. And I share the best biohack routine I know and practice below. ⬇️

But for most days, when you get enough sleep, your body wakes up feeling energized. (Sleep + energy = 🤸🏻‍♂️)

You get better connected, cohesive thoughts. Because your body was able to fully recharge its batteries the night before.

Your daily energy ⚡️ is directly affected by how well you sleep. We all know that… and that’s why alarm clocks and caffeine are so popular in the morning.

…And getting less blue light in our eyes at night is up there too as newer healthy artificial habits.

We can also affect the energy systems inside us with better lifestyle choices, like: healthy food and drink choices, when we consume, and exercise.

Energy is not just physical and movement. Or calories.

…It’s also energy in the mind. Our minds can be slow and lethargic and that can be part of a Kapha imbalanced mind.

But there are other signs too… like, we’re not connecting energetically with others (who are energy).

We can have an invisible positive magnetic or negative repelling energy. That’s something visible in your life to consider that often gets missed in relationships and the community around us.

✅ Tips for daily sleep/energy ⚡️self-care wheel balance:

Give yourself more energy. You can listen to music that puts you in an energetic mood, get blood pumping through your veins doing your exercises, and doing a new activity that stimulates your mind. And give yourself daily healthy mind-body energy food.

Kapha Sign #2 (Spiritual):

When our Kaphas are off balance, there’s a domino effect, affecting: feelings, thoughts, and how much of our lit spiritual selves we let in. And these impact our daily actions.

The actions (or inactions) that accumulate pounds, things, emotions, and piles of things as examples are obvious exterior signs. They’re processed deeper in mind-thoughts that change our feelings and moods.

To change, it’s easier to look at the exterior signs (as mirrors and clues) to our inner going-ons that creates our world, so we can get more grounded and tap into our inner power.

If you find the clue that you’re accumulating in some way, the deeper source could be because you’re wanting to be alone and building up a wall from others. Or you’re just plain tired from picking up toys and piles, and cleaning up.

…The source isn’t as important as knowing that those are classic Kapha awareness imbalanced signs. And since we don’t want to exude growing unhealthy behavior that accumulates, we can change choices…

So, look around… have you accumulated things or have you stopped putting things away as much? Do you have unintentional messy piles, clothes, or toys left out for another day?

“Disorganized” and “clutter” (descriptions that can harshly rub like an abrasive scrubber as the elephant in the room) — usually go hand-in-hand because it’s the same mind feeding the non-serving abrasive message.

…And this can leave feelings of shame that can gradually turn into self-loathing if allowed. That’s sobering, but helpful because then we can be aware and fix what isn’t healthy.

✅ Tips for daily spiritual 🌟 self-care wheel balance:

Practice letting go. Ignore your heavy Kapha thoughts as this derails you from your this season’s purpose. This can sound challenging if you’ve never exercised this right to ignore any of your thoughts, but it’s so liberating!

Rewrite not-so-great thoughts if you never have (and do it over and over again if you have). Nip it in the bud when the thoughts arrive.

You can save time, money, and effort that your brain would otherwise send you to go spend on… like I’d be happier if I had ___ shopping item, ___ life, or ___ relationship.

Feeling content can do wonders for you if you can do that step.

Many years ago, I discovered that I didn’t have to accept my random thoughts that entered my mind. I could decisively ignore and even peacefully disagree. How was that the first time?… very weird.

…But when I practiced that habit, my life changed and I didn’t let the beaten down tracks play over and over again. The better track connect-the-dots and stops fictitious endings from forming.

With those positive step actions, I could walk away and then my better moods came back.

I could change my moody feelings and re-direct my perspectives. And you can too if that’s what you want…

Where and how are you on your mind and thought journey?

Here are the simple steps 👣

Recognize the thought: negative, unproductive thought (alert!)

The action: walk away

The walk away feeling: freedom vs. ego smothering protection and feeling bad about something, people, or myself

Repeat.

Kapha Sign #3 (Love):

Getting back or having healthy self-love is most important in matters of love and relationships. That’s how we also attract healthy relationships.

But, heavy imbalanced Kapha minds can have extremes: acting prickly toward people or relationships. Or acting needy and dependent to those who don’t reciprocate. These do the opposite of attracting (and sometimes wrongly attract opposites).

Smothering (or semi-mothering) can make others feel like a boundary is crossed, and can easily destroy a relationship.

When we expect others to make us happy, we set ourselves up for disappointment. So focusing on loving ourselves first allows us to energetically have an authentic overflow of love that pours out to others.

In self-care, we used to call this Me-Time that has become Me-Too as a form of love and healing.

✅ Tips for daily love ❤️ self-care wheel balance:

Be kind to yourself and your body, and tell your mind: “I am enough.”

Repeat saying to yourself: “I am loved” as a daily mantra.

******************************************

🧡 And FINALLY, from my newer lessons learned on the self-care wheel:

In 2023, I started intermittent fasting in my life for healthy gut reasons. But I found in my self-experiment (that I journaled about)… it also improved daily sleep, energy, and gave lighter mind-thoughts.

On those IF nights, sleep is better because the body doesn’t need to go to extra work to process food ontop of all its miracle daily resetting functions (…and why we need sleep in the first place!). And the liver doesn’t have to work hard to process beverages other than the mostly water clear kind. I like herbal teas.

So building in a weekly routine practice, I experienced not needing as much sleep and improved sleep quality.

👣 If you want to know how to optimize IF and Kapha metabolism for all the daily healthy benefits (and biohacking your body’s health), you can learn and read more about my journey.