Healthy Habits.

I’ll be the first one to admit that I have been stuck in a rut lately.
Our routine was disrupted because we went away camping at the start of this month. It threw out our baby’s sleep routine – that’s if he got a nap at all while we were away.
Although we had an amazing time and well needed time away, coming home was hard, Getting our routine back on track was harder.

I found that my son was skipping his day sleeps and becoming exhausted by 4.30pm, so exhausted to the point where he HAD to nap — and trust me, that was not for a lack of trying to get him down earlier!

His late naps were causing trouble at bedtime, and he was going to sleep later, and later and I wasn’t getting to bed until midnight (on a good night) by the time i’d tidied the kitchen, tied up all loose ends in my home office and wound down.

I was tired. Exhausted.
Which meant that I was sleeping late,
which also meant that I was even more tired when I actually got up.

Up until Sunday, we had been like that.
That’s 2 solid weeks of being out of whack and stuck in a terrible routine.
Sunday, I made the decision to change it.
No excuses. This mama had had enough!
I needed to start feeling better.

I went into my office, and I made up my inspiration blend in my diffuser and breathed the oils in deeply. Then i grabbed a pen and paper and I physically wrote out a daily routine and was determined to start the following day – Monday.

What is it with Mondays?
Why do we always wait until Monday to make our life decisions?

Anyway,
I woke up when Hubby got up for work, and watched the sun come up.
Doing this helps to reset your Circadian Rhythm and allows your mind to set the body clock to ‘morning’.

Man, it was hard dragging myself out of bed after being up that early after sleeping in for so long, but I know the longer I do it for, the quicker my body will respond and feel better for it.

Next, I would usually have my morning coffee, BUT instead of having it straight away before anything else, I made a rule that I would have to have a hot lemon tea and my doTERRA Lifelong Vitality Supplements beforehand.
So I did that.

Then, I got dressed, made the bed, filled up my diffusers, and fed and played with the dogs — something that was falling away in our busy lives.
They loved it. I loved it.

Then I woke the baby up.
It was safe to say that he wasn’t that pleased to be woken up early either. Usually we would sit on the couch and watch ABC Kids for a while until mama pulled some energy from wherever she could.

Not today.

Today I read him a story.
We had an awesome healthy breakfast that he helped me make, we got him dressed and we set up some cute and fun activities outside for him to explore – an amazing learning opportunity.

• 

• 

• 

To my surprise, little man started yawning.
So by midday, he basically asking me for a nap — YUS!

I jumped in my office for an hour and smashed out some things on my to-do list. Honestly it’s incredible how much gets done when mama knows she’s only got an hour of uninterrupted time.

Bub woke up, and we had a healthy lunch together.
Played some more, and I had my coffee — the one i’d usually have to start my day.

We cleaned, danced – because we had swapped the tv out for music instead – then when daddy came home it was dinnertime, bathtime and baby’s bedtime – and right on time might I add.

When bub went to bed, I tidied my kitchen, prepped food for the next day, and soaked my dishcloths in On Guard Essential Oil ready for the next day.
Tidying up your kitchen takes 10 minutes at night, but saves you an hour in the morning, so I dry and put all my dishes away, make sure there is nothing on my benches, and give them a wipe down with Lemon Essential Oil — sometimes i’ll even leave a love note for the hubby to read to start his day off on the right foot.

I felt SO much better.
Just in one day, and naturally I got so much more done than I usually would because I had so many more hours to work with and get things done.

Now, it’s totally okay to be spontaneous, as I usually am. But in order to reset bad habits, you need to replace them with good, healthy habits for your mind to reset.

It takes 22 days to break a habit, and in those 22 days, you need to work hard at it. Shift your focus, change your ways, your mindset and reap the rewards of the new.

If you’re feeling a little bit stuck, maybe you’re just feeling down in the dumps, change something. Add something new to your routine that will shake it up, and just watch how your body responds — go for a walk, stretch, turn the tv off and dance in the kitchen with your family – anything.

I challenge you.
Will you accept it?

Love, Hayley x