Since a little while I am visiting the Netherlands. This country is the place I was born and spend my younger years.
I was 25 when I started traveling and discovering the world. Most of all discovering me. What fits me, what makes me feel comfortable, which things do I keep close and which ones do I release myself from.
Back in a place where structure is priority it sometimes is very hard to keep the calm and bliss that lives inside me. I am loving and safe and with this attitude I know I can handle everything. Nevertheless this sometimes gets so easily maladjusted, it makes me having to recalibrate my body and mind again. This is why I want to share my habits.
I am not so much a routine person but I noticed I have these little habits to help myself stay close to my inner peace.
1. Leave your phone outside the bedroom
Everysince I got my super deluxe new smartphone, I felt resistence. This is because I don’t really like being reachable all the time, let alone being dependent on the social media feed or the blue lights of my screen.
Since a couple of weeks I started leaving my phone behind before going to bed. Usually when I would go to bed I would lay in bed and endlessly scroll trough Facebook searching for feed to fill my soul.
This is not the go. My sleep has immensively improved by not having my phone in the room. Not only because those signals are not in the room at all, it keeps the room way more balanced, but also because from the moment I am going upstairs I am on my own. I easily recenter. There is no pressure. I noticed most of my days, when I go upstairs being tired and completely worn out from my day, with leaving my phone aside, I suddenly felt energetic enough to still read a book or do another yoga session or meditation.
2. A cup of comfort
I try my best to do intermittent fasting. I know this is not the way to go for everyone but it works for me and it makes me feel good. This means usually I don’t eat before 12pm. Still my soul, my body craves for a bit of love.
These moments, usually very strong in the morning, but also in the evening after dinner and sometimes during the day when I’m working a lot, I make this fresh tea and it gives me just that little bit of everything I need.
To me, this recipe, is the hug in a mug. And in the same it tells me ‘hold on a little while longer’ and ‘I love you, stay focused’.
The recipe: cut some ginger, either pealed or not; that’s totally up to you. Add a cinnamon stick and one or two cloves. It’s such an easy recipe and you can balance it out the way you like it. Add a bit less ginger and more cinnamon to have a bit more christmassy tea, do it the other way around to get a bit more freshness in your hug.
3. Clean your room
Okay, this one seems obvious, but I guess I’ve got different approaches on this one. This can either be your bedroom, or another room you spend a lot of time. Obviously we all need a bit of cleaning sometimes. There is general cleaning, like vacuuming or mopping the floors. Then there’s cleaning in changing sheets, folding clothes, doing laundry. But there’s also CLEANING. And by that I mean, detaching from stuff that has been there for months, years, and never get used anymore. And secondly there is a big energetically part in this.
You see, when you let go of those clothes you havent been wearing for the last year, you don’t only make space in your closet, you make space in your mind and soul. With this you are saying ‘I’m ready to let go of the past’, ‘I am ready to move forward’. And often we hold so many burdens, it can really help cleaning out and really getting rid of a lot of stuff that don’t serve you anymore.
One of my other habits, when it comes to cleaning, is the energetically side of it. Leaving my windows open for a while so fresh air can come in, burning sage to clean the energy in the room, cleaning all my gemstones and after all of this, taking a long shower, applying some cinnamon essence and put on fresh clothes. Usually after all of this I myself feel like reborn.
4. Create a morning or evening routine
It’s up to you, some people are real night owls, others love to wake up in the dark before anybody gets up. whether you are a morning or an evening person, routines can give you just that little bit extra strength to find calm.
We get lost in the days so easy. Take on another little job to get something fixed, put your children to bed, cook the evening meals; we have so many little things that we ‘just do’. Without being present, without feeling like it. With a routine, that is just for you, you get that little bit extra balance. To me this is in the mornings. I wake up, brush my teeth, wash my face and start yoga. Before that, I know it sounds silly, I am not ready to face the world. Because I simply know these little things give me the me time, the care, my body and soul need. It doesn’t have to be an hour, even something little like 10 minutes will do. Write down some affirmations or even at the end of the day write down your gratitudes of the day. Anything that will bring you back to the present and reconnect to your true inner emotions.
Take a moment to realise what is taking your energy away and what you could do to balance this out. With something that provides you energy. Keep it simple, easy to manage. Don’t make yourself another burden to carry with you 😉
