Mar
23

Routines

by Sofia   -   in Random

I hope you had a lovely weekend despite of the ongoing situation. I am mentally battling between starting each post with a disclaimer as I don´t want you to think I find this situation indifferent. We are all in this together and some are affected more harshly than others. But it comes very naturally for me personally to deal with some anxieties or worries with someone very close to me and then focus on the positive. Some of us find the silver lining in situations more easily than others and it´s ok. You may not.  There is a lot of negative we could focus on right now. And I do realise that this situation may bring even more irritation out of people. ” Our lives are falling apart! I´m not allowed to do what I want! Why try to focus on the positive? That´s just stupid.” And it´s ok. We are all allowed to react to these situations the way we feel most natural. But as I said last week, here on Lattemamma we will try to focus on the positive. It´s what keeps me going. It´s not indifference. The situation is devastating. We all know or are close to someone in risk groups if they get sick. We are being laid off or loosing our business. But yet here we are. Home. Staying away, keeping our distance and there is nothing we can do about it but try to make the most of it. So as a fare ” warning” I will  not start my posts feeling sorry for myself or breaking the latest sad news. I will as long as possible try to share what I find to be the silver lining. The things I can still be grateful for. If you are grasping at straws to find a single thing to be grateful for at this time, I suggest you call a friend and have a long talk about how you feel. We may all need help at this time. There, my last ” disclaimer” for a while. I do care. I am affected by it. I´ve lost sleep over this. But here on this blog I´m for you if you need your daily dose of happiness. It´s what I do here. It´s what I´ve been doing here for as long as this blog has existed.

Do you have a daily routine you follow? Going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time each morning? Exercise? Beauty routines? I read a good list of things that would be great to add to your daily routine now so you don´t get stuck on a loop of not brushing your hair and watching Netflix until midnight.

1. A consistent morning routine

2. One self-care activity

3. One chore

4. A small step towards a goal

5. Excercise

6. Meditation

7. A consistent night time routine

The list was not made for this specific time but I found it very useful to share now. I realise some are struggling for more hours a day now as they work from home and have to help kids with schoolwork plus handle all the regular chores. But I think if we try to take care of ourselves and stick to our routines it might help a little.

What could be part of your morning routine? Opening the curtains and windows to let a breath of fresh air in. We usually lift our pillows up against the headboard of the bed and lift our duvet over our door whilst we brush our teeth and do other bathroom related morning routines. If you take a shower maybe you can start by doing a quick dry brushing and finish your shower with a cold burst ( or 2 mins. if you can) at the end. It will wake you up and both are said to be great for blood circulation. After we are done with our morning ” beauty” routines we make the bed that has now aired and the girls make theirs. Time for breakfast?

Do you have a self-care activity you can suggest? It could be anything from writing in a diary to doing a sheet mask. I suggest you check this book out and try adding face yoga to your daily routine. The writer Pia is an old friend of mine ( I´ve known her since I was 9 and she was 7, we went to the same schools and lived close by). But it does not mean that I would recommend the book if I did not find it to be beautiful and useful. How to lift your butt? You squad, do lunges, you work out the muscles. How to lift your double chin? You do face yoga! Trust me, she looks like she is 20- something and she is only a few years younger than me. She also made a 6-minute face yoga tutorial video that is available for purchase on her site. Or perhaps your daily self-care activity could be eating 4 walnuts. They should be great for both your skin, your brain and your heart. I have so many suggestions. I´m sure you have many many more.

A chore? Well this is a good one. Now that everyone is at home there are so many more dishes and so much more cooking to do. I will get to the cooking part on a later post. But your daily chore could be something on top of the ” must do´s” like washing laundry or doing the dishes. This next suggestion is just if you have extra time now but if you´d like I could do a post on this separately? The little things we can do daily around the house. From dusting picture frames one day to de-pilling sweaters the next etc. If you don´t have the extra time then find the must do chores and do one daily. Ironing one day ( do it front of your favourite tv- show) and washing the toilets the next and so forth.

A small step towards a goal? It´s quite simple. Find a goal you want to achieve and aim towards it every day. Your goal might be learning to knit or it might be learning to be nicer ( to yourself or to others). It does not need to be something big and it does not need to be done in a day. Small steps every day.

Exercise? Meditation? I find these are the two things we might immediately say we don’t have time for right now yet they are probably the two most important to keeping you sane right now. I mean, you don´t have to have time for an hour long run every day and now is not the time to go to the gym. But you can decide to do a home workout just to keep up and then make sure you walk or run a little in fresh air daily. Just remember to keep you distance. I´m aware that in some countries you can´t just go out for a run anymore so if you find working out at home difficult then at least try the meditation.

A consistent night time routine? Can I give you a piece of advice? Don´t spend your bedtime reading news of current situations. If you want to keep up with the situation then do it during the day. For your immunity and sanity it´s quite vital to get some good quality sleep. Trust me, making yourself anxious right before you try to fall asleep will not get you there. A cup of chamomile tea  and reading a book whilst burning a lavender scented candle might. Writing in your diary. Stretching. Cuddling. What is your favourite routine? I like to open the windows in all our bedrooms again before we go brush our teeth. I sleep better in fresh air. I´m pretty sure everyone does.

Like with all routines, sometimes it´s fun to break them. So do it but don´t do it every day. We get dressed every morning but on Sunday´s you can find the whole family in pyjamas until lunchtime. Take a day when you eat ice-cream from a tub a binge watch your favourite show. Enjoy breaking the routines a little but remember to get back to them.

I hope you found this helpful ♥.

Lattemamma