Nourishing your mind is within arm’s reach. Your mental health is interconnected to how you spend your time daily. Answer the following three questions to get a better idea of any gaps you may be facing to feel better:

1. What have you been consuming?

2. How have you been sleeping?

3. What are you doing to stay physically active?

Building a routine will allow you to create an internal clock that aligns with the goals you aim to hit. We all know how great 7-8 hours of sleep feels, especially when we are able to take advantage of natural light during the day. Take the necessary baby steps to build the life you have been dreaming of. Not even a genie in a bottle could ensure that your wishes would last a lifetime. Maintaining a long-term perspective and avoiding impulsive decisions can help sustain what you are working towards.

I was at my heaviest in college and am now in the most athletic shape I’ve ever been in. Learning how to prioritize taking time for myself to eat, sleep, and exercise intuitively has been a game-changer. Choosing to spend time researching and exploring what feels right to complete our goals is the biggest win of all. You are responsible for how you treat your body, from the moment you wake up to the moment you knock out for the night. Taking accountability for my past has been the hardest hit to my ego, but necessary for evolution.

There is no use in beating ourselves up over decisions we made, before having a better understanding of the full picture. While our circumstances may vary, we all do our best with the information we know at the time. The best thing we can do for ourselves and those around us is move forward.

As a result of my latest rebirth, I no longer struggle with:

• Irritable Bowel Syndrome - A misdiagnosis made by a gastroenterologist

• Self-Respect - Toodaloo to behaviors that my inner child would not be proud of

• Generalized Anxiety - Ruminating over worries < Getting excited about opportunities

No two bodies are identical and what worked for me, may not necessarily work for you. There is no hard and fast rule about how you should live your life. However, there are plenty of resources, myself included, to help navigate your next move. You are never stuck and are entirely capable of creating more abundance.

Lately, I’ve been waking up at 6:30 am to work out before the traditional workday. As a result, I get to take advantage of daytime hours, while enjoying the sights and noises of other early risers. Consistent routines ultimately promote better digestion, nutrient absorption, and more effective circadian rhythms. The circadian rhythm leads to the secretion and regulation of hormones that impact our sleep, metabolism, stress response, growth, appetite, and reproductive functions. Like any other form of life, our bodies adjust and evolve to our environment and patterns we find ourselves in.

Track the patterns that add joy to your life, everyone could use more of it. An ex-boyfriend noticed that when I shower, I get a boost of energy. This led me to an endless path of identifying other sources of energy. Looking outside, basking in sunlight, walking and dancing are now a part of my routine. Most of these activities are quite primitive and accessible to all. We were meant to experiment with the offerings of Mother Earth to create a more fruitful life for ourselves and future generations.

Cheers to treating our bodies as the gifts they are. There may be times we feel deprived of an ideal state of being, it’s important to remind ourselves that it is temporary and there is more life to be lived. Check out my Spotify playlist of peaceful music that has kept me grounded when I needed it most. Brighter days are coming and patience proves to be an endless virtue.