Hello beautiful people. Cheers with our morning bevs (I am currently drinking a large jar of room temp water with lemon and mineral salt). When I wake up on a Monday morning - the first thing that comes to my mind is intention. What is my intention for the week? I tend to have an anxious brain that will spiral easily. Especially when I wake up in the morning thinking about all of the things I have to do - just puts me in an overwhelming state of fight or flight to be honest. Intention for me is so much better than a to do list. It helps me move slow and make decisions with my intention in mind, leading me to my overall goals and mission even faster.
An overall intention that I made for myself in the beginning of the year is to be more spontaneous and do things that make me uncomfortable. I feel like the older I get the faster life goes. I think it is because we get into our bubble, our comfort routine and have a hard time breaking out of that. The more routine I am in the quicker life seems to pass me by. I think routine is a beautiful thing, it is grounding, but it is important to prioritize getting out of your comfort zone. This is something I am constantly trying to remind myself of. My mind likes to trick me a lot of the time, like a fun opportunity will pop up and I think to myself “I feel like I would rather stay home [in my comfort zone],” or I will look for excuses to get out of something. I have to stop myself and force myself to go, because I always have the most incredible time. I will leave with more energy and buzzing. It is like I think I am an introvert until I am with people and I realize how much energy people do give me. Getting out of your comfort zone is not easy, but it is always worth it.
Andrew Huberman talks about how we as humans are supposed to experience discomfort in order to excel and push forward. If you are avoiding discomfort, you likely will not grow. Getting out of your comfort zone improves your life. If you are in a rut and feel like you are procrastinating and not moving in life. Challenge yourself! A few ways that I like to get out of my comfort zone: say yes to things I typically wouldn’t, make plans with new people, ice bath, wake up a couple hours earlier and do something new outside of the home, jump in the ocean in the morning, travel, face my fears!
What is one thing you are going to do this week to get out of your comfort zone?
Health Pillar of the Week: Mindset + Moving Slow
How you start your morning is going to direct the rest of your day. When I begin the day checking my texts or emails or just going on social media, I already feel drained and my cortisol is instantly spiked. Since this is what I chose to begin the morning, my brain will subconsciously spend the rest of the day seeking that out for dopamine. It is so important to wake up slowly, with intention, and be kind and gentle with yourself.
My best mornings are spent as slow mornings. I wake up a bit earlier than I usually do to give myself the time and space to move slowly. This can be anything: a morning walk, journal, putting my feet in the earth, deep intentional breathing, gratitude, reading, sun on my face, stretching. Anything that makes me feel good without the cortisol spike. Every time I set aside the morning space for me to do this, I have the most incredible day. I am more productive, I have less anxiety and negative thoughts and feelings, I am a happier and lighter version of myself with a better outlook on life.
The best way to start is to choose one day out of the week to wake up earlier than you typically would and rise with the sun. Practice your version of a slow morning and reap the incredible benefits!
Also another lil tip I do every day: I do not have any caffeine until at least 90 minutes after waking up. This is super important if you want to avoid caffeine crashes!
Weekly Favorites
Navel Oiling
I crack up at this name. Whenever I tell someone about this they laugh so hard at me like WHAT ARE YOU DOING. But I have been experimenting with navel oiling the past week. You take some high quality cold pressed caster oil and place it in your belly button before bed. I will usually give myself a lymphatic stomach massage and then my ileocecal and pyloric valve release (tutorial here), and then do the navel.
Caster Oil has a heaping amount of incredible benefits, but specifically for me it has helped a ton with overall digestion. It has really kept me balanced and things moving when I wake up in the morning. Also - I am currently dealing with a cyst on my ovary, and it has helped a ton with the pain there. Of course do your own research, but I had to share because it has been so beneficial to me!
Brain Fog be Gone Combo
This is the combination I have used for probably over a year now for brain fog. I used to deal with horrible brain fog when I had sibo, it is not fun. First thing in the morning I take Cymbiotika Glutathione + Molecular Hydrogen in my water. Typically around the same time I have my coffee or matcha I will also have Cymbiotika Golden Mind + Cymbiotika NMN. I love Cymbiotika’s products. I would take every single one of them if I could. They are incredible. But this combination is specific for brain fog and has helped me so much. If I want to go the extra mile I will also have the magnesium in the afternoon/evening. My code for their products is ELLA15 + that is on top of the bundling discount.
Morning salt water
Our bodies are DEHYDRATED in the morning. Extremely - we haven’t drank any liquids in 8+ hours. Hydration in the morning is absolutely essential, and water is a vessel for minerals which bring true hydration. In the morning I will fill up one of my largest glass jars with room temp filtered water, about a ¼ tsp of high quality mineral salt (sometimes more), and some lemon. This is wonderful for balancing adrenals and ultimate hydration. Plus it gets the digestion instantly moving.
Book Rec
The Daily Stoic is one of my absolute favorite books. It is a daily passage that goes deeper into stoic philosophy. I think stoicism is very special. I learn a lot from their philosophy in general, and I really think that everyone can. The best thing to do is buy one for you and a friend, and when you read it in the morning, discuss it together. I do this with my group of friends back home and everyone takes something different from the passages, it is really special to share that. Also keeps you accountable for your daily pages, it is a very easy read. Todays:
Fav Food + Recipe
My favorite food of the week has been the combination of sourdough bread with butter and flakey sea salt plus some sauerkraut. Two of my favorite foods, and them together just makes my mouth water. Lately I have been loving a big delicious savory breakfast. I will do my sourdough, sauerkraut, greens dressed up in vinegar and olive oil, salt and pepper, a lil lemon, and then two sunny side up eggs. This combo is just heavenly. + makes me feel SO GOOD.
Weekend Recap
Thank you to EVERYONE who supported my Organic Oren collaboration! So exciting. If you ordered, you will receive the food today, I want to see all of your photos and hear all of your feedback.
On Saturday, I had a girls day out with my mom and little sister (aka my best friends). We got brunch and then stayed out all day and went out dancing in the evening. It was a ton of fun. Sunday I took it easy, made a huge brunch for my boyfriend and I and then cooked, baked cookies and played board games all day. It was the perfect weekend.
I love you all! I have a wonderful week & I can’t wait to hear how you are getting our of your comfort zone :) Xo - Ella
Love all of this. I will be more concious this week to do things that make me uncomfortable. When I do this, I definitely feel more alive, with new enthusiasm and energy. Thank you for the gently reminder <3.