Heyyy friends, long time!

A while back I put a call out into Croissant Reading—my weekly weekend-newsletter sharing links I love— for blogs you’re enjoying RN.

So many of the sites I once regularly checked-in with no longer post consistently, and I’ve been missing my long-form fix!

I hold my hands up to being one such blogger—a quick check of the last time I posted reveals it’s been . . . ahem, 3 months—but still, I miss the blogging era of old. Coffee in hand, catching up with people whose lives/style/POV I found inspiring. What’s your take?

Today’s blog post harks back to my favourite kind of post. A catch up on a few things that have been lifting me up of late. Recently I noticed a few telltale signs of burnout in myself: poor sleep, a feeling of simultaneous overwhelm and underwhelm, general lethargy . . . I pressed pause to reassess where I’m at and make a few changes to help me to get back on track.

As you’ll know if you listen to my newly-launched podcast Health Home Hustle, ‘living life from a place of abundance, not burnout’ is what I’m aiming for!

 

5 Things I’m Doing to Improve my Health RN

 

Boundaries

It’s nobody’s responsibility but mine to set boundaries around my time and energy. Whenever I’m navigating difficult emotions which I can’t quite process, I like to lean on the ‘why x 5’ technique I learnt from Katie O. Selvidge, I write down my concern and keep asking myself ‘why’ until I get to the root cause of the issue. I did this a while back with some frustrations I had around my time, and my work, and realised that I was frustrated with myself for not setting better boundaries.

I revisited this lesson learnt just recently when I could feel those tell tale signs of burnout creeping in.

Actions taken? Reducing my work commitments throughout August, aiming to take more time off, and on days when I am working, finishing by 3pm. I realised that it’s been a long few years of go go go, and I need to make space for rest so that I can be the best me in every area of my life, work included.

Daily Walks

I L O V E this practice.

A while back I had a consultation with a practitioner at Wild Nutrition, who advised taking a morning walk to benefit from the following:

– a balanced circadian rhythm (sleep/wake cycle)
– natural Vitamin D
– gentle exercise
– lowered cortisol levels (the ‘stress’ hormone)
– a walking meditation

I’ve noticed all of these benefits and more, and now look forward to this practice daily! I remove as many hurdles as possible between my waking up and going on my walk so that I have as little resistance as possible, meaning: laying my clothes out before bedtime (I love this tracksuit), putting my to-go takeaway cup next to the coffee machine and not letting myself snooze too long before getting up.

Supplements

I am a biggg supplements fan! My first experience of them was following Alissa Vitti’s advice for balancing hormones to combat hormonal acne, and since I found that those tips worked so well, I’ve since supplemented as and when I’ve felt I’ve needed to.

In recent years I’ve upped my supplement game, I now see Functional Medicine practitioner Dr. Laurens Maas at The Maas Clinic a handful of times a year for some simple blood-work. This allows me to see what I’m actually deficient in, if anything, and flags up any issues that may be lurking.

I had my latest CBC a short while ago, which flagged a few things I’m now using supplements to support.

Alcohol

My relationship with alcohol has changed over the past few years. I’ve never been a big drinker, but I’m now much more choice about when and what I drink.

If I’m having wine, I try as best I can to drink organic or biodynamic wines—I’ve found they taste better, and I don’t tend to get a headache, tiredness or other undesirable symptoms the next day.

Generally speaking I just don’t drink if I don’t want to. I know that sounds obvious, but sometimes I’ve drunk because it feels like the ‘social thing to do’, but I’ve come to realise that if I’m excited to be in someone’s company, having an alcoholic drink has no baring on my enjoyment. For sure I’ll enjoy a wine or cocktail if I want to, but at this point I’m really making a decision for me, not the situation.

Exercise

A while back I found myself with a big mental block around exercise. I was paying for an all-in gym membership which I wasn’t using, and just couldn’t bring myself to step foot in the gym—much though I wanted to!

I did my ‘why x 5’, and figured out that I needed some support getting back into my gym-going groove and so sought the help of a trainer at my gym. He was so helpful in setting me up with a couple of new programmes which worked for my goals and time allocation.

I’ve since LOVED getting back into a proper gym routine. Much like my morning walks this 45 minutes or so is headspace I so appreciate, and it helps to support every other area of my health.

All roads lead to . . .  ‘abundance not burnout’

I was talking to friends today about blogging, social media and where things are at right now, and I explained that I feel like for a while the ‘pyramid has felt inverted’ for me. My blog—and now I’d count the podcast in this category too—have always been the foundation off of which all other content builds out from. I love getting into it here with you, and in the show, sharing at length and having that 1:1 connection.

Whilst social channels are brilliant at distilling conversations/inspiration into bitesize pieces, for me it’s just that: snippets of a larger dialogue.

As I mentioned, this August I’m pulling back from some commitments to make room for more rest and space to just ‘be’. I’ve learnt that this time to pause serves every area of my life. If you struggle with reframing ‘rest’, I highly recommend listening to episode 219 of The Baggage Reclaim Sessions Podcast with Natalie Lue: You Are Allowed To Rest.

 

What’s Your Take?

Where are you at with alllll of the above right now? What’s your relationship with rest like? And what’s your take on blogging/blog reading in 2022?

Thank you for being here, I am so grateful for this internet home of mine, and am so happy to be welcoming you into it once more!

Love, always, Monica x

Photography by Charlotte Bryer-Ash
Outfit: Hoodie // Leggings // Cardigan (around shoulders) ~ Similar