Written By: Kate Clark, from Nourishing Minds Nutrition and The Rooted Place

Wouldn’t just a little bit more ease in life be nice?

How about some nice long exhales?

You know, those really long exhales that just drop out of your mouth every now and then? I’m not talking about those hot, rushed exhales that happen during a stressful [fill in the blank] times. I’m talking about those gentle ones that feel like they’ve just detoxed your whole being. The ones that take the “weight” off your shoulders for a moment.

These are the exhales we want more of.

Exhales release deeply held tension in the body. Think of tension in the body as a clog in a pipe. An intentional exhale acts like a healthy dose of drain-o. (Ew, sorry for that visual).

Our exhale gives our feelings permission to be released. It allows our walls to come down. It sends our stress hormones to bed. Think about it- when we’re in stressful situations, our breath becomes short and the emphasis is on the breath in. It’s not until we are free from threat that our exhale becomes louder and longer.

Your brain makes you release a big exhale to let your body know that it is safe.

The inhale is your consumption of all the noise. The exhale is your release. It’s you letting go of all the fucks. WE NEED MORE EXHALES.

Here are some tried and true ideas for you to create more exhales and ease in your life:

Schedule nothingness or “whatever” time

Doing nothing is so healing when it is done with intention.

Think about these two situations:

Numbly scrolling through Instagram when you just went on there to grab that recipe you saved. Finally getting off the app and going “My god, I just lost myself for 30 minutes I hate myself when I do that, I have got to stop doing that!”

(OR)

Hoping on Instagram during your 1 hour of ‘whatever time’ and scrolling away. Getting off the app after 30 minuets of playfully scrolling, feeling perfectly fine and content about how you spent those 30 minutes because you had already planned for it.

Do you feel the difference here? Scheduling time to do nothing of importance takes us out of this guilt that we put on being “unproductive” throughout the day. We need moments of nothingness in each and every day. They help us decompress and turn off for a bit. You don’t have to spend this time on technology, you can spend it starring at a wall, going for walk, taking a nap, texting a friend, painting your nails, make a Pinterest board- it’s up to you. What do you need in the moment? Give that to yourself. If a walk or book reading is already part of your schedule then use this in addition to that time, not in replace of it.

Let go of black and white living

There is so much grace that takes place in the grey area. That’s why we LOVE living in it. You simply cannot fail! Living a life with no measurements of worth, time limits on playfulness, or rules around food is truly freeing. No wonder we practice intuitive eating! And no wonder we hate diets…When we create ridged rules around how to live our life, we set ourselves up for failure. So, getting rid of this black and white, do-or-die mindset allows you to stop walking on thin ice all of the time. It allows you to b r e a t h e and fully enjoy all parts of life.

Routine

I know, I know, I just told you to let go of rules and now I’m telling to follow a routine. Hear me out: routines do not have to be ridged. Routines must be flexible, willing to change, and in no way, be tied to your worth or perception of “productivity”. So, we take our grey area mindsets and we keep practicing it while completing our morning or nighttime routines. These daily rituals are incredible for grounding yourself and coming back to your body and your authenticity. They’re predictable, safe, and nourishing. If you’re looking for inspiration on how to create a morning routine, you can literally look up #nighttimeroutine on any social media platform that exists. I’ll spare you one here.

Create space for self-reflection

Self-reflection gives us the opportunity to tap into our own psychological patterns. It teaches us how we work and in return, we learn how to care for ourselves better. Our favorite way to self-reflect here at NMN is journaling. Journaling allows the words in your heart and your brain to pour out into a more tangible form. Here, we are able to take a look at what’s really going on in our beautiful minds and notice the cracks in our foundation. When we heal our foundations, we have a solid platform to rest upon. *cue the exhale*

Ask for help

Babe, you need a break. I know it can be challenging to find the resources to do so, and for some it literally is impossible. But if you’re privileged enough to have the resources needed that will allow you to take a break, I urge you to take full advantage. Ask for help. This does not make you weak, this makes you human and it actually allows you to be stronger for everyone in the end! You cannot get done meaningful work or be in service for others if you are not taking care of YOU, first. I challenge you to sit down and list out all the things that you’re tired of doing all the time. Now, next to each of these tasks write down a few things that could help you complete them. You might surprise yourself at how affordable (and worth it) getting help is.

A few ideas:

Meal delivery services

Another babysitter

Carpool set-up

A family member

Cleaning services

Phone calls instead of zoom meetings

More to-go meals

A virtual assistant

Therapy

Grocery delivery service

I hope you find one thing that adds a little bit more ease into your life today.

If you’re specifically struggling to find ease around your food choices and eating habits then head over to our wellness without obsession SHOP. Here, you can find all the services that we offer to make you’re like more full of ease by taking the obsession out of wellness.