MID DAY NOURISHERS
I have fallen victim to the mid-day iced coffee more than enough times. Or the energy powder, drink or shot. I’ve also been known (a lot) to put on some loud music, yet another podcast, or pass time by scrolling through socials or watching another FRIENDS episode.
I realized a few years ago, as I was going through my journey balancing my hormones and lowering my cortisol levels that have been risen for years, that these things were NOT the answer.
I began practicing my mid-day nourishment routine when the kids were all finally old enough to spend 15 minutes alone in their rooms without me worrying about the house burning down – around the ages of 3-4.
Each day, I start boiling some water, slowly turn off the lights around the house, and it triggers the house into a “mom’s quiet time” routine. Everyone slowly heads towards their rooms with a little encouraging, and I set up some quiet activities for the toddlers while my oldest usually tinkers with Nerf Guns or listens to a Cap’n Dreambeard story on his Alexa.
Once everyone is settled, I pour myself a tea (yes, even in summer), generally herbal so I don’t get caffeine jitters, and climb on top of the covers in my bed with the lights off, red light panel at my feet, and sip my tea in silence for as long as the kids will let me, which is about 20 minutes.
I’ve noticed this routine not only calms my nervous system – dropping my heart rate and softening my breath – it also does wonders for my energy. I feel revived after those 20 minutes, way more so than I ever did after a phone scroll or iced coffee. My energy peaks up, I feel excited to snag the kids from their rooms and head outside to watch them play, scream and roll in dirt. My patience is higher, voice lower, and I’m slow to anger.
It took some practice, but it’s by far my favorite routine of the day, especially with entrepreneurship and homeschool at the forefront of the everyday.
My Mid Day Nourishers:
Handheld, rechargeable red light panel