The importance of Morning Rituals

In today's fast-paced world, finding balance and maintaining mental health can often feel like an uphill battle. One powerful yet often overlooked tool in this journey is the establishment of morning rituals. These daily practices can set a positive tone for the day, improve overall well-being, and provide a sense of control and purpose. Here's why morning rituals are essential for mental health.

1. Establishing Control and Stability

Mornings can be chaotic, with the rush to get ready for work, handle family responsibilities, and tackle the day's tasks. Morning rituals create a sense of stability and control amid the chaos. By dedicating the first part of your day to consistent, purposeful activities, you can reduce stress and anxiety. This sense of control can have a calming effect, allowing you to approach the day with a clear and focused mind.

2. Enhancing Mindfulness and Presence

Incorporating mindfulness into your morning routine can significantly impact your mental health. Practices such as meditation, deep breathing exercises, or simply taking a few moments to appreciate the quiet of the morning can increase mindfulness. This presence of mind can help you manage stress better, improve concentration, and enhance your overall emotional regulation throughout the day.

3. Boosting Mood and Positivity

Morning rituals can include activities that boost your mood and set a positive tone for the day. Exercise, for instance, releases endorphins, which are natural mood lifters. Listening to uplifting music, reading motivational quotes, or engaging in a creative activity can also enhance your mood. Starting the day with positivity can increase your resilience to stress and improve your interactions with others.

4. Promoting Healthy Habits

Morning rituals often involve healthy habits that contribute to overall well-being. Drinking water, eating a nutritious breakfast, and engaging in physical activity are all practices that can improve physical health, which is closely linked to mental health. Establishing these habits in the morning ensures they are not neglected and provides a strong foundation for a healthy lifestyle.

5. Increasing Productivity and Focus

A structured morning routine can significantly boost productivity and focus. By setting aside time for planning your day, prioritizing tasks, and setting goals, you can approach your work with clarity and determination. This sense of preparedness can reduce feelings of being overwhelmed and improve your ability to concentrate on tasks, ultimately leading to a more productive and fulfilling day.

6. Fostering a Sense of Accomplishment

Completing morning rituals can provide a sense of accomplishment early in the day. Whether it's finishing a workout, meditating, or simply making your bed, these small victories can boost your confidence and motivation. This sense of achievement can carry over into the rest of the day, encouraging you to tackle larger tasks with the same determination and success.

Crafting Your Morning Rituals

Creating a morning ritual that works for you is a personal and evolving process. Start by identifying activities that bring you joy, calm, and energy. Experiment with different practices, such as:

• Meditation or mindfulness exercises

• Journaling or setting daily intentions

• Physical exercise, such as yoga, running, or stretching

• A nutritious and enjoyable breakfast

• Reading or listening to something inspirational

• Planning your day and setting goals

Remember, the key to a successful morning routine is consistency and flexibility. Be patient with yourself and adjust your rituals as needed to fit your lifestyle and needs.

Morning rituals are more than just a series of tasks to complete; they are a powerful tool for enhancing mental health. By establishing control, promoting mindfulness, boosting mood, fostering healthy habits, increasing productivity, and providing a sense of accomplishment, morning rituals can transform your day and improve your overall well-being. Embrace the power of the morning and create rituals that nurture your mind, body, and soul.

Here is a list of things I created for you to help find what best works in your own routine.

• Current Morning Routine:

• What time do you usually wake up?

• What do you currently do in the first hour after waking up?

• Do you have any specific morning habits or rituals (e.g., meditation, exercise, reading)?

• Sleep:

• How many hours of sleep do you usually get each night?

• Do you feel well-rested when you wake up?

• Energy-Boosting Activities:

• What activities make you feel energized and ready to start the day? (e.g., exercise, a specific breakfast, cold showers)

• Are there any activities you enjoy but don’t currently incorporate into your morning routine?

• Productivity Goals:

• What are your main productivity goals for the day? (e.g., focus on work, staying organized, maintaining energy levels)

• Are there any specific tasks or projects you want to prioritize?

• Challenges:

• What challenges do you face in the morning that hinder your productivity? (e.g., feeling groggy, time management issues, distractions)

• Preferences:

• Do you prefer a calm and slow-paced morning or an active and dynamic one?

• Any dietary preferences or restrictions for breakfast?

OH NO, we got COVID! Now what?

Welp! My entire family (except my 3 month-old) got COVID. Now what? As a smart person that I am, I use my personal mantra in occasions like this: "first we PANIC, then we think". What? Isn't it how the saying goes?

It all started when my husband C. started showing symptoms. He said he was feeling pain all over his body and wanted to go get tested, me, being my amazing supportive self, turned to him and said "you're fine, come help me with the dishes". Ok, in my defence, before you start thinking I'm an A-hole, he was fine until I said we needed to do the dishes LOL. He suddenly started feeling pain all over and I just thought he was being silly... oh well never mind.

He insisted on getting tested (which is a good thing) and it came back positive. He got back home and immediately started self quarantining in our bedroom while the kids and I started quarantining at home (to avoid spreading in case we also had it). He then repeated the exam (orders from his work) the next day and confirmed he was positive for COVID-19. They then told us I should also get tested along with the kids and off we went. We went to the drive in testing centre which is amazing since you don't even have to leave the car. They tested us and we went back home.

Since I got questions about this on my instagram, I'll just answer them here. The exam was quick and it didn't hurt. They are not sticking the little thingy all the way to your brain anymore, which is good. Theo (my 4yo) said it only tickled. Ollie (my 3month-old) wasn't amused lol. The test was to be ready the next day in the morning. We drove home right after and I had no symptoms up until later that day, when I started having pain all over my body and a really bad headache.

When I woke up the next day, I wasn't shocked to find out we had tested positive, what shocked me was Ollie testing Negative since I kiss him all day. My first concern was breastfeeding. Would I have to stop it? His pediatrician said to keep giving it to him as it was probably the cause he didn't catch it. Yay for my boobies!

After speaking with our doctors, we understood that the virus has a "cycle" that lasts around 14 days. As I'm not a health care provider I don't want to pass out any wrong information, so here's an amazing NY TIMES article that explains it. Here's a summary of the article: on days 1-3 you start showing symptoms, on days 4-6 some patients never develop more than mild symptoms, or none at all. Others begin to feel terrible, with an ever-present fever, aches, chills, cough and an inability to get comfortable. On days 7-8, for some lucky patients with mild illness, the worst is over after a week. But some patients who have felt terrible continue to feel terrible or get worse. And some patients might start to feel better briefly then take a turn for the worse. On days 8-12, monitoring should continue for the second week of illness. Patients may feel better sleeping on their stomachs or sides. “Days eight to 12 are when we have a really good idea if someone is going to get better or get worse,” said Dr. Charles A. Powell, director of the Mount Sinai-National Jewish Health Respiratory Institute. “The major thing we worry about is a worsening at eight to 12 days — an increasing shortness of breath, worsening cough.” On days 13-14, patients who had mild illness should be well recovered. Patients who had worse symptoms but maintained normal oxygen levels should feel mostly recovered after two weeks. However, patients with severe symptoms and those who needed additional treatment because of low oxygen may still feel unwell and fatigued and take longer to recover.

It was time to sit down and come up with our plan to recovery.

Get informed

This may come as a shock to many of you (as it was to me), Google is NOT a doctor. I know right? SHOCKING! haha All jokes aside, I'm saying this because the fastest thing we do is google something and there's so much information out there and not everything is right. So the best thing is to speak to a doctor. That being said, you should really research about the virus as well and read articles from trusting sources so you can determine how to come up with the best plan and prepare for the days that will come.

Set up a plan

1. First thing we did was print a calendar to track the days we've been sick and write down the symptoms. This helps us estimate where we are within those 14 days.

2. Then we started ordering our supplies.

- Oximeter, I ordered it from amazon, it arrived the next morning. It monitors the oxygen level on your body. A must have.

- Medicines to fight the symptoms. Our doctor told us NOT to use Ibuprofen, as its known to actually cause complications, so we ordered Tylenol, Theraflu and Vitamins to strenghthen our immune system (Vit C, D and our multivitamins)

- Because Ollie tested negative, we were told to wear masks around him and wash our hads at all times.

- We also ordered this Manuka honey whith Propolis and bee polen

- Last but not least, Ginger, Garlic and ingridientes to make lots of soups. All from Whole Foods which was great, arrived in 2 hours and was delivered to our door (dropped at the front porch for no contact delivery).

That was it. When I posted on my stories that we had tested positive, a lot of my Brazilian followers asked me if we were prescribed Hidroxicloroquine or any type of antibiotics and I said no. Although I did ask our Vanderbilt doctor, which he responded there is no treatment for COVID as of right now, the only thing we can do is treat the symptoms and hope for the best. He said if you're going to develop pneumonia, there's nothing really you can do about it. It's basically like preparing your come for a hurricane. It's coming, there's nothing you can do to stop it. You can board your whole house to minimise damage (strengthen your imune system), but you're going to be hit no matter what. Then it's up to luck how much it is going to affect you, all you're doing is damage control. And that's what makes this virus so scary.

Looking forward for the days ahead

As I'm posting this today, we are still not through the virus. We haven't hit the concerning days yet, but we are doing well, Thank God. My biggest concern going through this was first in regards to my kids. Were they going to be ok? Although most kids seem to fight the virus well, there are also those who don't and the scary feeling that something could happen to them is like a constant punch in the gut.

Secondly, I though how could we care for the kids if we ended up super sick? You can't really get any help because obviously you don't want to expose anybody else. I often find myself having bad thoughts, so bad that I start showing more symptoms. I have to constantly bring myself back to a good place and really say "It's ok, take a deep breath, listen to your body. Are you really feeling this or is this anxiety trying to make its way into your head?". But I found that the best thing is to acknowledge my concerns, but keep positive thoughts in mind. We are going to be ok.

Please keep doing your part, wear your mask and wash your hands.

More COVID-19 information:

1. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/duration-isolation.html

2. https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2020/03/13/what-coronavirus-does-body-covid-19-infection-process-symptoms/5009057002/

Why I Chose Persona as my Daily Multivitamin

I started taking Persona long before getting asked to talk about them here. First of all, the fact that it is catered exactly to my needs, is fantastic.You start by going to their website and responding to an assessment. Then you will find out exactly what you need, based on your answers. For example, because I'm nursing, one of the vitamins I take are prenatal. They carefully look at your current health conditions, gender, age, diet, allergies, lifestyle, and even your prescription medications, so you get just what you need.

Another really cool thing about it is that I never run out of vitamins, as Persona offers a subscription program that delivers to your door each month, which is great for COVID times and also great for mommas who just had babies and don't really feel like running out of the house for errands (AKA me).

I added mine to my morning routine, leaving the box at my coffee station as a reminder.

If you’re interested in trying Persona multivitamins, you can try them out using this link to get 30% OFF.

xxx Yandra