After a busy season, it’s important to slow down and focus on your health. And a vital part of this focus should be on rest and rejuvenation.
Whether it’s settling on a bedtime routine or starting your day stress-free, it’s important to incorporate adequate rest and mindfulness into your day. Giving your brain and body small, frequent breaks allows you to stay focused and active.
In this case, practice does make perfect. The more time you designate for rest, the more easily it’ll become a natural part of your process. Once you’re in the habit of a restful self-care routine, you’ll be better able to rest and recharge even when life gets hectic.
When you make rest a priority for both your mind and your body, you can bring your best self to your family, your work and your community. Here are our tips for carving out moments of restoration.
No magic pill or food can improve your sleep, but relaxing habits can help you get a restful night. Making bedtime prep part of your self-care routine can help your body and mind wind down. Make more time for rest and set yourself up for a successful next day!
Exercise raises your core body temperature and increases your heart rate, while your body prepares for sleep by doing the opposite. The Sleep Foundation recommends that if you exercise in the evening, be sure that the exercise concludes at least 90 minutes prior to your bedtime.
Another option is to focus evenings on lower-intensity workouts that don’t raise your heart rate much but still get some movement in. Stretching or walking are both great options.
Whether it’s the blue light suppressing your melatonin or the anxiety and interruptions of notifications, devices are bad for sleep. Having your phone or tablet in bed with you makes it more difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep. Instead, opt for reading a hard-copy book or writing in a journal.
Once you find a time and routine that works, try to consistently use that method—yes, even on weekends. Staying up extra late and sleeping in on the weekend may feel good in the moment, but it can sabotage your weeknight sleep. Stick to what you know helps you feel rested and refreshed.
Part of self-care is ensuring that you’re nourished properly. An overall balanced diet helps support healthy sleep, and studies show that diets low in magnesium, calcium, and Vitamin D tend to correlate with poor sleep quality.
Incorporating these into your daily dishes and drinks—for example, a hemp milk latte or hemp milk chia pudding—can help set you up for more restful sleep. Pacific Foods hemp milk includes 15% of the USDA recommended daily amount of magnesium, 20% of calcium, and 10% of Vitamin D per 8-ounce cup. It’s a delicious way to ensure that you get enough of those crucial nutrients.
It can be easy to rush in the morning. Maybe you’re even stressed about the clock, your appearance or the kids’ day.
Mornings can be hectic. But if you have any say about it, you probably don’t want to start your day that way. By building in an earlier bedtime and a good wind-down routine at night, you’ll be better equipped to rise, shine and greet the day calmly. And with these mindful morning tips, you can start your day on a pleasant note that’ll help you handle stress more calmly throughout the rest of the day.
The morning is a great time to move! Wake your body and your muscles up early to prepare them for the day.
If you’re not a morning person, try light-impact options like yoga, morning stretches or a walk around a nearby park or quiet neighborhood. If you’re ready to seize the day, try a spin class at the gym, weight training or high-impact cardio.
If it fits into your schedule, you can make morning movement part of your daily self-care routine by biking or walking to work.
Whether it’s a light smoothie or a hearty egg casserole, eating a wholesome, nourishing breakfast is a pleasant way to start your day. You can even prep or cook many dishes the evening before as part of your nightly routine.
Here are some of our favorite breakfast recipes:
What goes best with breakfast or as a pre-breakfast snack? A warm, creamy beverage. This is true whether you’re a coffee drinker, tea connoisseur or a lover of other beverages like hot cocoa or warm milk.
A morning sit-and-sip can warm you from the inside out and make you feel nurtured and nourished—especially if you pair it with some early-morning sunlight!
Self-care means taking care of yourself and your surroundings. Instead of saving up all your household tasks into one giant to-do list for the nights and weekends, why not start your day with a win?
Remember, this should be small and easy—not cleaning the kitchen or organizing your office files. Throw in one load of laundry, empty the dishwasher or sketch out a few meal ideas. No matter how small, the feeling of accomplishment this gives you can kickstart your day and give you more time later for relaxing.
Every hour or two, try to take a five- to ten-minute rest. Small breaks can make you feel refreshed and more productive in the long run. Try one of these four short break ideas:
These get-up-and-move-around breaks are particularly important if you sit at a desk and stare at a screen all day. Even just a few minutes of movement each hour can help you feel revitalized and refreshed.
Nurturing your body includes ensuring you’re giving it the right food and drink as well as the right exercise and sleep. Eating well should be part of your self-care routine each day.
At Pacific Foods, we use only the finest ingredients to make our beverages and broths. Learn more about the benefits of hemp milk and how you can make it a part of your routine. Search our hemp milk recipes to find your new favorite!