Ep 132: Feeling flat? Fallen out of routine? You’re not lazy - why Winter changes how you feel ❄️ - podcast episode cover

Ep 132: Feeling flat? Fallen out of routine? You’re not lazy - why Winter changes how you feel ❄️

Jul 08, 202535 min
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Episode description

Are you feeling flat, unmotivated, or disconnected from your routine lately? You’re not alone — this episode explores how seasonal changes, especially during winter, can impact our energy, emotions, and habits as mothers.

I’ll guide you through what’s really happening in your brain and body during winter (hello, Seasonal Affective Disorder), why it’s totally normal to feel “off,” and how to stop forcing yourself to hustle like it’s summer when your body is asking you to slow down.

We’ll also unpack how to find the balance between showing up for yourself and honouring your seasonal energy shifts — with 5 practical tools to reset your routine, support your mindset, and regulate your nervous system during the colder months.

Whether you’ve been skipping workouts, doom-scrolling to cope, or just feeling flat and frustrated with yourself… this episode will remind you: you’re not broken, you’re just out of alignment — and there’s a gentler way to come back home to yourself.


Recommendations: Sunrise Alarm Clock

Ambient Jazz videos on YouTube

Transcript

This is the Finding Her Sparkle podcast and I am your host Amy Rankin. I'm an emotional intelligence and well-being coach and a mum of two and I am here to help you find your sparkle again. We are going to chat about mindset, mum life, self development and basically helping you to learn how to be a happier version of you. I'm here to help you understand yourself more, feel less overwhelmed, more self confident and to navigate the ups and

downs of life. If you're ready for all of that and more, let's get into today's episode. Hello and welcome to episode 132 of the Finding Her Sparkle podcast. Welcome back. In today's episode, we are going to talk about something that I've been noticing not only within myself, but with so many of my clients lately. Honestly, in the last week, I would say at least every second client has been noticing this.

And I thought I have to do a podcast episode because if I feel like this too, I'm sure there is so many other people that are feeling like this. It's that flat, disconnected feeling that creeps in when winter hits, you know, it's like your normal routines, they start to feel heavy. You feel like you're really pushing yourself. You're feeling like, Oh my God, why am I so unmotivated?

Why am I feeling flat? Why am I not feeling like my kind of happily happy, sorry, bubbly like excited self? You're really pushing yourself to do the routines that you would normally do. And you're really trying to like, you know, do your like, 6:00 AM walk even though it's like freezing and pitch black outside or, you know, whatever the normal things are that you would normally do in a routine

that is just feeling hard. So we are going to unpack how our energy, our habits, and our motivation naturally shifts with the seasons. I'm also gonna talk to you about how to stop beating yourself up for slowing down and how to actually live in alignment with winter and why this is important. Like why this actually happens, why this is actually a thing. And yeah, just thinking about like emotionally, mentally, physically, practically.

I'm also going to share some mindset tip, mindset tips, sorry, and routine tweaks that are just going to help you to feel more grounded, more connected back to yourself, more energetic, and yeah, just feeling more like yourself. We're going to cut through that negative self talk and we're just going to be feeling like a better version of yourself because that's what we all want right now.

Before I start to talk about this and you know, our routines, winter, all of that kind of stuff, let's get into the recommendation. I actually had another one that I was going to talk about, but I'm going to leave that for next episode because as I was writing my episode notes, I was like, Oh my gosh. Of course I have the perfect recommendation for this episode, which we're going to talk about a little bit later. But it is my sunrise lamp from

or sunrise alarm clock. Sorry from Amazon now if you guys follow me on Instagram, you would know there's like a few things that have actually been popping off on my Amazon lately because people are loving them so my sunrise alarm clock is 1. My other one is my walking pad and my other one is my Galaxy

lamp. They're like my top three faves and I actually just bought something else this week, but I'm going to test it out first and make sure that it's OK and works well before I recommend it.

So if you don't know what a sunrise alarm clock is, basically, So what I've done is I've set it up that essentially I want to be awake by 6:00 AM, but I've noticed, especially in winter and again, we're going to talk about this in a second that when my alarm goes off, I I just like have that like, oh, feeling straight away. Like I just, I can't be bothered. I feel flat. I'm feeling disconnected from myself.

I'm really like forcing myself to get out of bed and I'm just not starting the morning and not starting the day in the way that I want to be feeling. And So what I do is I've got it set to 6:00 AM. So then what happens is it gives half an hour and it's got like a little lamp on it. You can set the colour that you want it to be, you can set the brightness and it gives you half an hour. So the lamp actually comes on very dim at 5:30 AM.

So I've set it that I want it to increase over this time space of half an hour and it just gradually gets brighter and brighter that then by the time. So I actually woke up this morning at 5:59, so the actual alarm itself hadn't even gone on yet, but my body clock was waking me up because the lamp was bright and I was like, oh, it's just a nice way to wake up. I feel like I'm naturally waking up. And then I just kind of laid there for a minute.

The alarm went off, which is like birds chirping, which I love. It's not this like anyway, that's my recommendation. The link is in my Instagram bio and I will also put it in the episode show notes for you as well if you're interested in getting one. I love it. I know that there's a few people that have been following me that have purchased it that have posted about it on their Instagram stories recently and

said they love it as well. So yeah, if you find it difficult to wake up in the mornings, it's been an absolute game changer for me, especially because I've noticed that when I am being woken up by the kids say like Ollie comes in and it's like 6:15 and he's like in my face straight away. That also makes me feel a bit frustrated.

Like I just feel like I just, I just want that brain space for myself in the mornings, even if it's just for two minutes before I'm being needed elsewhere by other people and catering to other people. So I feel like this has really helped with that. OK, let's jump into why you're not lazy, why winter changes how you feel.

I'm actually going to give just a quick little education section first on seasonal affective disorder because this is an actual thing and this is what I've been chatting about with my clients. But I've actually done a little bit more research into what it is, why it happens, so that you can have a little bit more awareness and understanding for yourself around why you're feeling like this at the moment,

if this resonates with you. Because when we can have understanding for ourselves, for our bodies, for our feelings, we can have more compassion and empathy rather than judgement and negative self talk. So basically seasonal affective disorder is a type of depression related to changes in seasons. It most commonly occurs during winter.

And these are the reasons why. OK, so research shows that Sid or seasonal affective disorder, funny that the acronym is SAD, effects up to 10% of people in colder climates specifically, and women are up to four times more likely to be diagnosed than men. So basically, it's because we have shorter days in winter, which means that there's less sunlight exposure, right? So the sun is up later in the morning and it is down earlier in the evening.

So less sunlight exposure means we have reduced serotonin, which means we also have melatonin disruption. So serotonin is our feel good hormone, melatonin is our sleep hormone. So we've got our reduced happy hormones. We also have our sleep hormone disruption. Both of those things go together to equal mood dips and just not feeling ourselves.

And it doesn't mean that this has to be super extreme or every single minute of every day or all the time, but we just noticed that we create an understanding and awareness of like, OK, there's a reason why on some days or in some moments, I'm just not feeling like myself. I don't feel like I've got the energy levels that I would

really love to have basically. Also, what we're looking at is a lot of the time during winter, because it's colder outside, we've got more time indoors, which also means probably reduced movement and overstimulation from more screen time, whether that's more screen time or maybe it's just in general, like maybe you're inside with the kids more often and you notice your kids are just a bit more energetic when

they're inside, stuff like that. So I actually have a note and a bit of a second recommendation for this. What I have started to do, because we are definitely inside more often, especially on the weekends. We still are going down to like the skate park and stuff like that. But like guys, it's cold and I'm indoors a lot earlier than what we would be. You know, like the sun doesn't go down sometimes in summer for daylight savings till like 8:00. We can still be outside at 8:30

and it's still light. Now it's like 5:00 PM, it's freezing cold outside. It's dark. I'm I want to be inside. So what I've actually started to do is I'm still using our TV as like screen time I guess. But what I've done is I am using those like ambient videos on YouTube. So my second recommendation, I've got a few different channels that I follow on YouTube and I love their videos. So there is Cosy Corner. Another one that I like is Cosy Room Ambience.

Another one that I like is Jazzy Cafe. And my last one that I really like is Cosy Little Nook. So they are four of my favourites. I've got them saved, I'm subscribed to them and it's screen time that's not over stimulating and you're not over consuming. So what I mean by that is, you know, when we're even listening to podcasts or like scrolling on TikTok, scrolling on Instagram, watching Netflix, watching documentaries, watching reality shows, our brain is still

consuming information, right? And So what I have found is when I have something like Cozy Corner or something on, it's like light jazz music in the background or sometimes not even music. There's some that it's like just like a light rain noise or a crackling fireplace and it creates that ambient atmosphere that the kids are still happy to be like playing with their toys or whatever they're doing. They're not glued to the screen, so they're not getting

overstimulated themselves. And it's also a more calming environment for me because when they're calmer, I am also calmer. And they're not like running around and yelling and then they've got their TV show in the background, which is not ideally what I'd like to be listening to. You know, it's the flow on effect, right? So if you are looking for a bit more of a like cosy vibe that is more calming for your nervous system and regulating for your nervous system as well.

I would really recommend jumping onto YouTube and having a look at some of those or even just search like jazzy ambient music and just see what comes up and just see what your vibe is like. Some of them I do it over Christmas time and obviously in Australia it's summer at Christmas and so we don't get that like cozy vibe. So I love putting those videos on when we're like putting up the Christmas tree and stuff

like that. You can find ones that have the Christmas music if that's your vibe, or sometimes in summer I'll put on like, you know, it's like you're sitting out on like a deck overlooking like the Mediterranean Sea and stuff. So, so many different ones. Choose your vibe. Now. Also what we want to be looking at with seasonal affective disorder, that was a bit of a tangent on reducing overstimulation from screens

from being inside more often. But also something else that we can be doing with this is adjusting our time duration or intensity of routines rather than quitting them all together. Because something that can add to beating ourselves up feeling bad that kind of all or nothing thinking is, well, normally I would go outside and go for like an hour long walk along the

waterfront. Maybe it's raining or maybe it's super windy and freezing cold and you're like, I really don't feel like going for a walk for an hour in the rain or in the wind out on the waterfront. OK, cool, don't do that. But maybe we're just adjusting. Maybe you go for a walk around the block instead and you're adjusting the time or the duration. Maybe you go at a different time of day, maybe you change your routine up altogether.

So these are some things that start to come into play with seasonal affective disorder that we want to start to understand because essentially it is normal. And we tend to feel more motivated in summer because of the exact opposite of what we were just saying. The days are longer. So you've got light happening

for longer during the days. And summer the days are warmer, which for most people, not all people, but for most people will lead to them feeling a little more bubbly, having a little bit more energy. Our routines often include more movement, which equals more serotonin and more dopamine. And also our routines again, will include more sunshine. So that in turn also then plays into part with our melatonin and all of that kind of stuff. So and our circadian rhythms.

So in winter, it is actually biologically normal as a human, it is biologically normal to slow down. Think about a bear and why they hibernate in winter. You know, they do all of the things that they need to do in summer. They get all of their nutrients and gather everything together. And then they go and hide in a cave over winter because it's freezing cold. They're trying to stay warm. They're preserving their energy.

So obviously we are not a bear, but it's biologically normal as animals that humans are to slow down. But the trouble is that society hasn't really adjusted to let us honour that seasonal shift. And we still have that mindset that we should be go, go, go, achieving, achieving, achieving. And that is not to say that we cannot be achieving our goals. It's not to say that we cannot be living in alignment with the

way that we want to be feeling. It just means that we actually need to check in with ourselves and see, hang on a SEC, how have I been feeling? How do I want to be feeling? And what does that look and feel like for me over the coming weeks and months? While it's a little bit cooler because we're going to deep dive into this in a little bit, but you can still have your goals and you can still have your action steps that are getting you towards those goals.

It's just that they may look and feel a little bit different, but the overarching goal itself is the same. So what I've been noticing over the last two weeks is a lot of my coaching clients are coming and saying things like, I should be going for my morning walk. It's just that it's freezing and it's dark and I just don't feel like it. But then they get stuck in this and I do it too. We get stuck in this like push and pull of like, I should do this. Oh, now I feel bad.

And if you don't do it, then you're beating yourself up for the rest of the day because you're like, I really should have gone for my walk this morning. I said I was going to and I'm a bad person or I'm not good enough because I'm not motivated enough. And everyone else is still doing their thing because we're on Instagram, we're checking social media, we're watching everyone's highlight reels of them getting all of their shit done, but we don't know how they're feeling as well.

We don't know that they're not beating themselves up for things that they haven't done or that they're feeling like they don't have as much energy as normal or that they really don't feel like doing the things that they're doing. You know, we just need to check back in with ourselves. We don't want to be forcing habits in a season that is different. We're not forcing summer habits in a winter habit state, right? I do want to make an important

note for this episode. Like I was just saying, just because you change your actions towards your goals doesn't mean you're not still working towards them. You still have that overarching goal. So I want to feel like a happy, healthy version of me and maybe like those sub goals underneath that is moving my body, nourishing my body with healthy foods and tending to my emotions

and nervous system. There is still ways that we can do that in winter and it may look different than what it does in summer, but it doesn't mean that you give up on those things altogether. Just because it's winter doesn't mean, OK, well, I don't move my body at all and I'm not nourishing my body with healthy foods.

We're still doing those things, but we're just thinking about intuitively how can I do that so it feels good for me so that I'm showing up in a way that I want to so that I don't feel like I am forcing myself. So we're really kind of checking in with, OK, yes, these are, these are still my goals. I can still have action steps. I'm readjusting rather than falling into that negative self talk or giving up on my goals

altogether. Because really we don't want to get to 3 months time once the weather's starting to warm up again and you're like, oh shit, now I've got to restart all over again because I've just given up on everything. And now I'm feeling sluggish because I've given up on everything that helps me to feel good. And I've fallen into these routines and these habits that aren't serving me as well as what they could be.

So I guess like something that kind of resonates with me when I think about this, when I think about the natural ways that my eating habits or, you know, nourishing my body is the way that I like to think about my diet and eating habits changes over winter is OK. So normally in summer, if I think back to six months ago, I was pretty happily getting out of bed, like, you know, around that 6:00 AM, not with not really much trouble at all, not really thinking about it too

much. I wouldn't say I'm bouncing out of bed at that time because I'm still up and down with the kids. But you know, I'm happy to get out of bed. I'm up. I'm having my Hydra Mama, which is generally in like a room temperature or like colder like fridge temperature water. I'm having my greens powder in another big glass of water, and then I'm, you know, getting the kids ready, jumping out of the house, dropping them to daycare, going for a walk, maybe doing a Pilates class before I start

work. My breakfast might be something like a smoothie. My lunch might be something like a chicken salad, and my dinner might be something like a lamb salad with brown rice or something. So you kind of get the gist. It's like lighter meals. They're still nourishing. They've still got our fruits and our veggies and our carbs and our healthy fats.

But it's different in the way that I'm not going to get up out of bed at 6:00 AM or 7:00 AM in summer and go and make myself a hot cup of tea and then half an hour after that be making another herbal tea and, you know, rugging myself up and probably having a bowl of porridge for breakfast In summer. It's generally not what I would lean towards, where in winter I am doing those things. I'm having a dandelion tea in the mornings.

Like I'm still having my greens powder, but instead of doing that first thing in the morning, 'cause it's not what I feel like doing, I have that later on in the morning, you know, So we're just readjusting. I am having my porridge or my warmer breakfast options. Maybe I'm making my overnight oats and or I'm cooking what's it called, the baked wheat beets or the cheesecake oats and stuff like that.

And I'm making them that I'm having my baked options in the mornings that are warmer, that is, I feel like it's just more nourishing, you know, I'm having so much more herbal tea during the day. You should see my tea drawer at the moment. We've got the ginger and apple, the lemon and ginger. I've got a green tea and lemon that I'm having at the moment. Like so many different options, that drawer gets touched half as much in summer for me.

I made chicken and vegetable soup for my lunches for this week, which I don't normally gravitate to in summer. You get the gist. So thinking about what feels good for you to just readjust and see what can I change that is nourishing in this season of life, in this current chapter in this season of just where we're at in Australia. So I want to talk about now that you kind of get the gist of why this happens, what the contributing factors are, let's

actually get into. All right, Amy, I hear what you're saying. Yes, I'm resonating with it. I get the point. What can I actually be doing? Here is some actionable tips and tools. I want you to lean into being curious and not critical instead of falling into that negative self talk and I should feel more motivated. I should be doing this thing. Use those moments as an opportunity to pause and check in with yourself and really ask, hang on, what is it that I want?

What is it that I need? So I want to move my body. OK, How can I do that today? That feels good. What clues is your mind and your body trying to tell you? OK so just be curious. Push pause on the critical thinking. Push pause on the negative self talk. Push pause on the shoulds. If you notice any of them coming up, just stop for a minute. Use that as your awareness point.

Second tip or tool, use a sunrise alarm clock to stimulate, simulate, sorry, not stimulate simulate sunrise, and help your body clock fall into that rhythm that you're aiming for instead of jarring yourself awake. Something else that you could do around this is you could if you want to and if you're not super sensitive to light, sleep with

your blinds more open. They don't have to be open fully, but if possible have them open a little bit because what that is going to do is let natural light in easier and earlier in the morning to assist with those circadian rhythms. So what happens is when our blinds are closed, especially if you've got block out blinds, your circadian rhythm isn't kicking in. Your natural body clock is telling you that it's still dark outside and that you should

still be asleep. So that's why something like a sunrise alarm clock can be really helpful. And that's also why even in summer, because the sun comes up and the sunrise is so much earlier, you still have that natural light coming in through your blinds, through like the side of your blinds that you generally are waking up earlier.

So if you can open your blinds even just a little bit overnight, if you don't have like a street lamp or something coming straight through and keeping you awake overnight, that is going to assist your body into falling into those natural rhythms for you. Next one, we're looking at mindfully adjusting your meals and nourishing your body with

warmer meals. So all of those things I was just talking about, thinking about, is there anything I could be or would be changing that feels more nourishing for me? That feels like I'm just leaning more towards it. There is nothing wrong with having a nice warm chicken and vegetable Curry with some rice for lunch. There is nothing wrong with that if that's what it feels like you want to be having. Amazing.

Remember our main things that we're focusing on with nutrition is protein, healthy fat and carbs. And if you've got those three things in your meals, amazing. If you are reducing sugar intake, if you're reducing alcohol intake, we're leaning towards those healthy herbal teas. Having a nice warm, you know, coffee or tea or whatever it is that you like to have in the mornings that is going to be helping you to be getting your body to be feeling warmer from the inside out as well, which is

what it's looking for. So we've got some mindset changes as well. We have a reframe. This is a mindset reframe. I'm not lazy. This is my human body's natural cycle with the seasons. So when you notice that negative self talk coming up or you notice you're falling into that trap of feeling lazy, of feeling like you're not as motivated as what you want to be, call it out. Hang on, hang on. I can see what's happening here. I've listened to Amy's podcast episode. I know I'm not lazy.

I know that it's normal in this season of winter for me to be feeling a little bit more flat or not as energetic as normal. That's OK. What do I want to be feeling today and how can I be moving towards that? What can I do for myself today to move towards that feeling? You are not lazy. This is normal. OK? What we're also wanting to do is be flexible so your winter routines are allowed to be different. Something that I've been discussing with a few of my clients this week.

One of my clients yesterday, she noticed normally I feel like I really hit my peak and my stride during the day of like feeling super productive in the afternoons. So I kind of like get some things done in the mornings and I'm like, you know, doing like the miscellaneous work. But like after lunch in the afternoons is where I feel like I really like smash out a heap of work.

I feel super productive. And I feel like what I've noticed over the last few weeks is that window is smaller for me because all of a sudden after lunch, I'm like, oh, it's dark now. And now I'm feeling like I just want to like get into bed because I'm freezing cold. So I'm like, OK, cool, we can still utilize that.

You can still have that time and space in the morning to be a little slower if you want to. But instead of hitting that stride and that peak at like, say, 1:32 PM, can you bring that forwards to like 12:00, 12/30? We're just readjusting. We're not getting rid of it altogether.

But it means that if you're then harnessing that extra hour beforehand than what you normally would, then maybe that means that you can kind of lean into, again, that slowness or slowing down a little earlier in the afternoon instead of forcing yourself and pushing through when your body and your mind is like, hey, it's dark now outside, it's actually kind of cold. I want to start to wind down myself because you've given yourself that opportunity to

bring that window forwards. You can start to wind down. So think about how your routines could differ a little Winter movement could look like an indoor home workout or maybe a hot yoga class or something. Instead of getting out and doing that really early morning walk that you would normally do. It doesn't mean that it has to be different every single time. Another one of my clients yesterday evening, I said, OK, So what I'm hearing is you like, your morning walk, right?

And she's like, yeah, like, you know, once I push myself and I'm outside and I'm there and I've warmed up a little bit, I'm like, oh, this is nice. Like, you know, it is going to be a beautiful day. The sun's coming up. I get to watch the sunrise. It's fresh air, you know, it's just pushing myself to that. And I said, OK, great, how many times a week would you normally do that? And she's like, oh, probably like 4. And I said, cool, So what about we readjust?

Let's aim for one or two morning walks and then let's aim for the other one or two days. You're doing a yoga stretch or you're doing an at home workout. You jump onto YouTube and you have a look at yoga with Adrian Pilates with Nicole, like, you know, 30 minute body weight workout, whatever it is that you feel like doing, but you give yourself the opportunity to lean into the flexibility that you don't have these rigid rules that you are forcing yourself to stick to.

It means that then on those mornings that you do decide that you know what I am going to get up and I am choosing and I'm going to talk about another reframe in a moment of choose to that you're not feeling like you're forcing yourself four days a week. If that doesn't feel good for you to be getting up out in the early morning cold. You've got options and you're giving yourself those options so that you feel like you're leaning into having that

flexibility. If you think about if you tell your child and they've said to you, I want rice bubbles for breakfast and you say no, you've got a banana and that's it. And they're like, well, I don't want a banana. They're going to have a tantrum, right? If you're telling a 2 year old to eat something they don't want to eat and they've told you they want to eat something else, they're not feeling good about that. And they will show you all of those emotions.

You still have that 2 year old in AU that's like, hey, fuck you, don't tell me what to do. I don't want to go for a walk. It's freezing outside, so we want to find that balance and that fine line of when am I bringing in discipline? Because at the end of the day, I know that I still am going to enjoy this thing and I know that it's going to be good for me and

I feel really good after. And the other side of that fine line, which is I'm going to recognize my humanness and lean into my flexibility and give myself another option today and still allow that to feel good for me. So find that line of discipline and flexibility and what that

looks and feels like for you. Now, what I wanted to talk about with that reframe is what we can bring in instead of I have to go for my morning walk tomorrow because I said that's what I'm going to do. And then when your sunrise alarm clock goes off or your alarm goes off in the morning and you're getting up and you're like, I have to do my walk now or I should do my walk this morning because I said that's what I was going to do. We reframe that.

No, I choose to do my walk this morning because whatever your because is. I choose to do my work walk this morning because I know I'm going to feel really good after it because I did my home workout yesterday and I know that getting out in the fresh air is going to feel really nice this morning and really refreshing once I get over the cold.

I choose to do my warning walk because I know it's going to help me to feel good and I can rug up and keep myself warm while I'm doing it. So bring in these reframes. It's just as much about taking action as it is about reframing the way that we are looking at things and perceiving things in the world. Because your mindset has a direct impact in how you are feeling. If you think about if you wake up in the morning and you're like, oh God, I just can't be bothered and today's going to be

shit. I've got such a busy day. I've got so much on and I'm just feeling so overwhelmed already. And you're waking up in that negative headspace and you are perpetuating that. Of course you're not going to be feeling good, right? So when we bring in these reframes and we have compassion and empathy for ourselves in our

human experience. And when we can, when we can also be intentionable about reframing and changing the language that we are using in our self talk, we can actively also change the way that you feel at the same time as well. And my last one is we are wanting to catch black or white

thinking. So when we are thinking about adjusting that time or that duration or that intensity of our routines rather than quitting them all together, which is what we were mentioning a little bit earlier, catch that black or white thinking. I'm either going for a walk or I'm not moving my body at all. I'm either eating 100% healthy or I am eating a full block of chocolate. You know, what is that black or white thinking? For me yesterday, ideally, I would have liked to get to my

Pilates class. It just didn't happen. One of the kids slept in. I didn't get to daycare drop off off until later than I normally would. I missed the normal Pilates class, the second one was full and by then, like ideally I want to be back at home and getting into my working day right? So I chose to go for a long walk

instead. It actually ended up being amazing because I had a lot of different ideas for some podcasts and did some brainstorming and then I knew that I had a meeting later that day that I could do on my walking pad. So I actually ended up getting nearly two hours of walking in yesterday, which is more than enough movement for me in one day. And although it's not ideal and I did have that self doubt creeping in of like I should, I should. But then I was like, hang on a SEC.

No, my goal is to move my body. Have I done that today? Yes, that is a win. So focus on the wins, not in the gaps of what you feel like you should be doing and where you feel like you're lacking or missing out. Focus on the things that you are doing instead of the things that you feel like you're not doing. OK, so that's all of the tips. I do have 3 reflection prompts for you before we finish up.

So if you feel like you want to go a little bit deeper with this, let's think about for you what parts of my routine feel heavy right now. Think about your last week or two. What parts of my routine feel heavy right now? Second reflection prompt. Am I holding onto expectations that belong to a different season? What are the expectations that you are putting on yourself and what do we know? Expectations lead to disappointment, right?

Am I holding onto expectations that belong to a different season? And 3rd reflection prompt, My goodness, my words this afternoon. What would a nourishing winter routine look like for me? So we're kind of combining everything that you've been listening to today, combining those reflection prompts. What would a nourishing winter routine look like for me? If it feels good for me, for you, maybe you break that down into different areas of life, you know, work routine.

If you work at home, maybe you've got the ability to change things up a little bit if you like. Even something like you know what I've been doing. I bought 2 St. track suits because they're amazing and they are so comfortable and they're not just like, you know, your average tracksuit set. I've been wearing them with my bed socks and my slippers while I'm working, but I'm out of my active wear and I'm wearing outfits that are still feeling nice that I'm still getting dressed.

But like, I'm not normally going to be wearing bed socks and slippers while I'm working, right in summer, but that's what I'm doing. So these are the small changes that we can be making that may seem so simple, but it is intuitively checking in with yourself to see what you want and what you need in the same way that it's as easy for you to recognize. I'm going to wear more layers of clothing today than what I normally would six months ago in summer because that's what my body needs.

That is the headspace and the mindset that we want to be bringing in with all of the other areas of your life as well. If I work from home, can I change my routine around a little bit? Is there anything I want to adjust? What does my nourishing and diet look like at the moment that may be different to summer? What does moving my body look like that might be different? What does catching up with friends look like that could be different?

All of these different types of things that we can check in with to adjust and change intuitively to be more in line with how you want to be feeling during this season. OK, so that is it for today's episode. I am sitting in my beanbag with my mink blanket over me. So I hope my beanbag hasn't been too noisy for you.

If this episode has resonated with you, please, I really encourage you and would love if you could take a screenshot and share it over on Instagram. Tag me and let me know what shift are you going to make this winter to feel more aligned? Send me Adm, send it to a friend if you notice that you've been chatting with a friend or a mum friend that has been feeling a bit flat, that's not feeling themselves, that's been noticing some negative self talk coming up.

That is the only way that my podcast is going to be able to grow and get into more ears is by you guys helping me out with that because it's just little old me. I don't have a podcasting network and I am just hoping that this reaches the ears that it needs to hear to help you to feel a more fulfilled and more happy and more energetic and more satisfied and whatever those feelings are that you want to be feeling life. So thank you so much for being

here with me today. I will see you in our next episode.

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