The Sunday R.E.S.E.T. #3
a new piece of wall art, an immune-boosting recipe, and a VERY unexpected spotify playlist...
Hey, hey, my friend.
I hope you are having a lovely weekend.
In this edition of The Sunday R.E.S.E.T., I will be sharing—
An emotional reflection on the end of my breastfeeding journey
The ginger-turmeric immune boosting recipe I’ve been making on repeat
A custom piece of art that I had commissioned arrived! I’m obsessed.
My current exercise routine (and HOW I make the time as a working mom)
And an unexpected wellness practice that you probably haven’t heard of…
Let’s get into it!
Sappy post incoming— after 14 months of breastfeeding, I have officially weaned my son from nursing.🥹🥲😭
And, whew. This process has been MUCH more emotional (and hormonal) than I anticipated. It’s been interesting because…
I truly *did* feel ready to be done.
He *did* seem ready to wean.
I *was* excited to have my body back to “myself”.and yet…
I already feel nostalgic for it— though I just stopped 3 weeks ago 🥹
It’s an odd place to be— feeling proud of how long I made it, EXCITED to be done, and very satisfied with our overall experience, but somehow still longing for it.
This month has been the balance of realizing that I was ready to be done *and* I am also sad to be done. Both of these emotions are valid and can exist in tandem.
I could talk about this transition forever, but I’ll sum it up with this— 14 months feeding my sweet boy! I will treasure those moments forever.
(If this is a topic of interest or you want to know more of the pros & cons of my breastfeeding experience, I wrote a mini essay about it on my insta. It seemed to resonate for many of you & the comment section was especially lovely. You can read the full entry here ◡̈ )
Ooooof. Sicknesses sure are making their rounds, aren’t they ?! Everyone I know has been under the weather lately—
And, let me tell ya, it’s a WHOLE NEW BALLGAME ever since having a little one in our household. 😅 I feel like after every playdate, there is a new “bug” introduced.
And that’s life! Sicknesses happen— it’s inevitable.
So, I just try to do the things in my power to help proactively prevent sicknesses from developing in the first place or lessening the impact of am existing cold.
And one of those things is ginger-turmeric wellness shots on repeat!
Here’s the backstory: Adam got a pretty gnarly cold the week leading up to his big race at the Chicago Marathon— fever, headcold, terrible cough, the whole 9 yards. He requested I whip up one of my “magic potions” 🤣 AKA, these bright-yellow juices brimming with antioxidant-rich, immune-boosting, whole food ingredients…
Fast forward, and Adam just so happened to run a 2:41 FULL MARATHON after being miserably sick a few days prior (that’s 6:10 mile pace?! I’m so proud!) 🥳 Sooooo, it’s safe to say that my little concoction did its job & I OBVIOUSLY deserve some credit for his amazing race ;)
I kid, I kid—
And, of course, these things obviously won’t “cure” everything, but they are an amazing source of immune-boosting, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant goodness! I take them whenever someone in our family gets sick.
Bursting with ginger, lemon, & turmeric— these ingredients will help support your body, naturally.
Find my oldie-but-a-goodie recipe below!
Eeeeee, I am so excited about this. 🤩 I recently commissioned a large canvas painting for our downstairs, and it just arrived!
While I haven’t hung it yet, I wanted to give you a peek:
The artist, Kristine Brookshire, painted a beach scene but eliminated the water entirely to bring the focus to the beautiful human interaction that occurs on the beach 🥲 I immediately felt drawn to it & it reminded me to continue prioritizing the simple, special moments that my family has on the shores of Lake Superior. It was the PERFECT piece for a big blank space we had on our wall, and I am so happy with it.
Now, I’ll be the FIRST to say that “art” is whatever you decide it is— in any form, at any price point, and from any source, beautiful pieces are all around us!
In fact, most of the art around our house are thrifted frames (or cheapos from amazon), affordable prints, Etsy finds, & random polaroid keepsakes. Art does NOT have to be “fancy”, expensive, or custom-made to add beauty to your space!
But every now & then— I love the occasional investment piece. To do this, I slowlyyyy save up (I automate $10 per week into an art savings account) and then every other year or so, I buy a nicer piece from an artist I LOVE. This is my 3rd “real” piece of art & seeing these pieces in our home truly brings me so much joy each and every day.
There are so many talented creators out there. You never know if they’ll do commissions— just send an email and ask (that’s what I did!)
As I mentioned in my “life update” podcast, I’ve been making an effort to get back to my strength exercise routine.
I tend to get a lot of cardio in (as my son LOVES going for walks), but I had unintentionally fallen off the strength bandwagon this summer.
….And I feel it.
My body just feels weak, and I’m READY to get back to feeling strong, sturdy, & supported in my body!
So, instead of beating myself up for losing muscle mass & “falling out of my routine”, I’m skipping the pity party & just taking action instead. In a realistic, sustainable way, of course. ✌🏼
HOW THIS LOOKS: incorporating short, time-efficient strength sessions 5ish times per week. Typically these workouts are at home, in my basement, with a few simple pairs of dumbbells. The simpler, the better!
Because while I rarely have time for an hour-long strength session, I often have time for a 15-20 minute work out. So, ACCEPTING this truth & then COMMITTING to what I can do has been so game-changing.
It’s easy to say “what’s even the point of a 15 minute work out?”, I PROMISE that these short-but-sweet work outs can make a difference when done *consistently*
(speaking as someone who is still sore from a 15-minute “bodyweight” youtube workout they did 3 days ago, haha.)
It has been a good reminder to stop waiting for the “perfect” time to work out, and just make peace with what you can do today. Remember— 15 minutes is always better than 0 minutes.
One holistic modality I’m learning more about is sound therapy— and there is one particular frequency (528hz) that is thought to be especially healing.
In fact, this study found that exposure to 528hz frequency music reduced participants’ stress hormones, increased their oxytocin, and reduced autonomic nervous system action… after only 5 minutes of exposure.
Whereas, participants who listened to 440hz (which is a more “standard” noise frequency), had no improvements to these benchmarks. I’ll be the first to admit that this research is relatively new & the sample size was small, but I still find it interesting!
I’ve personally been trying to incorporate more of these calming frequencies into my day-to-day life: playing it while I meditate, when I do a deep work session, or even while I fall asleep. It’s lovely!
Don’t knock it until ya try it— here’s a little 528 hz playlist on spotify to see what I mean.
Okay, that’s all for this week! Any comments for me? Drop ‘em below. ☺️ I love hearing from you.
📣 annnnd one last reminder—
This was the LAST👏 free👏 edition👏 of The Sunday R.E.S.E.T. Moving forward, free subscribers will not be receiving this email series.
If you would like to receive The Sunday R.E.S.E.T. regularly, I’d be honored to have you join the paid subscriber party ⬇️ All paid members will receive it every-other-week, but VIP members will get The Sunday R.E.S.E.T. every week!
Hit “reply” or drop a comment if you have any questions ◡̈ Thanks (as always) for supporting my small business!
I’m loving this series!
These RESETs are becoming my new Sunday tradish, I love them! Somehow the themes are different every week, yet incredibly useful, helpful and relevant all at the same time. How do you do that?!
Question for you: unfortunately I am pretty stinking allergic to ginger and turmeric (bummer, I know. A food allergy I only discovered recently and am still grieving the loss of!). Any equivalents to these two magical substances I could try instead?