10 Tips to Starting a Wellness Practice You Love

Happy Monday everyone! Today I’d like to introduce you to Kaci, a wellness coach is really making a difference! I met Kaci not too long ago and was immediately impressed by her work ethic and dedication to helping women. She was gracious enough to share her 10 tips with us today on starting a wellness practice that won’t drive you crazy. And she’s currently working on a group program that I think will be really exciting! So read below and be sure to check her out if you love what she’s got to say as much as I did! (I’ll drop her links at the bottom)

and now… here’s Kaci:

10 Tips to Starting a Wellness Practice You Love

As a woman, I think one of the hardest parts of beginning a journey to wellness is getting started! For me, anyway, that was my truth.

I began, gave up and started over more times than I can count. I felt frustrated with myself, with societal norms and even with companies that market things to me, that I know aren’t good for me. I was completely confused, as to where to place my attention and just gave up… over and over again. I beat myself up, every time I quit. I felt like an absolute failure.

Does this resonate with you?

I know so many women who have had similar experiences, from childhood, all the way to womanhood. I needed clarity in my goals, and support to help me shift my mindset to find success.

I took courses, hired coaches, read books and joined groups with people I could count on, to help guide me forward. The first place for change to begin is awareness, so I made sure that I was learning all the time!

What is holding you back?

Where can you lean into awareness and learning?

What does your life look like if you DON’T change?

Beginning to ask yourself these types of questions, opens your mind to the possibility of change. Your brain will begin to seek out answers to these questions and before you know it, the answers will be everywhere you look!

Here are 10 tips I love, for starting a life full of wellness and feeling confident to shift back, when you get off track:

Start where you are. Don’t throw out everything in the house at once! If you want to move toward a lower tox lifestyle, pick one or two things to swap out, and start there. Doing too many things at once can become overwhelming and that’s where most of us lose steam. Try this: Pick something that’s an easy win for you. Maybe you ditch the fluoride toothpaste, maybe you get a low tox lipstick. Either way, you did it! Congratulations to YOU! *2 things to focus on *
Try habit stacking. This might be new to you – but here’s the concept: Pick a habit you do every day without thinking, such as having a cup of coffee and stack another one onto it! Try this: If you are trying to remember to take your supplements, try stacking that on top of the coffee habit! Set your supplements by the coffee pot, where you will see them before you have coffee, and before you know it – BOOM, new habit! This works with anything you already do without thinking so get creative!
Find an accountability partner. Almost everything is better with a friend, but not just any friend. Try this: Find someone who really gets what you’re trying to do and wants your success as much as you do. That can be a friend, romantic partner or even a coach! Investing in yourself takes both work, time and money but you are worth it!
Move daily. Make this one a non-negotiable! Ideally you are getting in weight training and cardio of some sort each week, but the absolute non-negotiable is daily movement. Try this: Don’t have 30 min? Step outside for a spin around the block for 10 min or take the stairs. Raining outside? Get wet anyway 😉 or have a dance party in your kitchen! The idea here is just to use your muscles and get your heart rate up each day where you can. It’s great for your physical body, but also moves energy that is stuck in your energy body.
Start a morning rhythm. For me, I prefer the term rhythm, as opposed to routine. It gives me the flexibility to pull from a bag of tricks I’ve been collecting over the years, for what feels right in THIS day. For instance, some mornings look like this: Read to learn, coffee, tapping meditation, stretching. Some mornings might be: Read to learn, coffee outside watching the birds. Other mornings: sleep in! I tend to always read, because that’s when my house is quiet enough, but everything else shifts to what feels good for me in that moment. Try this: Start a little list of things you love to do to relax. It’s a good place to start with a morning rhythm. Try new things over time, to add to the list, and draw from your mixed bag of relaxations daily. *click here for an example*
Prioritize sleep. This is the most impactful thing you can do, to help yourself get well. When you get adequate sleep your blood sugars are better, you are less irritable, you tend to snack less and be lighter, you have less inflammation in your body (i.e. dis-ease), your stress levels improve, your immune system functions better and you even have a clearer mind. The list goes on – that’s how important sleep is to your body and mind. So how can you improve your sleep? Try this: Begin to shift your bedtime by 15 minutes each week, until you can get to bed around 10pm, at the latest. Your body’s natural hormone cycle sets you up for this bedtime and, when you miss it, it becomes harder and harder to sleep well.
Add before you subtract. Think about habits you want more of, and do more of that. Often times, stopping a bad habit is WAY more difficult than adding in a positive one. Try this: Add in 2-3 more servings of veggies every day. You can worry about getting rid of processed food when you’re getting enough fruits and veggies daily (7-9 servings a day). Most Americans are not getting nearly enough fruits/veggies/fiber so it’s a great place to start and won’t leave you feeling deprived. My smoothie guide can help you start your day with a handful of fruits and veggies. Worried about putting veggies in your smoothie? The guide gives you the tips you need to make it doable.
Know this – It’s up to you. No one is coming to make you exercise, no one is coming to snatch that bread out of your hand and certainly no one is coming to tuck you into bed at 10 pm. YOU must do it. You must show up consistently for yourself. It’s not about perfection, it’s about consistent forward action. Try this: Write yourself a letter and tell yourself how awesome you are! Encourage yourself to try new things and show up for yourself. End the letter with a nice call to action, reminding yourself how you plan to succeed!
What’s your why? The number one thing that predicts a successful change – knowing why the heck you want it in the first place! When you know your why, you will have something to draw strength from, when things get hard. Try this: Get out that journal again, the note app on your phone, or a scrap of paper, while you sit in the carpool line. Write down all the reasons you want to have better health. All the reasons change is imperative. It might be things like: spend more time with my family, not have pain in my joints, or feel proud of myself. No wrong answers, just get them down on paper. Now go sleep on it and look at that paper during your morning rhythm. How do these items feel today? Add and subtract from the list until it feels right. Congrats! You just found your WHY! *my favorite journal right now, made by a friend (Andria Lavine)*
Delete socials that make you feel like shit. I LOVE social media. It’s fun to keep track of old friends, learn new things, laugh and make new connections. But it can also be triggering for you, distracting you from your goals or dump you squarely in the comparison trap. Try this: Do an audit of your accounts regularly. Who are you following that inspires you (keep those) and who are you following that when you see their content, you feel less than (delete immediately)? You can block, unfollow or just hide posts (this way they don’t see you unfollow). Either way, get those posts out of your eyeballs! You want the things your brain sees to be pushing you to be your best, not bringing you down. Follow me on Instagram and Pinterest if you need a positive account.

www.kaciandcowellness.com

www.instagram.com/kaciandcowellness

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I hope these 10 things gave you a solid place to start and a little motivation to get moving.

Reach out to me with any questions or comments.

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https://www.facebook.com/groups/344457893892169/

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Includes 20 recipes, my favorite things for the kitchen and all my best tips and tricks to making smoothies the habit you need for a healthy lifestyle.

https://kaciandcowellness.ck.page/products/smoothie-inspiration

Introducing my newest program: The Energy Revival System!

This will be going in about a month or so- access the waitlist now!