To Do List: Sleep

This month I have been spending quiet a bit of time thinking about the changes I'd like to make in my life to be a happier, relaxed and a more productive version of myself.

Since high school, my Dad has been giving me a little piece of advice (among many) that I have failed to realize the importance of until recently. "Go to bed by 10 o'clock!", he would say, right when I was about to ask if I could watch just one more episode of Friends or some other t.v. show. I was never doing anything productive during the last couple of hours before bed, but for some reason I just never wanted to go to bed by 10 pm. Of course at the time I was young and my body was able to adapt quiet well the next day to the messily 5 to 6 hrs of sleep.

Fast forward 15 years later and my body isn't so adaptive anymore. Most nights I'm dying to hit the bed by 10pm... if only I still didn't have half of my 'to do list' pending! Just like I know I should exercise and eat well for better health, I also know that sleep is equally as important. On days when I'm extremely tired and sluggish, I'm always telling myself... "After today I'm going to make it a point to go to bed early". However, the importance of sticking to my bedtime and getting enough sleep never shows up on my 'to do list'.  Until now....

I read this quote a few days ago. I've always wanted to be a morning person, but I've come terms with the fact that I'll never be the person who wakes up at 5am and goes for a morning run!! However, recently, I've had a lot of changes happening in my professional life and I've grown tremendously because of them. I want to continue to work towards not only achieving but exceeding my goals and dreams.  In order for me to be more productive in all aspects of my life, both personal and professional I need to get in the habit of waking up earlier than I normally do. Usually, I don't go to bed at a decent time, so I snooze my alarm several times before I finally get up and rush out the door at the last minute. In order for me to change this and wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day, I obviously need to get plenty of sleep the night before. Why are parents always right?! grr...

So, I'm making a few small additions to my 'to do list' in hopes of forming a habit of getting to bed at a decent time so that I get at least 7 hours of sleep. This is definitely a work in progress and by no means have I been in bed on time 100% or even 50% of the time yet. But having these few items on my 'to do list' makes me consciously aware of importance of sleep on a daily basis. I'm hoping this in turn will help me get ahead start on waking up feeling refreshed and re-energized the next day in order to make my dreams come true!

Here are the new additions to my To Do List:


Set an Alarm

Not a wake up alarm, but a "Time to Get Your Beauty Sleep" alarm. I plan on setting this alarm at least 40 minutes prior to my bed time every night. Thirty minutes (10 mins of cushion) allows me enough time to make sure I've packed a decent lunch for the next day and taken a relaxing shower prior to hitting the bed. It serves as a reminder to wrap up whatever I'm currently doing and make my bed time a priority!

Tea Time

Sometimes I'm in such a rush to hit the bed that when I'm finally laying there, all that's going through my mind is the list of things I didn't get a chance to finish today and the list of things I need to get done tomorrow. So, I've decided to add a little 5-10 minute cushion to my "Beauty Sleep" alarm to account for my nightly "Tea Time".

After a take a shower and I warm up a cup of tea and just sit and relax for 5-10 minutes. My current favorite is the mixture of the Samurai Chai Mate and Cha Ven Thai Tea from Teavana. The mixture of the two smells incredible and it's just really smoothing to sip on. This is my time to reflect on my day and or just clear my head and simply stare at the wall. Sometimes, I'll rub my hands and feet with my favorite aromatic lavender lotion and just get into a relaxed state of mind. This is not the time to make my 'to do lists' or worry about tomorrow's agenda.


Eat Breakfast

My usual breakfast consists of having my Keurig set up ready to brew my coffee as soon I come down the stairs, quickly grab a granola bar (if that!) and head out the door. This usually results in me feeling quiet hungry before lunch time rolls around and also feeling a bit 'blah' during my mornings.

My favorite breakfast consists of either oatmeal (this one is my fav) or scrambled eggs with light cheese. I'm hoping that by adding breakfast to my to do list, it will also motivate me to get to bed earlier so that I give myself enough time to sit down and eat instead of rush out the door. This helps me achieve two goals: getting enough sleep and eating healthy!


There are a few items I'd like to add to this list, however I've decided that for now I'm going to stick with these three easy items. I find that adding too many new items on my 'to do list' at one time usually results in failure for me. Hopefully, these three I can handle.

So far, I'm happy to report that I've made great progress with sticking to my tea time and eating breakfast. However, I'm still hitting that snooze button quiet a bit once it's time for me to get my beauty sleep. Baby steps I guess...


Do you have any tips for getting enough sleep?

From a Place of Abundance

I tend to like workouts that are pretty fast paced, really push me, and get me super sweaty. Mainly because by the end of my workout, I want to feel really accomplished and as if that 1 hour was totally worth it! I typically like to run, do the stepper, elliptical machine, or weights. But this past week, I was inspired to try something a bit different.

One of my friends had a free guest pass and invited me to try Gaia Flow Yoga. I had been telling her about how stressed I had been this week and really needed a massage. Instead, she said how about yoga?! She told me how she was loving the new yoga class she had join. I have heard a lot of people rave about yoga and how great it is for the body as well as the mind. My Dad and Mom do yoga pretty religiously at home. My Dad swears by it and is always telling me "You MUST do yoga, Reshma!"

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I had previously tried YogaX as part of the P90X program. I did feel a difference after doing videos, but honestly... it was a bit boring for me. It was a little too repetitive and certain moves I just couldn't do! Plus, 1 & 1/2 hour was just too long for me. So I slowly started skipping those videos as part of the series. I am not sure what I was expecting to be different with this class, but something about doing with it a friend really inspired me give a try!

We decided to go to an early afternoon class since we both work from home and the evening classes are quiet large. Our class had only seven people plus our instructor, Katie. Before we got started, I realized that I was the only one with socks and tennis shoes on! I'm sure everyone realized I was a newbie! haha. I quickly took my shoes and socks off and settled in towards the back of the room with my friend. The room pretty hot. I started to wonder if I had just signed up for "hot yoga". I came to find out later that it was 95 degrees in the room and that "hot yoga" is usually 105 degrees! yikes. I was expecting it to be so easy and relaxing that I completely forgot to bring water and a towel.

Katie first started with about 10 minutes of ab/core moves. I was quiet surprised and pleased by this. The moves were quiet tough and I could feel my core quiet a bit. I liked really getting into it from the get-go. Then we took a short break to stretch and Katie went around the room asking students what was something they were happy or excited about today. It made the class feel a little more personal. I really like that! Katie went on to help us clear our minds and to "come from a place of abundance". She talked about coming from a positive place. Whether we were coming from a place of abundant happiness, abundant energy, abundant exhaustion, or abundant stress. You have an abundance of something. I have never thought of it this way... the word "abundance" put a positive spin on everything!

It was really nice to get into the rest of the "practice" (as Katie called it) with a positive state of mind. We then went on to stretches, deep breaths, and Om's. As the class went on, it started to get more and more challenging. Katie gave me a little more attention and really helped push me a bit further than I could go. As I stayed in the downward dog position, I noticed sweat dripping down from the tip of my nose onto my mat. I was sweating so much!! I was amazed at how challenging, yet also how relaxing the whole hour had been. I didn't get bored at all! Katie really kept the class interesting and really didn't repeat any of the moves.

At the end of the class, I laid there with a clear mind, relaxed, yet feeling accomplished! I was very pleased with my experience and the next day my triceps and thighs were pretty sore. The music, the smell of the essential oils, and the vibe in the room...the whole experience had been quiet amazing!


What is the place of abundance that you are coming from today?

Inspired on a R-U-N

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I would by no means consider myself a professional runner or an athlete... but lately I have been running a lot more and I thought it would be nice to share what has inspired and help me increase my endurance.

I have been running on and off throughout my life, but I would typically get tired after about the second mile in. It's always nice to go running with my husband... he usually pushes me to go further and faster. It didn't realize it then, but I definitely think that my running shoes had something to do with it. They were about 8 years old! (yikes!) I am used to wearing my shoes super tight and the sides of my feet would really start to hurt, plus I am not big into shopping for athletic shoes. They just don't appeal to me and I'd much rather spend the money on some pretty heels.

So, this past year our family decided that instead of trying to guess what each other wants for Christmas, we would use the Amazon Wishlist. This was perfect because now I was able to put things on my list that I knew I really needed and wanted, but just couldn't pull the trigger to buy myself. So this past Christmas I actually ended up with two pair of running shoes! After opening all the presents on Christmas day, I immediately put a pair on! They were so colorful and pretty! I had always been afraid of colorful running shoes. I usually stuck to basic neutral colors (grey, black, white). That afternoon weather was really pretty in Texas, so our entire family went for a walk a near by park and I ran/jogged majority of the time. I had tied them a bit looser and  I could tell immediately that I had been wearing the wrong pair of shoes for years!!! 

Soon, I was running 20 minutes about 2-3 times a week and I never actually kept track of my pace or tired to see how far I was going. But little by little, I was running more often and longer. I started thinking about my sister... she is not a runner, but she typically walks fast or does a slow jog for at least 1 hour on most days and of my co-workers had recently been training for a 1/2 marathon. I started to push myself to run longer even if I couldn't run faster. I could never in a million years think that I could run a 1/2, so I started with a goal of a 5k. The weather was also getting better outside and we lived next to a beautiful park, so I downloaded this app - RunKeeper to help me run outside. I like running on a treadmill because I like knowing how far I've come, my pace, etc. I like this app because ever 5 to 10 minutes it would update me on my pace and distance. The coolest thing was that every time I exceeded my goal the app would give me a little treat - these were usually coupons for various health food items! Now, I never really ended up using them, but it was like being a little kid and getting a little something to encourage you! (Everyone likes a little encouragement, am I right?)

The weekend I was suppose to run with my co-worker, we ended up having family from out of town at the last minute! We live pretty far from all of our family so anytime they are in town it's a pretty big deal! Even though I couldn't run with her I ended finishing my own solo 5k in my neighborhood. I believe my time was in between 35-40 minutes. It was a great feeling of accomplishment even though I wasn't able to participate in the actual event. 

And just last weekend, I was there to cheer on another one of my friends as she finish her first half marathon! After watching her run for 2 straight hours, I had all this energy and motivation to run. That afternoon I finished my first 6.25 mile run! Took me 1hr and 10 mins. I have never ran at a steady pace for that long ever before! It's amazing what your body is capable of!

I've signed up for a first official 5K this May with several of my friends. My goal now is to really push myself and work on my pace/time. It's great to be around people who inspire you to do something good for yourself. Trying to get fit and loose weight is always on my to-do list, but I think the reason I enjoy running is because I started it with without any particular fitness goal in mind. It was just something I was inspired to do by the people around me. Running seems more like a hobby now and it's actually quiet relaxing. 

What type of physical activity have you been motivated to pursue?