January 14, 2025 • 24 mins
Do you have daily rituals that set the tone for your day? Amy and Kat go over simple morning habits that will help kickstart your day in the right direction. These are things that are VERY doable and will help you feel accomplished, calm, focused, creative, self-aware & more!
QUOTE:
"Your life doesn’t get better by chance—it gets better by change." – Jim Rohn.
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Email: 4ThingsWithAmyBrown@gmail.com
HOSTS:
Amy Brown // RadioAmy.com // @RadioAmy
Kat Vanburen // @KatVanburen // @YouNeedTherapyPodcast // YouNeedTherapyPodcast.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Happy Tuesday, Welcome to the Fifth Thing. I'm Amy and
I'm Kat. And last Tuesday for the Fifth Thing, we
talked about starting your year with intention, and we went
over dry January and words of the Year, vision board parties,
and even last Thursday on the four Things episode, I
talked about my botox versus face fitness routine, which is
(00:26):
something that I'm trying to implement this year because I'm
looking at what is an alignment for me. That's my
word of the year, and some stuff is just not
sitting right with me that used to sit right with me,
and I still don't have a problem with it, and
I may go back to it, but like right now,
I'm experimenting what does it look like to maybe do
it a different way. And these are new habits that
(00:49):
I'm creating for myself. Like my face fitness routine, I
do first thing in the morning, and it takes ten minutes.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
When you say first thing in the morning.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
So technically first thing I either grab for my journal
and do my three minutes of morning pages, which we'll
talk about that in a minute. We're going to go
over rituals that may be beneficial in creating a good
year for yourself. At least they have been helpful to
me and Kat. You may have your own thoughts on
(01:19):
them or rituals that you like, and then I want
to hear y'all's rituals, like what do you do that
works for you? You can email them to us four Things
with Amy Brown at gmail dot com because I love
hearing from y'all. Kat and I both do, and man,
Kat has gotten some good emails lately, let me just
tell you, and we're going to be addressing those soon,
which hopefully, speaking of addressing things, soon, Kat and I
(01:42):
will have an update for y'all on some stuff we
kind of teased last.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Year and then we just stopped talking about we've stopped.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
We're waiting on a a few things that are sort
of out of our control ish, but as soon as
we can say it, we will. And I think you're
going to like the change. Speaking of change, and that's
probably when we'll get into the emails because we're sort
of sitting on them and saving them. But we love
hearing from y'all. So if you've got your Words of
(02:11):
the Year, you've got your rituals, whatever, or you have
an update like a life update, some of you have
emailed us before, and on last Thursday's episode two, one
of the things that I shared, in addition to the
face fitness in botox, was an update from a listener
quick recap go listen to the episode because I read
her email but in a nutshell cat she heard a
(02:35):
rerun that aired over Christmas and as she's cooking dinner,
she's listening to me read an email, but it was
a rerun best of because it's the Holidays from twenty
twenty two, and the email that I was reading was
her email, but she didn't even recognize herself because she
has evolved so much in the last two years in
a positive way. That's so where she's like, I don't
(02:55):
even know that person.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
She's like, wait, is this my email?
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Yeah, like we're back in check that's me, uh huh.
So funny, and so I share that in last Thursday's episode.
But also I'm saying it right now that if you
have an update from another time that you've reached out
to us, send us the update of where you are
now and what is happening, and also your rituals, because
(03:21):
I think that when you share that with your friends
or on the podcast, that's where other people get ideas
of like how do I want to live? How do
I want to show up? And for me, my morning
pages have been something I've done for a long time,
like just wake up and I'll do my journaling right away.
Do I do that every single day? That's the goal.
But does it happen? No? And if it doesn't, do
I beat myself up about it?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
No?
Speaker 1 (03:41):
That's right, I don't, because what good is that doing us.
I did bring my mini trampoline into my bedroom, which
I've had my mini trampoline for years now. My mom
used to have a mini trampoline. It's just something that
I was really excited to get as an adult myself.
And probably about say six years ago, my friend Gracie
and I she would come over and we would do
(04:03):
mini trampoline workouts.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Did she bring her trampoline over?
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah, well we would keep it at my house. But
then once we stopped doing those regularly, she took the
trampoline to her house. But you can order them. But
having a little rebounder is good. It's good for the
lymphatic system. And I'm not doing full workouts on it anymore.
But I will get up now and I'm jumping for
three minutes.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Just up and down, up and down, yep, just to touches.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
No, I can't do anything too crazy. It's just mini
but I jump up and down. Get the lymphatic system going.
Am I journaling? And now, if you're wondering, do you
have to wake up earlier to do all of this?
Now that I have my journaling, my face fitness and
my jumping, yes, answers, Yes, I have to wake up
about twenty minutes earlier. And at the end of the day.
Is that twenty minutes that big of a deal. No,
(04:48):
it's not.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
It is hard, though it's worth it. Get into the
routine of doing that. It is and once you start
then you have probably have that experience of okay that
I didn't want to get up.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
And it was worth it. And I'm only a couple
of weeks into adding in the face fitness and the rebounder,
but I am enjoying it so far. It wakes me
up and I feel like on especially on the days
that I've woken up a little bit puffier for whatever reason.
It kind of gets things flowing and you open up
the limbatic which that's the big thing on face fitness.
(05:19):
Which you can listen to last Thursday's episode I talk
more about it. But if you're gonna do certain things
to like work out your face, you have to open
up your lymph nodes area like on your chest and
your shoulders and your neck so that they're open to
receive the drainage that's gonna come down. Because if you
don't open it, it doesn't have anywhere to go. And
(05:39):
it doesn't take a strong touch like to open it.
It's just like a little too and it'll open up.
So anyway, that's just something that I'm sharing. Take it
or leave it. You don't have to go out and
buy yourself a rebounder today, but that's just something that
I have added to my routine. Now. Our quote for
today is from I Believe Jim Roan is how you
(06:03):
say his last name. He's a motivational guy from I
don't think we looked him up earlier. He's born in
like the thirties or something. But you've probably heard this
quote or something similar to it before. It's your life
does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.
And for me, I know that if I want to
implement change, I have to do these things that might
(06:23):
require me to get up ten to fifteen to twenty
minutes earlier.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
But sometimes your life does get better by a chance,
So I agree with that too. Yeah, there's luck involved. Yeah,
you could sit around and wait for that to happen,
and you're probably less likely for that to happen than
if you want something.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Yeah, but you can't sit around and your lymphatic system
starts to drink.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Well, probably also like that.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
You can't bat around and wait for dam You just
can't quote me.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
That's a good quote. You just can't sit around and
wait for your lymphatic system to drain on its own.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
That's not something that's going happen by chance. You have
to implement change.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Well, And I was going to say to that, it
probably feels a lot more empowering and exciting to do
something to implement that change than for it to just
happen by chance. You sound like you feel more empowered
and aligned and a lot of things because of this
(07:23):
routine that you've started.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Right, And this is my choice. I'm in control of it.
I think you do it again. It hasn't gone perfect
every morning where I do all of the things, but
on most mornings I'm getting each thing done. Now face
fitness I'm not missing because I kind of really am
excited about seeing if there's actually going to be results
there TVD. I know that I can see like my
(07:47):
eyes depuff when I do the routine, but I have
no idea if it's actually going to take the place
of botox. But that's my goal. But you do have
to do it every day.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
It's a commitment, okay, But also I don't know all
of the signs behind them, and I don't know that
it would be the same as botox. And you're using
what you would go get a facial, right, these are
the things in the massage is that an esthetician would do.
So you're just learning how to do them at home
so you can do it every day versus once every
(08:16):
like three months when people already.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Go get something like that. That's what they're expensive.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yeah, so it's obviously there's something to it. Else we
wouldn't be paying hundreds of dollars to get that massage
done when we are going to get a facial. So
you know what, you're saving yourself some money.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Thank you. Yeah, because there's no where if we couldn't
get it done every day, Although that would be. It
would be sweet, amazing if you just woke up and
someone was there ready to drink. For your fitness, Yeah,
your face fitness. It feels good too. It's sort of
like a little treat, and that's how I look at it.
It's sort of like, Okay, this is my ten minutes
of self care and then my three minutes of journaling,
(08:52):
which fine, if I don't have three minutes one day,
I can even do one minute of my morning pages.
That's for my brain, my mind, So once for my limbs,
the other ones for my mental.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Health, you know.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Okay, So these are daily habits, morning rituals. That's what
we're going to go over. The actual first thing that
I do when I wake up, and you know, I've
been a big fan of this, not my whole life,
but the last several years is making your bed. That's
an easy thing to do. Admiral McRaven, who was the
Admiral in charge when Osama bin Lauden was he wrote
(09:28):
a book. I'm pretty sure it's called like make your
Bed every Day or something like that. He gave a
commencement speech once about it, and he's just talking about
how it's the easiest thing you can do first thing
in the day to feel accomplished and check it off
and it gets everything tidy good to go. And then
also at night, getting into a made bed just feels
so good. And this is coming from someone. If you've
(09:50):
been listening to the podcast for a long time, you
know that I used to not make my bed and
I didn't get it. My sister made her bed every day,
and I thought, you're ridiculous. While you're wasting your time.
This seems so lamb. I don't understand why you are
this way. It's just that she knew something I didn't sooner.
She knew that it was awesome, and she's not wrong.
(10:11):
And I'm glad that I'm now on team make your bed.
So if you don't do that, that is one morning
ritual that I highly recommend. It is a habit that
is often overlooked, but I swear to you, once you
start doing it and you get it, you'll be like, Okay,
this is amazing. And then you get a little dopamine
hit and that's when it feels chemical and yeah, it's like,
(10:31):
why would you rob yourself of that? I just pulled
up this whole thing about McRaven and here's his quote.
If you make your bed every morning, you will have
(10:51):
accomplished the first task of the day. It'll give you
a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you
to do another task, and another and another, and by
the end of the day that one task completed will
have turned into many tasks completed. So that's the actual
cloak from It's.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Like a mindset of you getting up. It's the way
you are choosing to lead your day. I'm going to
start by choosing to do this versus it's a waste
of my time.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
And I'm going to choose to not snooze. Yeah, yeah,
which I used to be the biggest snoozer. Yeah, like
I am in recovery fast snooze. I loved it. I
loved it, couldn't get enough of it. I fought for it.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Would you put your alarm extra early so you had
the opportunity to snooze.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
One hundred percent? Which user, Yeah, I was.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
I had a proble committed. You knew you were going
to do that before you even went to bed. I knew,
and I knew I wasn't going to make my bed.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Habit Number two is meditation when the weather is better
I like doing a morning walking meditation first thing, and
I'll take the dogs. I need to take her out
anyway because we don't have fence, and I have to
take her out on the leash. But right now it's
really cold and nasty, so that's not happening. So this
morning I was not able to do my walking meditation.
So guess what I did. I put on my walking
meditation while I drove to work. And she's like, look
(12:08):
at the trees.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Close your eyes.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
It's like dark out. So I'm like, okay, look at that.
Where's the moon? Because I go to work really early
and I try to take it in. No, you don't closure.
The reason why I do walking meditation while I drive
is you don't ever closure eyes. That would be dangerous.
Some that I do on YouTube that really take you deep.
There's a warning at the beginning, like, really, do not
drive while you do this meditation because it might take
you into such a relaxed state that you are not
(12:33):
fully conscious in making you can't react as fast as
you would want to when you're in the car.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
So don't you do as you do?
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Well, No, you can do the walking okay, meditation in
the car, and so I think meditation is another habit
that I implemented maybe a year.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
And a half ago or so, so goes longer than that.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Oh yeah, look at me.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
I feel like you've been doing it for a while.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Seasoned meditator, you're an expert, a veteran here. But that
is a habit that I will forever be grateful for. Again,
you may not have it every single morning, but on
those days, what I've realized that I say to myself
that I don't have time to meditate, That's when I
have my next thought, which is, this is probably exactly
(13:14):
the day that I need to meditate, even if it's
just for five minutes. PLoP down, carve out that five
minutes and get it, and then the rest of the
day will just be handled with ease. Do you ever meditate?
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Not a big meditator, yet maybe I do make my
bed okay. I will do like a body scan.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Or like explain the body scan, because some people might
be interesting just.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Going through from my toes to the top of my
head and my fingers, noticing all the different feelings and
sensations in my body to like bring me back into
the present. Or I'll do like progressive muscle relaxation, which
is the same type of thing where you're squeezing and
tensing muscles and then relaxing them. That actually helps you
be less tense in the end. I'll do that kind
(14:02):
of stuff, but I don't ever do like a look
at the trees kind of meditation. I've done them, it's
just not something that has become part of my I.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Would say what you're describing as a form of I
don't meditation.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yes, but it's not like a I do this every day.
It's if I notice that I'm very anxious, or I
notice that I'm tense, or that I can't be present,
I'll do something like that. Okay, it's like just a
tool I'll get out of my little toolbox.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
What about morning pages, like the journaling I was talking.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I was going to say this, I don't do that,
but you bought me that one line a day book,
and my thought was it's actually on my nightstand right now,
and I put a pen next it too. My thought
was that I was going to start it in January.
I was going to start like the full year of it.
I think it's a five year book or something it is.
But then I forgot so this is a good reminder.
(14:52):
It's on my I put it on my nightstand so
I remember, and I like forgot. For anybody who journaling
or any of that seems very owhelming, there's only enough
space for one line. You write one thing every day,
and I think that's going to be really cool to
have that in five years and look back on and like,
what did I write every day?
Speaker 1 (15:11):
That's what I love about our four Things gratitude journals
is I've gone back and looked at some and seen
what I what four things I was thankful for and
it was just very simple and easy. So I think
you're gonna love that. Can you go retro and fill
out the days before if you think back to what
those days were?
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Like I could, but I'm not going to them. It'll
just circle back around. O'kay?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Fine, do you put the date next to it?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Or the date's already on it? I think, wait, no,
it can't date.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
On It doesn't. But I don't know if there was
a spot where you can add the date? Yeah, there
must if not add it, because that's another thing that
I love about my journals is looking back at the
actual dates, and I've started to get real specific now
with my morning Pages, like I usually just do the
date real quick and now I do you know, Tuesday
January seventeenth, twenty five, I write.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Down eight o five pm.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
I should start doing the time. Mostly I'm journaling in
the morning, but sometimes I just get it in when
I can. But I think adding the time nice touch CAT.
So morning pages is that it's great to do it
first thing in the morning if you can. And you
sort of just don't really think, so journaling is not
for you, don't put pressure on yourself at all, Like
(16:23):
you can just flow. Some days when I'm doing morning Pages,
I'm like, I don't even know what to write, so
that's what I write. I don't even know what to write.
I don't even know what to write. I don't even
know what to write. And you write it so fast
you scribble. It doesn't even have to be something that's legible, right,
that's the word. But I don't eligible feel weird. But
you don't even have to be able to read it
(16:44):
comprehend it later, unless, of course it's something you want
to revisit, like if you're doing one line of daylight cat,
make it legible. So this is much scribble of just
if you're setting a timer for three minutes or you
want to do three full pages or something, then you
just let that pin flow flow and go, go and flow.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Do it. It's so good.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
I highly recommend it. So does Ali Fallon, and she
knows everything about writing, and we love Ali Fallon. She
has a podcast called Write Your Story if you're wanting
to get into writing, not even if you're not because
you're trying to write a book, even though she does
help people do that, even if you're just wanting to
write some of your story out. How powerful and healing
and beautiful that can look. Gratitude We sort of touched
(17:29):
on that. I think that that's an amazing habit to have,
whether you're writing it out or your verbally, like walking
through your house or driving in your car, and you
make an effort to say things that you're thankful for.
I like doing it out loud at times. One of
my walking meditations has me do it out loud. She goes, now,
(17:52):
say out loud, ten things you are thankful for.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Well, looks like you're talking on the phone. You're not
like talking to yours.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Yeah, I've got headphones in on my phone. People just
must assume when I'm doing anything like that. Sometimes I
do this one meditation where they like repeat after me.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Like I am smart, I can achieve anything I want.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
My neighbors like, hm, what is she up to? And
then another habit you could do in the morning is
move in some way, shape or form if you're wanting
to Which movie mail different for everybody? Is it a
five minute flow? Is it a dance party? Crank it up,
like while you're waiting for your coffee to brew or something,
(18:39):
just have a little dance party.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Is it just stretching?
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Yeah, I need to stretch more.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Dang, that would be a good twenty twenty five words.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
I know. Right when you said it, I was like,
I know my words, but.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
So many you could use that in so many different ways.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yeah, you want to stretch your body, but also who you.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Are, your capabilities.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Yeah, stretch is good. Trust me. If you're young and
agile right now.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Oh my gosh, you won't always.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Wait just wait, because why do you think, like, oh,
what a waste of time my hamstrings.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Now I wake up and I'm like, I can't walk.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Now I work out my ankles.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Yes, I should work out your face limps.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I stretch my cats, but yes, like in pilates sometimes
when we're working out the ankles, I'm like, yes, okay,
eighty year old me is going to be so glad
I was working out my ankles so that way when
I fall off a curb, I'm not landing myself in
the hospital. You know.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
That's why I do plates, right, so you don't fall
it's a curb, eighty year old me. I mean that's
any workout though, right.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Well, specifically plates. I saw some hip surgeon or something
on somebody's podcast that was talking about how elderly people
every time they come in for surgery, Like one of
the top things she would recommend that we could do
for our older selves is PU.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Well some of that stuff is like stuff you do
at physical therapy, you know, true, So I think pilates
is also those types of exercises, like the lower impact
ones are workouts that you can do for longer, so
they're good to get into probably, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
And you can go to a studio where they have
the machines, or you can pull them up on YouTube
and do stuff at home. Like, you don't have to
have a machine to do these exercises, so don't let
not having a membership somewhere or time to get somewhere,
because that's what I would get hung up on. Sometimes
I would want to go to a class, or I
(20:37):
would want to be able to do this full workout
if I started it. But even if you can just
do five minutes, that's the thing, Like five minutes in
the morning, or five minutes on your lunch break or
when you get home, or maybe you do five, five
and five and then boom, at the end of the day,
you've got fifteen minutes total where you were moving your
body in a way that helped support you. There's just
(21:01):
not enough hours in the day. And I know, I
just went over all these things that you need to do,
which need is a strong word. These are recommendations of
habits that will help set you up for success in
a day. You don't have to do them all every
single day, but it's just encouragement and I need it too.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Yeah, I rarely will work out if it's not in
the morning. I won't do it because to me, and
it's kind of like what you're saying, I woke up
twenty minutes early. I'm adding time to my day versus
it feels like it takes away time from my day.
So if I'm going in the afternoon, it's like, oh,
but I really want to go home and cook dinner
or relax or do this, or I have all these
other things, so it feels like I have to choose
(21:40):
between things, and it almost sometimes feels like it's taking
something away. This is how I view it in my head.
I know other people love to work out in the
nighttime in the afternoon, but when I wake up in
the morning, it feels like I'm adding time to my day,
so I'm getting more bang for my buck, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Yeah, And then there's different factors of like once you
become a mom, like that name change.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Its favoring right now that I can do it, there
you go. Uh.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
And I think that that's when you get to get
creative though, and figure out what works for you, and
you get to release any expectations of it has to
be this thirty minute class or this fifty minute class,
or I have to go here, when really it could
be anywhere. A three minute workout in your bathroom and
just keeping some dumbells laying around and maybe you just
(22:26):
like lift them every once in a while, or if
you've got your baby carefully squat Do some squats while
you're breastfeeding or why breastfeeding? I don't know. I'd never breastfed,
so I didn't know. But I was thinking, the baby's attached,
you're holding it, it's safe.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
That might be disrobably.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
You probably want to sit still for that one. I
have no idea, but you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, okay, Well, Kat,
where can people find.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
You on Instagram at Kat Vamburen?
Speaker 1 (22:52):
And what would you recommend people do if there's one
ritual that you love. I know you just shared your
morning workout routine, but what about out for brain? Would
you say puzzles? Your brain must be on fire right
now because of all the puzzles you've been doing, Like
it's really or it's.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Fried, because I have gotten into if.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
You're pumping them out pretty fast, and that's because eventually
you get better and better and better at it, but.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
I also get sucked into them and like seven hours
will go by and I'm like, that's my Saturday, and
I don't I'm enjoying it right now. I'm savoring that
I can do that right now. But I don't know
that I'm really good at puzzles. I just have the
ability to pay attention to them for a long time.
And I am usually listening to a book while I'm
doing it, so I kind of like zone out and
(23:39):
just feel like I'm in a story.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
I mean it's a win win.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah. I've gone through a lot of books.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Consuming of bio books and working out of my mind,
I know, So I feel like that's a that's a
good I love that pro tip of listening to a
book while you do a puzzle.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Because you can't watch a TV show that you can't
do both. You can't look at the TV that you're puzzle.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Okay, I like it. So she's Katvan Buren. I am
at Radio Amy, and we hope that you're having the
day that you need to have. Bye.
Happy Tuesday, Welcome to the Fifth Thing. I'm Amy and
I'm Kat. And last Tuesday for the Fifth Thing, we
talked about starting your year with intention, and we went
over dry January and words of the Year, vision board parties,
and even last Thursday on the four Things episode, I
talked about my botox versus face fitness routine, which is
(00:26):
something that I'm trying to implement this year because I'm
looking at what is an alignment for me. That's my
word of the year, and some stuff is just not
sitting right with me that used to sit right with me,
and I still don't have a problem with it, and
I may go back to it, but like right now,
I'm experimenting what does it look like to maybe do
it a different way. And these are new habits that
(00:49):
I'm creating for myself. Like my face fitness routine, I
do first thing in the morning, and it takes ten minutes.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
When you say first thing in the morning.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
So technically first thing I either grab for my journal
and do my three minutes of morning pages, which we'll
talk about that in a minute. We're going to go
over rituals that may be beneficial in creating a good
year for yourself. At least they have been helpful to
me and Kat. You may have your own thoughts on
(01:19):
them or rituals that you like, and then I want
to hear y'all's rituals, like what do you do that
works for you? You can email them to us four Things
with Amy Brown at gmail dot com because I love
hearing from y'all. Kat and I both do, and man,
Kat has gotten some good emails lately, let me just
tell you, and we're going to be addressing those soon,
which hopefully, speaking of addressing things, soon, Kat and I
(01:42):
will have an update for y'all on some stuff we
kind of teased last.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Year and then we just stopped talking about we've stopped.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
We're waiting on a a few things that are sort
of out of our control ish, but as soon as
we can say it, we will. And I think you're
going to like the change. Speaking of change, and that's
probably when we'll get into the emails because we're sort
of sitting on them and saving them. But we love
hearing from y'all. So if you've got your Words of
(02:11):
the Year, you've got your rituals, whatever, or you have
an update like a life update, some of you have
emailed us before, and on last Thursday's episode two, one
of the things that I shared, in addition to the
face fitness in botox, was an update from a listener
quick recap go listen to the episode because I read
her email but in a nutshell cat she heard a
(02:35):
rerun that aired over Christmas and as she's cooking dinner,
she's listening to me read an email, but it was
a rerun best of because it's the Holidays from twenty
twenty two, and the email that I was reading was
her email, but she didn't even recognize herself because she
has evolved so much in the last two years in
a positive way. That's so where she's like, I don't
(02:55):
even know that person.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
She's like, wait, is this my email?
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Yeah, like we're back in check that's me, uh huh.
So funny, and so I share that in last Thursday's episode.
But also I'm saying it right now that if you
have an update from another time that you've reached out
to us, send us the update of where you are
now and what is happening, and also your rituals, because
(03:21):
I think that when you share that with your friends
or on the podcast, that's where other people get ideas
of like how do I want to live? How do
I want to show up? And for me, my morning
pages have been something I've done for a long time,
like just wake up and I'll do my journaling right away.
Do I do that every single day? That's the goal.
But does it happen? No? And if it doesn't, do
I beat myself up about it?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
No?
Speaker 1 (03:41):
That's right, I don't, because what good is that doing us.
I did bring my mini trampoline into my bedroom, which
I've had my mini trampoline for years now. My mom
used to have a mini trampoline. It's just something that
I was really excited to get as an adult myself.
And probably about say six years ago, my friend Gracie
and I she would come over and we would do
(04:03):
mini trampoline workouts.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Did she bring her trampoline over?
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah, well we would keep it at my house. But
then once we stopped doing those regularly, she took the
trampoline to her house. But you can order them. But
having a little rebounder is good. It's good for the
lymphatic system. And I'm not doing full workouts on it anymore.
But I will get up now and I'm jumping for
three minutes.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Just up and down, up and down, yep, just to touches.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
No, I can't do anything too crazy. It's just mini
but I jump up and down. Get the lymphatic system going.
Am I journaling? And now, if you're wondering, do you
have to wake up earlier to do all of this?
Now that I have my journaling, my face fitness and
my jumping, yes, answers, Yes, I have to wake up
about twenty minutes earlier. And at the end of the day.
Is that twenty minutes that big of a deal. No,
(04:48):
it's not.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
It is hard, though it's worth it. Get into the
routine of doing that. It is and once you start
then you have probably have that experience of okay that
I didn't want to get up.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
And it was worth it. And I'm only a couple
of weeks into adding in the face fitness and the rebounder,
but I am enjoying it so far. It wakes me
up and I feel like on especially on the days
that I've woken up a little bit puffier for whatever reason.
It kind of gets things flowing and you open up
the limbatic which that's the big thing on face fitness.
(05:19):
Which you can listen to last Thursday's episode I talk
more about it. But if you're gonna do certain things
to like work out your face, you have to open
up your lymph nodes area like on your chest and
your shoulders and your neck so that they're open to
receive the drainage that's gonna come down. Because if you
don't open it, it doesn't have anywhere to go. And
(05:39):
it doesn't take a strong touch like to open it.
It's just like a little too and it'll open up.
So anyway, that's just something that I'm sharing. Take it
or leave it. You don't have to go out and
buy yourself a rebounder today, but that's just something that
I have added to my routine. Now. Our quote for
today is from I Believe Jim Roan is how you
(06:03):
say his last name. He's a motivational guy from I
don't think we looked him up earlier. He's born in
like the thirties or something. But you've probably heard this
quote or something similar to it before. It's your life
does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.
And for me, I know that if I want to
implement change, I have to do these things that might
(06:23):
require me to get up ten to fifteen to twenty
minutes earlier.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
But sometimes your life does get better by a chance,
So I agree with that too. Yeah, there's luck involved. Yeah,
you could sit around and wait for that to happen,
and you're probably less likely for that to happen than
if you want something.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Yeah, but you can't sit around and your lymphatic system
starts to drink.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Well, probably also like that.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
You can't bat around and wait for dam You just
can't quote me.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
That's a good quote. You just can't sit around and
wait for your lymphatic system to drain on its own.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
That's not something that's going happen by chance. You have
to implement change.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Well, And I was going to say to that, it
probably feels a lot more empowering and exciting to do
something to implement that change than for it to just
happen by chance. You sound like you feel more empowered
and aligned and a lot of things because of this
(07:23):
routine that you've started.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Right, And this is my choice. I'm in control of it.
I think you do it again. It hasn't gone perfect
every morning where I do all of the things, but
on most mornings I'm getting each thing done. Now face
fitness I'm not missing because I kind of really am
excited about seeing if there's actually going to be results
there TVD. I know that I can see like my
(07:47):
eyes depuff when I do the routine, but I have
no idea if it's actually going to take the place
of botox. But that's my goal. But you do have
to do it every day.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
It's a commitment, okay, But also I don't know all
of the signs behind them, and I don't know that
it would be the same as botox. And you're using
what you would go get a facial, right, these are
the things in the massage is that an esthetician would do.
So you're just learning how to do them at home
so you can do it every day versus once every
(08:16):
like three months when people already.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Go get something like that. That's what they're expensive.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
Yeah, so it's obviously there's something to it. Else we
wouldn't be paying hundreds of dollars to get that massage
done when we are going to get a facial. So
you know what, you're saving yourself some money.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
Thank you. Yeah, because there's no where if we couldn't
get it done every day, Although that would be. It
would be sweet, amazing if you just woke up and
someone was there ready to drink. For your fitness, Yeah,
your face fitness. It feels good too. It's sort of
like a little treat, and that's how I look at it.
It's sort of like, Okay, this is my ten minutes
of self care and then my three minutes of journaling,
(08:52):
which fine, if I don't have three minutes one day,
I can even do one minute of my morning pages.
That's for my brain, my mind, So once for my limbs,
the other ones for my mental.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Health, you know.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Okay, So these are daily habits, morning rituals. That's what
we're going to go over. The actual first thing that
I do when I wake up, and you know, I've
been a big fan of this, not my whole life,
but the last several years is making your bed. That's
an easy thing to do. Admiral McRaven, who was the
Admiral in charge when Osama bin Lauden was he wrote
(09:28):
a book. I'm pretty sure it's called like make your
Bed every Day or something like that. He gave a
commencement speech once about it, and he's just talking about
how it's the easiest thing you can do first thing
in the day to feel accomplished and check it off
and it gets everything tidy good to go. And then
also at night, getting into a made bed just feels
so good. And this is coming from someone. If you've
(09:50):
been listening to the podcast for a long time, you
know that I used to not make my bed and
I didn't get it. My sister made her bed every day,
and I thought, you're ridiculous. While you're wasting your time.
This seems so lamb. I don't understand why you are
this way. It's just that she knew something I didn't sooner.
She knew that it was awesome, and she's not wrong.
(10:11):
And I'm glad that I'm now on team make your bed.
So if you don't do that, that is one morning
ritual that I highly recommend. It is a habit that
is often overlooked, but I swear to you, once you
start doing it and you get it, you'll be like, Okay,
this is amazing. And then you get a little dopamine
hit and that's when it feels chemical and yeah, it's like,
(10:31):
why would you rob yourself of that? I just pulled
up this whole thing about McRaven and here's his quote.
If you make your bed every morning, you will have
(10:51):
accomplished the first task of the day. It'll give you
a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you
to do another task, and another and another, and by
the end of the day that one task completed will
have turned into many tasks completed. So that's the actual
cloak from It's.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
Like a mindset of you getting up. It's the way
you are choosing to lead your day. I'm going to
start by choosing to do this versus it's a waste
of my time.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
And I'm going to choose to not snooze. Yeah, yeah,
which I used to be the biggest snoozer. Yeah, like
I am in recovery fast snooze. I loved it. I
loved it, couldn't get enough of it. I fought for it.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Would you put your alarm extra early so you had
the opportunity to snooze.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
One hundred percent? Which user, Yeah, I was.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
I had a proble committed. You knew you were going
to do that before you even went to bed. I knew,
and I knew I wasn't going to make my bed.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Habit Number two is meditation when the weather is better
I like doing a morning walking meditation first thing, and
I'll take the dogs. I need to take her out
anyway because we don't have fence, and I have to
take her out on the leash. But right now it's
really cold and nasty, so that's not happening. So this
morning I was not able to do my walking meditation.
So guess what I did. I put on my walking
meditation while I drove to work. And she's like, look
(12:08):
at the trees.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Close your eyes.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
It's like dark out. So I'm like, okay, look at that.
Where's the moon? Because I go to work really early
and I try to take it in. No, you don't closure.
The reason why I do walking meditation while I drive
is you don't ever closure eyes. That would be dangerous.
Some that I do on YouTube that really take you deep.
There's a warning at the beginning, like, really, do not
drive while you do this meditation because it might take
you into such a relaxed state that you are not
(12:33):
fully conscious in making you can't react as fast as
you would want to when you're in the car.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
So don't you do as you do?
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Well, No, you can do the walking okay, meditation in
the car, and so I think meditation is another habit
that I implemented maybe a year.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
And a half ago or so, so goes longer than that.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Oh yeah, look at me.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
I feel like you've been doing it for a while.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Seasoned meditator, you're an expert, a veteran here. But that
is a habit that I will forever be grateful for. Again,
you may not have it every single morning, but on
those days, what I've realized that I say to myself
that I don't have time to meditate, That's when I
have my next thought, which is, this is probably exactly
(13:14):
the day that I need to meditate, even if it's
just for five minutes. PLoP down, carve out that five
minutes and get it, and then the rest of the
day will just be handled with ease. Do you ever meditate?
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Not a big meditator, yet maybe I do make my
bed okay. I will do like a body scan.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Or like explain the body scan, because some people might
be interesting just.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Going through from my toes to the top of my
head and my fingers, noticing all the different feelings and
sensations in my body to like bring me back into
the present. Or I'll do like progressive muscle relaxation, which
is the same type of thing where you're squeezing and
tensing muscles and then relaxing them. That actually helps you
be less tense in the end. I'll do that kind
(14:02):
of stuff, but I don't ever do like a look
at the trees kind of meditation. I've done them, it's
just not something that has become part of my I.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Would say what you're describing as a form of I
don't meditation.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yes, but it's not like a I do this every day.
It's if I notice that I'm very anxious, or I
notice that I'm tense, or that I can't be present,
I'll do something like that. Okay, it's like just a
tool I'll get out of my little toolbox.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
What about morning pages, like the journaling I was talking.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I was going to say this, I don't do that,
but you bought me that one line a day book,
and my thought was it's actually on my nightstand right now,
and I put a pen next it too. My thought
was that I was going to start it in January.
I was going to start like the full year of it.
I think it's a five year book or something it is.
But then I forgot so this is a good reminder.
(14:52):
It's on my I put it on my nightstand so
I remember, and I like forgot. For anybody who journaling
or any of that seems very owhelming, there's only enough
space for one line. You write one thing every day,
and I think that's going to be really cool to
have that in five years and look back on and like,
what did I write every day?
Speaker 1 (15:11):
That's what I love about our four Things gratitude journals
is I've gone back and looked at some and seen
what I what four things I was thankful for and
it was just very simple and easy. So I think
you're gonna love that. Can you go retro and fill
out the days before if you think back to what
those days were?
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Like I could, but I'm not going to them. It'll
just circle back around. O'kay?
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Fine, do you put the date next to it?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Or the date's already on it? I think, wait, no,
it can't date.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
On It doesn't. But I don't know if there was
a spot where you can add the date? Yeah, there
must if not add it, because that's another thing that
I love about my journals is looking back at the
actual dates, and I've started to get real specific now
with my morning Pages, like I usually just do the
date real quick and now I do you know, Tuesday
January seventeenth, twenty five, I write.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Down eight o five pm.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
I should start doing the time. Mostly I'm journaling in
the morning, but sometimes I just get it in when
I can. But I think adding the time nice touch CAT.
So morning pages is that it's great to do it
first thing in the morning if you can. And you
sort of just don't really think, so journaling is not
for you, don't put pressure on yourself at all, Like
(16:23):
you can just flow. Some days when I'm doing morning Pages,
I'm like, I don't even know what to write, so
that's what I write. I don't even know what to write.
I don't even know what to write. I don't even
know what to write. And you write it so fast
you scribble. It doesn't even have to be something that's legible, right,
that's the word. But I don't eligible feel weird. But
you don't even have to be able to read it
(16:44):
comprehend it later, unless, of course it's something you want
to revisit, like if you're doing one line of daylight cat,
make it legible. So this is much scribble of just
if you're setting a timer for three minutes or you
want to do three full pages or something, then you
just let that pin flow flow and go, go and flow.
Speaker 2 (17:04):
Do it. It's so good.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
I highly recommend it. So does Ali Fallon, and she
knows everything about writing, and we love Ali Fallon. She
has a podcast called Write Your Story if you're wanting
to get into writing, not even if you're not because
you're trying to write a book, even though she does
help people do that, even if you're just wanting to
write some of your story out. How powerful and healing
and beautiful that can look. Gratitude We sort of touched
(17:29):
on that. I think that that's an amazing habit to have,
whether you're writing it out or your verbally, like walking
through your house or driving in your car, and you
make an effort to say things that you're thankful for.
I like doing it out loud at times. One of
my walking meditations has me do it out loud. She goes, now,
(17:52):
say out loud, ten things you are thankful for.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Well, looks like you're talking on the phone. You're not
like talking to yours.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Yeah, I've got headphones in on my phone. People just
must assume when I'm doing anything like that. Sometimes I
do this one meditation where they like repeat after me.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Like I am smart, I can achieve anything I want.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
My neighbors like, hm, what is she up to? And
then another habit you could do in the morning is
move in some way, shape or form if you're wanting
to Which movie mail different for everybody? Is it a
five minute flow? Is it a dance party? Crank it up,
like while you're waiting for your coffee to brew or something,
(18:39):
just have a little dance party.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Is it just stretching?
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Yeah, I need to stretch more.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Dang, that would be a good twenty twenty five words.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
I know. Right when you said it, I was like,
I know my words, but.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
So many you could use that in so many different ways.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yeah, you want to stretch your body, but also who you.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Are, your capabilities.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Yeah, stretch is good. Trust me. If you're young and
agile right now.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Oh my gosh, you won't always.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Wait just wait, because why do you think, like, oh,
what a waste of time my hamstrings.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Now I wake up and I'm like, I can't walk.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
Now I work out my ankles.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Yes, I should work out your face limps.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
I stretch my cats, but yes, like in pilates sometimes
when we're working out the ankles, I'm like, yes, okay,
eighty year old me is going to be so glad
I was working out my ankles so that way when
I fall off a curb, I'm not landing myself in
the hospital. You know.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
That's why I do plates, right, so you don't fall
it's a curb, eighty year old me. I mean that's
any workout though, right.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Well, specifically plates. I saw some hip surgeon or something
on somebody's podcast that was talking about how elderly people
every time they come in for surgery, Like one of
the top things she would recommend that we could do
for our older selves is PU.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Well some of that stuff is like stuff you do
at physical therapy, you know, true, So I think pilates
is also those types of exercises, like the lower impact
ones are workouts that you can do for longer, so
they're good to get into probably, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
And you can go to a studio where they have
the machines, or you can pull them up on YouTube
and do stuff at home. Like, you don't have to
have a machine to do these exercises, so don't let
not having a membership somewhere or time to get somewhere,
because that's what I would get hung up on. Sometimes
I would want to go to a class, or I
(20:37):
would want to be able to do this full workout
if I started it. But even if you can just
do five minutes, that's the thing, Like five minutes in
the morning, or five minutes on your lunch break or
when you get home, or maybe you do five, five
and five and then boom, at the end of the day,
you've got fifteen minutes total where you were moving your
body in a way that helped support you. There's just
(21:01):
not enough hours in the day. And I know, I
just went over all these things that you need to do,
which need is a strong word. These are recommendations of
habits that will help set you up for success in
a day. You don't have to do them all every
single day, but it's just encouragement and I need it too.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Yeah, I rarely will work out if it's not in
the morning. I won't do it because to me, and
it's kind of like what you're saying, I woke up
twenty minutes early. I'm adding time to my day versus
it feels like it takes away time from my day.
So if I'm going in the afternoon, it's like, oh,
but I really want to go home and cook dinner
or relax or do this, or I have all these
other things, so it feels like I have to choose
(21:40):
between things, and it almost sometimes feels like it's taking
something away. This is how I view it in my head.
I know other people love to work out in the
nighttime in the afternoon, but when I wake up in
the morning, it feels like I'm adding time to my day,
so I'm getting more bang for my buck, you know.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Yeah, And then there's different factors of like once you
become a mom, like that name change.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Its favoring right now that I can do it, there
you go. Uh.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
And I think that that's when you get to get
creative though, and figure out what works for you, and
you get to release any expectations of it has to
be this thirty minute class or this fifty minute class,
or I have to go here, when really it could
be anywhere. A three minute workout in your bathroom and
just keeping some dumbells laying around and maybe you just
(22:26):
like lift them every once in a while, or if
you've got your baby carefully squat Do some squats while
you're breastfeeding or why breastfeeding? I don't know. I'd never breastfed,
so I didn't know. But I was thinking, the baby's attached,
you're holding it, it's safe.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
That might be disrobably.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
You probably want to sit still for that one. I
have no idea, but you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, okay, Well, Kat,
where can people find.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
You on Instagram at Kat Vamburen?
Speaker 1 (22:52):
And what would you recommend people do if there's one
ritual that you love. I know you just shared your
morning workout routine, but what about out for brain? Would
you say puzzles? Your brain must be on fire right
now because of all the puzzles you've been doing, Like
it's really or it's.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Fried, because I have gotten into if.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
You're pumping them out pretty fast, and that's because eventually
you get better and better and better at it, but.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
I also get sucked into them and like seven hours
will go by and I'm like, that's my Saturday, and
I don't I'm enjoying it right now. I'm savoring that
I can do that right now. But I don't know
that I'm really good at puzzles. I just have the
ability to pay attention to them for a long time.
And I am usually listening to a book while I'm
doing it, so I kind of like zone out and
(23:39):
just feel like I'm in a story.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
I mean it's a win win.
Speaker 2 (23:42):
Yeah. I've gone through a lot of books.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
Consuming of bio books and working out of my mind,
I know, So I feel like that's a that's a
good I love that pro tip of listening to a
book while you do a puzzle.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Because you can't watch a TV show that you can't
do both. You can't look at the TV that you're puzzle.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Okay, I like it. So she's Katvan Buren. I am
at Radio Amy, and we hope that you're having the
day that you need to have. Bye.
Feeling Things with Amy & Kat News
Host
Amy Brown
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