Wellness Rules Are Made to Be Broken

Small Resets Instead of Hard-and-Fast Rules

My morning routine has been pretty solid for the majority of this past year.

I committed to no phone for the first hour of my day, meditation and morning pages, and to create before I consume. I’ve been mostly successful, but as with anything, I fall off the wagon and break my own rules sometimes.

Wellness routines are meant to support us feeling our best, but when we turn them into rules, they tend to become more of a chore rather than something we enjoy. And beating ourselves up for being inconsistent can actually do more harm than good.

The problem with rules is that they’re made to be broken.

But when you live your wellness by practicing presence, aka listening to what your body needs on a given day — that’s embodiment. No rules required.

When I jump right into my day without a morning routine, I have to find little ways to turn it around to avoid that midday slump.

Sometimes it’s just a few minutes to recharge my energy, and other times, I need to switch up my environment and move my body. Some days that means sleeping in until 7:30 without guilt — a small luxury after years of early alarms as a teacher.

So instead of a list of rules to follow, think of this as an embodiment practice. Here are a few ways to check in and reset when your day didn’t start off as planned:

1. MOVE your body. This doesn’t have to be a full on workout. Even a 15 minute walk can get your heart rate up and make you more productive than if you had just stared at your screen instead. You’ll buy back twice the time in productivity. Movement remains the most effective way to move my energy and if you’re a Generator in Human Design, this is especially important for you. We have to expend all our energy and be really tired by the time we hit the bed.

2. Create before you consume. It’s easy to check out by going on social media. Dopamine hits feel good in the moment, but what happens when you find yourself still scrolling an hour later?? What I do before I open the app is ask myself: What am I looking for? Do I need inspiration? Do I want a laugh or am I just numbing out this moment because I’m fried? If you’re constantly consuming and maybe unconsciously comparing yourself to someone else’s perfect post (let’s face it we’re all doing it) it can make you feel even worse.

3. Eat something healthy to fuel you for the second half of the day. Something refreshing. I’m a one cup of coffee kind of girl and I find the few times I’ve had the second cup, it actually makes me more tired.

4. Brain dump. If you find yourself overwhelmed by your to-do list, take a few moments to write down everything that’s crowding your mind so that you can release it, create more space, and calm your nervous system. I’m a big believer in writing things down because as someone with an ADHD brain, my random hits of inspiration need a designated place to land so that I can come back to them later when I can actually focus on them.

So break the rule. Sleep in. Skip the meditation. Just come back to these little resets when your whole day feels hijacked and you need a way back to presence