📝🧘🏽‍♀️ Journal, Meditate, Pray, Repeat Your Way To A Mindset Shift🧎🏽‍♀️‍➡️🔁

My life has inspired all of our Intentional products, especially with our Intentional Tees. They’ve either been inspired by a random thought or something I actually do. In the case of “Journal, Meditate, Pray, Repeat,” the first 3 steps are the last things I do in my bedtime routine, & they’ve helped switch my mindset to be more positive overall. 🧘🏽‍♀️

     That shirt is probably the most popular Intentional Tee. One customer loved it so much that she requested that I switch some colors to her brand colors so she could wear it for an event (yes we’re open to customizing items 😉). It’s also a major part of my spiritual growth. Come journey with me as I reflect on how I went from worried to unbothered in 2024!

Pre-Routine Mindset: Worrying 😫

I don’t even remember why I decided that I needed to add a few routines to my life for 2024. It could’ve been some self-care podcast topic that I decided to try. Who knows? But it was right on time!

     Before 2024, I think “worry” was my middle name. The littlest things would stress me out. Money, kids, work, relationships, you name it, ya girl was somewhere ready to pull her hair out. 👩🏾‍🦲Coping skills were almost nonexistent. I’d just get quiet, stay in my head, & stress myself to figure out how to handle whatever was going on. Asking for help was a last resort, even through prayer. And it was solving nothing!

     I’m a natural problem solver so trying to figure things out on my own was a gift & a curse. On one hand, I was up for the challenge. On the other, it was messing up my life, inside & out. I’d end up solving the issue or it’d solve itself, but at what cost? Being completely mentally & physically drained? No bueno! 🙅🏽‍♀️

     At the end of 2023, things were decent. I had a great anniversary trip with husbae to the mountains & came back home feeling relaxed & refreshed. 🏔️ When you start the new year off on a positive note, it makes it feel like you’re really turning the page in your story. 📖 I had my affirmations picked out, my goals set, & a few new tricks up my sleeve to see if I could elevate a lil more. What I didn’t know was this was about to change quickly & for the long run…

      The bottom dropped out of 2024 within 10 days of the new year & hasn’t recovered since. Literally every month of this year has brought something about, either with myself or someone close to me. Fallouts, ridiculously costly financial situations, sicknesses that included trips to the hospital, the kids going through things, work changes, death, & IDK what else. Let’s just say, I’m ready for the clock to strike midnight on 12/31! 🕕

Mindset Shift With My New Routine🥳

The changes I decided to make were going to challenge me some, take me outside of my comfort zone, but they were much needed. I couldn’t keep pretending to function while I was really dying inside. Sleep screwed up, eating ranged from eating like a mouse to being a hungry hungry hippo, anxiety was through the roof, all bad! 

     As much as I preach to folks about their self-care & managing stress, you’d think I would take my own advice. I guess sometimes I think I’m above the law, but this time I decided to be compliant. I vowed to make sure I did some type of self-care every day, & that came in the form of changing my routine. A few changes were:

• ⏰ An earlier wake up time: I was used to getting up at 5:15 to slide downstairs & clock in at 6am. I’d groan, not wanting to get up, mostly because I’d stayed up late watching something on TV. It was probably 2-3 days a week (& I was only working 4 days at that time 😆) that I’d stay in bed til the last minute & rush to get dressed to run downstairs for work.

Obviously that wasn’t the best thing to do, so I decided to switch from 5:15 to 4:30 so I could relax some before work.😭 Let me tell you: that first month was ROUGH! I felt like a zombie & was so tired. Some days I was so tired I had to take a nap on my lunch break. But my new alarm allowed me to:

• Read my daily affirmations & really connect with them
• Spend time reading daily devotionals that come through each morning
• Meditate & enjoy the quietness of the house before the world wakes up
• Do a short yoga stretch session to work out the overnight kinks 
• Wake up & get dressed slowly

My new wake up routine has left me feeling recharged, motivated, & grounded each morning, whether I’m going to work or just chilling on vacation. It’s been a pretty good attitude adjuster.

• 🛌 A consistent bedtime routine: I’ve always been one to go to bed whenever I’m feeling like it…which usually is pretty late, especially if I’m focused on something. 👀 It didn’t matter what time I went to bed, I’d get up the next day locked & loaded. So just like the podcast suggested creating a morning routine, a nighttime routine was needed as well. 

Pushing myself to go to bed at a more consistent time has given me more structure. I take about an hour to start to wind down from my day, regardless of how busy it was. During this time I: 

• Take a hot shower to relax my muscles
• Plan the next day, including my affirmation of the day, Plan A & Plan B (up to 3 small goals), record a self-care task that I completed during the day, & check off things I accomplished 
• Journal my thoughts, lessons or quotes I learned, & pour out everything I’m grateful for that day
• Turn on The Daily Calm & meditate for about 10-12 minutes 
• Read at least 1 chapter of the Bible
• Pray, which sometimes includes writing down special prayers for myself, my family, & my friends & adding them to my prayer board
• Pick a 10-20 minute yoga session off YouTube to wind down 

This routine is where the “Journal, Meditate, Pray, Repeat” t-shirt was inspired from. It’s probably one of the most peaceful times of my day. There’s no need for noise or talking. I can just zone out & get ready for rest.

Getting ready for bed has never been an easy task for me, especially when it lacks the ability to immediately relax me. It’s something I’m still working on, but my new found routines have worked wonders for me on all level. Stay tuned next week as we resume this discussion..