Reset Time (from a “cereal overeater”)
Hey hey hey! Welcome back to the StretchiFlex blog & more importantly, a warm welcome to SPRING! Now I know what you’re thinking. “Caitlin, we had to listen to you rant about weather last time you published a blog!” and you’re not wrong. But fear not. I will limit my rambling if you follow my train of thought for just a moment…
I follow a lot of American influencers online. I also follow a lot of Australian influencers who are influenced by American influencers. Confused yet? In Australia it’s Spring and we’re getting ready for warmer months and beach days and iced lattes. But everyone online seems to be buying cute, cosy outfits and sipping pumpkin spice lattes! I’m confused. My heart wants açai but my head wants cinnamon. Can anyone else relate to this odd juxtaposition? It’s a minute problem, but it’s confusing for my cravings at the very least.
Okay, okay. This train of thought is coming to an end now, so I invite you to jump off and head over to the next paragraph where we will be discussing Habit Stacking. Thanks for joining me on board!
HABIT STACKING
A few years ago I read James Clear’s book Atomic Habits, and it impacted me in a profound way. He introduced to me many techniques for productivity and reliability, but one of the most memorable was Habit Stacking. Habit Stacking is when someone tries to introduce a new behaviour by creating a sequence of events that becomes second nature to them. Let’s say you want to wake up in the mornings and stretch for 10 minutes, but every day you sleep in past that first alarm and can’t seem to bring yourself to get out your yoga mat.
A solution to this could be Habit Stacking. Find something that you already do, and stack the new habit you want to adopt right behind the other habit, so that the whole sequence becomes the habit. For example, when you go to make your morning coffee, turn the coffee machine on and immediately set your timer for 10 minutes. Then, while the coffee machine warms up, you can begin stretching right in the kitchen! Once the timer is up, you’ve done your stretching and can continue making your coffee. You have just stacked one action right behind another action, and eventually the whole process will become habit.
This is such a helpful way to integrate new habits into your life without having to think too much about it.
What healthy habit are you wanting to implement?
MONTHLY FAVOURITE
Last month, I had the privilege of seeing Laufey perform live at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne. It was a dream come true. The jazz singer of our generation. I got to hear her live!!! There’s something about live music that fills the soul and brings so much inspiration. It was her songwriting; it was her tone; it was her outfit; it was her ability to play multiple instruments. Even the theatre itself was glorious! My favourite for the month of September is JAZZ MUSIC. It’s affordable, free in fact, and it’s undeniably sexyyy. My favourite jazz artists at the moment are Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday & Laufey. Throw on a record, have a slow dance and enjoy the uncomplicated feelings that jazz brings.
RESET
In September, I travelled to Vietnam for the first time. It was one of the most fulfilling trips I have ever been on! The Vietnamese people were so happy, kind and generous. One morning, a kind family gifted my friend and I baguettes as we walked past their shop, simply because they saw us looking in to see if they were open. They weren’t trading yet, so their way of apologising to us was to give us free food. Like what?!?! I was speechless!
Coming back to Australia, I’m feeling inspired in two ways. I’ve been inspired to be more generous to strangers - no strings attached. And I’ve also been inspired to live a healthier lifestyle. As a serial overeater (cereal overeater may be more fitting…), it was very interesting to see how people in another country live. The Vietnamese friends I made were so active, in-shape, and they all had great mobility. Once I got back to Australia I decided that it’s reset time! Time to work on myself and time to fill my body with healthier foods (such as Pho and rice paper rolls. Yes please!) Here’s a couple of things I’ve been implementing since I returned from my holiday:
Make my meals fresh (pack meals as minimally as possible).
Work on my Asian squat (#goals)
Eat more greens.
Thanks for following along for another week. We are so grateful that you take the time to read up on what’s happening in the StretchiFlex coaches’ lives! It’s been a busy time with concerts and travel (wooohooo), but now it’s time to reset and build some new habits so that we’re ready for the end of the year.
Til next time!
Caitlin xx
