The Wisdom of Routine

Today I find myself at the end of my week off - I currently work at a wilderness therapy company where my work schedule is a week on spent in the field, followed by a week off where I spend most of my time in Salt Lake City with co-workers and friends.

This lifestyle has been incredible for me to balance going on adventures with working a full time job. I first began my life out here living in my car, heading out to mountains or desert once my off shift began with a few other co-worker car dwellers. I climbed in the La Sal mountains, biked and hiked in Moab, visited the Uintas where jumping in freezing alpine lakes was my shower that week, and other incredible opportunities I had because I was living on the go. Now as winter has come, my life on the move has paused and I’m in a house more than my car.

There are plenty of upsides to this including regular showers and a kitchen, and yet I find myself struggling to establish a routine that keeps me feeling consistent and secure. I recently began reading a book 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think by Brianna Wiest. Only a few chapters in I am astounded by the wisdom I am gaining, some of which I already knew but had no idea how to put into words. One chapter in particular speaks of the importance of daily routine.

The importance of the subconscious has been a hot target in healing and therapeutic modalities. Our subconscious holds beliefs that determine how we respond or react in situations. Some of these beliefs can show up in our self image, how we view ourselves, capable or incapable, strong or weak, worthy or undeserving. Which in turn, colors our existence. When we develop habits, our subconscious mind feels safe and able to take on the day - it knows it is capable of doing and is gratified by it. This is why you might have heard someone say making your bed first thing in the morning can change your whole day.

You validate yourself as your mind recognizes what it needs to do and then does it. Through making routine and sticking to it you build self confidence and esteem, you recognize you can depend on yourself to do the things! You consciously choose to use your brain to guide you, rather than be swept this way and that by impulse and extreme emotions. You are an active creator of your life and you show yourself that!

Since I did my teacher training I had taken a break from yoga - being back at work and busy on my off shifts deterred me from my practice. I decided to get back in touch with that routine of daily (or as often as possible) yoga by doing the 30 day yoga journey from Yoga with Adriene (a favorite online teacher of mine on YouTube). I’m officially on day 10 and as I finished my practice today I reflected on how proud I am for making it to day 10 - how good my body feels when i take care of it and take care to follow the hope I set out for myself this morning to do this. I reflect on how surrendering to my own needs rather than resisting them to doom scroll or take part in something easier than movement can change the narrative of my day so quickly. I recast myself into a position of love when I practiced yoga.

I want to offer a challenge to whoever is tuning in to my words. Create a habit. Even if you already have in the past and it’s fallen out of your practice, begin again. Tomorrow will be a fresh day, you will wake up (a blessing in itself) with the opportunity to choose. I ask you to choose some form of self care or love. It could be as simple as drinking x amount of water or going for a walk around your neighborhood. It could be sitting in child’s pose or just staring at the wall for a moment in the morning and considering what you have to be grateful for before partaking in your phone. Try something, show up for yourself, you deserve it.

With the deepest gratitude,

Paige