Welcome! This is the Sunday Soother, a weekly newsletter about compassionate personal growth and authentic living, written by me, Catherine Andrews, a life coach, teacher, and writer. Did somebody forward this to you? You can subscribe to the Sunday Soother here.
Happy Sunday, Soothers. I don't know about you, but I often forget that the basis of our emotional and mental well-being starts in the body. It can be easy to get seduced by complex programs outlined in self-help books, or 30-day programs online that promise freedom from anxiety ever again, but that all involve cognitive processing and work.
So much healing and feeling well can come from our basic physiology, which we often largely ignore, or think is too basic and simple to make us feel better. I was reminded of this when I had a really low and depressed January and February, where I was having ruminating thoughts, irritation at everybody around me, and anger and sadness flaring up. I was doing all manner of EFT, journaling, inner child shit, just to feel like I could get back on track. "WHAT ANCESTRAL ISSUE MUST I HEAL NOW?!" was the kind of thinking I was having.
Then I went on a spontaneous trip to Florida for 3 days and came back and felt like an entirely different person. We watched sunrise every day, I worked with my feet in the sand, and we watched sunset and were off screens each night.
Oh yeah... sun. Nature. Earth. The food we eat. Reduced screens.
These MATTER.
Let's dive right into these tactics I've been loving this spring that you too can do.
#1 Sunrise light first thing in the morning: I've been on a RANT about this lately but it really is incredibly lovely. I guess it's had a moment too, with lots of all sorts of health and wellness influencers singing sunrise light's praises, but when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. Sunrise light signals the start of so many productions of hormones in your body, and can better regulate melatonin, to appetite cues, to mood. Way better than rolling over and scrolling with that blue light blasting straight into your soul. How I do it: Every night I google what time the next day's sunrise will be. Then I set my alarm for 5 minutes before that. When the alarm goes off, I don't turn on any interior lights or look at my phone. Stumbling in the dark, I use the bathroom, have some water, put on some clothes and trundle outside to my yard and stare up into the sky like a bleary-eyed but hopeful baby bird. HEAL ME, ORB OF LIGHT!
Which leads me into what I pair my sunrise light with...
#2: Earthing on the ground. Earthing is simply touching your body and bare skin to natural surfaces like the ground, sand, ocean, whatever. I've read research that suggests 45 minute a day (cumulatively, not all at once) is ideal, but do what you can. The idea here is you are grounding yourself to the electromagnetic field of the earth. I have no idea if that is true or not, but I can tell you, you'll never go wrong being outside more with fewer clothes on. I'm only a sample size of one, but this practice makes me feel grounded, calm, connected, rooted. The New York Times recently wrote about the healing power of dirt as well.
#3: Hypnosis. There's one issue I'm working on in particular that I had a hypnosis teacher create a custom audio for me around (I'll report back later after I've had more time to listen to it if it works) and I'm listening to that every night. But before I did that, every night generally I'll pop on either my ThinkUp affirmations or a hypnosis track and drift off to sleep. I like Andrew Johnson's hypnosis tracks and Michael Sealy on YouTube, particularly this one about clearing subconscious negativity.
#4: Eating a savory breakfast. I got this tip from the Glucose Goddess. No sugar, no carbs. That's right, NO OATMEAL. No cereal. No toast. No muffins or donuts. Protein, veggies and fat. I typically cook up two eggs, some chicken sausage, some veggies and some beans and maybe add an avocado. I had a client do this (she had been eating oatmeal and fruit for breakfast) who thought she had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, her energy was so fatigued and exhausted. She made this switch and her exhaustion went away entirely in under a week. More on the why and how here of blood sugar regulation.
#5: I quit drinking alcohol. It took about six months, but since I stopped drinking in September of 2023, six or so months later, it was like a switch flipped: anxiety - gone. Depressive issues - massively reduced. Irritation? Nope. As a casual binge drinker, this took me YEARS to admit, but there is nothing good about alcohol for you, especially if you have anxiety or mood issues. I think not even that 1-2 glasses of wine once a week or the martini once in a while, especially if you're a highly sensitive person. Especially if you're 35+ and possibly entering peri-menopause. Alcohol messes with your hormones and moods in a deeply serious way that we cast aside. Quitting it costs nothing. Why not try it out for 6-9 months? What have you got to lose?
So that's what I've got for you. What are you finding is working to help you uplevel? Share in the comments.
247: Are you living a high-voltage or a low-voltage lifestyle?
Hey Soothers! I'm here to talk about our well-being and our bodies as electrical systems (which, spoiler alert, they really are!). This is why so many of us feel "drained" or "burned out" — in a way, we can think of our bodies as batteries, or lights. Some of us are well-charged and shining bright, and some of us are on our last 5% and feeling the effects. So how can we go from living low-voltage, tired, drained, to high-voltage, feeling vibrant and grounded? I talk about practical ways to start living a high-voltage life and share how I incorporate them in my day-to-day, too.
Listen to all of my Sunday Soother podcast archives wherever you listen to your podcasts. I have almost 250 episodes to binge!
Reads & Recs
Where I share articles, books, recipes, podcasts, beauty products and more that I'm enjoying! (A few links may be affiliate links off of which I'll make a small commission; I only endorse stuff I've tried and loved).
👉 Thanks to Natalie for sending this video to me, I'd love to be able to live like this down the road: "Except for notions (buttons, zippers, etc), everything in Rebecca Burgess' wardrobe has been grown and designed within 150 miles of her home."
💫 This podcast is a good listen, this is very similar to my trigger processing... process: How to heal a trigger in the moment that it’s happening (everyone should learn this!)
💖 I just love Anne Lamott, and this podcast interview with her is a great and calming listen.
🏡 This video from Karen Rauch Carter is classic feng shui advice for bringing in love, but it applies to everything in life. what do you need to make space for in your home to bring in what you want?
📕 Speaking of chi, I found The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing in a little free library around town and have been devouring it. It focuses on Qigong of course, but also does a really nice job explaining basics of qi/chi and life force philosophy according to Chinese doctrine. Shall I be signing up for Qigong classes next? We shall see...
😂 I don't know if there's anything to me as funny and on point out there as the sassy, trendy, and somehow culturally relevant Anne of Green Gables official Instagram account.
💪 When I start to have more energy in spring to work out, this 20 minute Pilates + weight video is what I turn to first. I don't know how but in 20 minutes it gets EVERYTHING working and also I somehow don't get bored doing it. If I could only do one workout the rest of my life it'd probably be this one (but please don't make me choose).
📺 We've really been enjoying the TV show Shōgun. Historic, plot-driven, not SO horribly violent I can't sleep afterwards (which was always the case for me and Game of Thrones) and incredible acting from the women of the show.
As I try to be less and less of a mindless consumer, these reads & recs may get a wee bit shorter here and there. If I buy something, I only want to write about it if it's been totally life-changing. I'm sure many of you are thinking the same, so I hope you appreciate the brevity and intention!
That's it for this week, sending all my love for the week ahead,
xo
Catherine