Keep Steady and Stay Ready

In times like these, hold on to your nourishing routines.

STORY TIME

This morning, I woke up and immediately opened a social media app on my phone. I found myself swirling in feelings of comparison, envy, jealousy, and judgment. It was a wild, and thankfully short-lived, mental trip.

I wasn’t enjoying the mental and emotional state I was in, and decided to physically move myself to a new location and close my phone. This gave me a moment to assess how I was doing, regroup, and get intentional about the start of my day.

I pulled out my devotional materials, I pulled out my calendar for the day, and set about doing my normal morning nourishing routine:

• Drink my hot lemon water + eat my apple

• Do my devotional reading and reflection

• Write out my meetings for the day

• Write out my prioritized list of things I want to get done (starring the top 3)

• Take my dog for a walk, and do my morning gratitude practice and prayer

As I emerged from the whirlwind of emotions and reconnected with gratitude and reflection, I immediately noticed my body shift from tense to relaxed. I still worked hard the next 30 minutes, acknowledging negative thoughts and replacing those lies with truths by actively centering gratitude. It wasn’t a lightswitch moment, but more like turning a dimmer dial on a light. I went from hazy dark to focused and bright over the next hour.

KNOW WHAT NOURISHES YOU AND LEAN INTO IT

This morning, my nourishing routine pulled me out of a negative-thinking, feeling loop.

On most days, my morning routine anchors the day. It charges up my mental and emotional reserves with reflection, perspective, appreciation, joy, peace, and praise, so that by the time the household is awake and I start engaging with the world, my threshold for the mess and overstimulation is strong.

• I can navigate the hectic mornings, toddler demands, and mini meltdowns.

• I can go on social media to check in with the world and appreciate the joys others are experiencing, feel compassion for the pain people are navigating, and be intentional about where I want to use my energy to create more of what I want to see in the world.

• I can be fully present for my clients, holding space for their needs and creating awareness through my thoughtful engagement.

When things get hectic during the day, and I need a break, or when I’m not feeling at my full energy or best, I turn to making homemade herbal tea as part of my nourishing routine.

• The act of mixing the herbs slows me down and gets me connected to the present.

• Being intentional about what I’m putting in my tea is an act of self-care in itself, and community care when I share it with my loved ones.

• And sitting down to drink the tea is a moment of rest, a pause, and often a moment of restoration.

Knowing what my nourishing routines are and having a large toolbox to choose from has become a lifeline. This is especially true at a time when we’re facing chaos at regional, national, and global levels, financial strains, distrust of leadership, and still being asked to show up and show out as normal.

These are some of my nourishing practices. Learn more about what a dorsal practice is by clicking the image.

What nourishes you? Take a moment and ask yourself:

• When was the last time you felt genuinely calm in your body?

• What were you doing?

• Who were you with?

• What sensations did you notice?

• Can you do that thing again this week, even for 10 minutes?

If you’re reading this and wondering, what nourishes me? Welcome! We all get started somewhere. I invite you to take stock of the moments over the next two weeks when you feel most energized, relaxed, grounded, grateful, reflective, at ease, or affirmed. What were you doing during those moments? Keep a list and revisit it after two weeks. Which of those moments feels like something you can return to when you want to practice a nourishing routine intentionally? And if you’re feeling schnazzy, make a little write-up, like I did, so you can remember when you need a reminder.

HOW CAN I SUPPORT YOU OR YOUR TEAM?

Many leaders I work with come to me depleted. They're managing crisis after crisis,  exhausted, overwhelmed, and in need of a change. They've tried the typical wellness band-aids, but nothing sticks because the root issue is never addressed.

That's where the Abuntu framework comes in. It's a sustainable leadership approach that helps you and/or your teams:

• Assess where the real drains are (not just surface-level stress).

• Build systems and support structures that actually stick.

• Create a culture where people thrive, not just survive, and choose to stay beyond the pay.

Whether it's a keynote that reframes how leaders think about sustainability, a workshop series that gives your team actual tools, or ongoing facilitation that embeds wellness into your culture, I help organizations build the kind of leadership that drives retention, reduces burnout, and unlocks passion and motivation.

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