Episode 4: The Power of Rhythms and Routines

In this episode, we explore how simple, consistent daily patterns can help rebuild biological and nervous system stability. Rather than relying on intensity or constant change, Angie and Amanda discuss the power of small, repeatable habits that support the body in feeling safe, regulated, and at ease.

By reducing friction in our daily routines, we create more space for clarity, energy, and sustainability. This conversation invites a shift away from overwhelm and toward gentle structure, where consistency becomes the foundation for long-term well-being.

Through this approach, stability is not something we chase, but something we create through intentional, supportive rhythms in our everyday lives.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Our mission at Living Simply Well is dedicated to cultivating sustainable well-being through integrative research-supported wellness. Always honoring the body's wisdom, supporting nervous system health, and guiding individuals toward a life lived with intention, balance, and ease. Hi, good morning. Good morning. So in in true rhythm, which is our topic today, let's settle in. Notice the rhythm of your breath. The natural rise and fall. There's no need to change anything. Just observe the quiet pattern already there. The power of rhythms and routines is our core teaching today, and our bodies are our guide. They're deeply rhythmic. We are designed to move through cycles. Wake and rest, light and dark, effort and recovery. Our modern life often disrupts these rhythms. Irregular sleep, inconsistent meals, constant stimulation. These signals can leave the nervous system unsure of what to expect. And when the body cannot predict what's coming, it often stays in a state of low level and sometimes high-level alert. Simple, consistent routines help restore a sense of safety. Not rigid schedules, but gentle anchors. Waking up around the same time, eating at regular intervals, creating a wind-down rhythm in the evening. From a biological perspective, these patterns regulate the circadian rhythms, hormone release, and energy cycles. From a nervous system perspective, they reduce the need to constantly adapt and decide. Routines are not about control. They are about reducing friction and decreasing stress. When certain parts of your day become predictable, your body can conserve energy for what truly matters.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

It's a lot to absorb, right? Like that's right. Getting into understanding.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

Exactly. And from a from a biology or nervous system perspective, the brain itself has difficulty with the rhythmic patterns of creativity if it is in high state alert. Because all the high state alert part of the brain can focus on is survival. So therefore, rhythm doesn't come in if we're always in fight or flight.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

Yeah. And I think that's like a lot of us tend to forget that because I think we're used to living in like society where like routines and getting things done and checking boxes and doing all that is what's important. And then we we forget to go back into our bodies and realize like that over amount of stress of expectation is on us.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 5:15

So the rhythmic flow of things, um, and and just trying to just notice things and what what's will what you're willing to give a little away, and then where you're willing to add more flow state of something.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Absolutely. That's where our pillars of wellness come in, right? Uh, from my perspective, when we start to look at disciplines or routines, we always start with that foundation. What energy sources are we putting into the body? How are we moving the body in a in a mindful, rhythmic way that reduces stress and burden and pain? And how are we restoring the body through sleep and rest at night? And without that discipline of those three foundations, it's often very difficult then to step into our creative, step into joy, we step into the high octave emotions because without the foundation, we are stuck in stress. And for some of us, what what that looks like is tension. Sometimes it looks like um freeze or rigidity, um, a lack of flexibility. We can always come back to the physical body, right? Um, because that's where it typically shows up when we're stuck in our sympathetic nervous system. So we might see tension, headaches, we might see brain fog, we might see an ability to remember things uh when we're just driving, driving, driving, driving, trying to find um a completion point. The rhythm of life is never complete. Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

It needs to be balanced. Correct. You can't have, I mean, there's so many things you can't have stress without relaxation. You can't have that. Then become imbalanced, and that's where that it that unbalance your body holds that, and then it turns into all these negative things. But before the negative things come, your body warned you about it before they came.

unknown 7:23

Right?

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Like there's the little cues that happened, and there's little things like adding to your schedule or you're keeping to a perfect routine, and then anything that is on that's not in that that routine that throws it off. Now you have more. And it's like sometimes you just have to learn to like give yourself grace, right? Look at what your day is, what has to be done, prioritize like necessities. And a lot of things in life are not that big. Like you we get into situations and all of a sudden it's like something big, something happens, and you just freak out and your shoulders go up. And then, like, I'm sorry to tell you, but the thing that's big today, you won't remember next week because there'll be something else big. And so it's like a lot of times you just have to like listen to what your body's doing. A lot of times, my body, um, my shoulders will get tight, but my my ears will get hot and like I'll just like tense. And it's like all of a sudden I'll just be walking around and it's like, oh my goodness. And it's just like letting your shoulders down or thinking about what the situation is, and like it's not that big. Like it'll get figured out. I feel that for me, having children during COVID and then also starting my own business at the same time that we were shut down. I really had to learn that um it it'll be okay. I have business for people, I'm I'm paying rent, and I have people that need to come in and get their hair done, but we're also have law rules of like so many people and all these things and who can work. And it's like the overwhelmingness of that. And then it's like, oh, 14 days my kids are out of school because they've been exposed. And it's like, yeah, throw my hands up, like nothing, there's nothing I could do. It's not that big because it'll you have to balance, like realizing what's important is my kids need me at home. Everything else will flow. And when you when you get into the state of understanding that and allowing things to kind of fall apart a little bit, that's where the rhythm comes in. That's where you start, that's where like what you put out is what you're going to get. And if you're always tense and you're always stressed and you're always um focusing on the thing that's going wrong, you're only gonna get more wrong. But when you let it go and you just, okay, this is what we're at. Shift. It's like take a breath and just be like, because getting in your head and getting all frustrated only adds something else that's in the way. So you have to get into like the rhythm of noticing yourself. And and when things happen, sure, have yourself for a little fit, but like notice your body, notice what it's doing so that you can put it back on a good path of flow.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

And I know for me, um, prior to yoga, one of the things that happened in my body because I was dealing with pain is I started to numb out. So the signals were probably there, but I wasn't paying attention because I was stuck. I was stuck in in the the low octave, the negative mindset. I was stuck in immobility. I refused to see any other options. And with the shift into my practice, finally enough was enough. How much I learned through that struggle, and that I had to become willing to come back into my body, right? Um, I think that that's why that's why we're here is to learn, we all have these life lessons. And life is gonna keep giving us exactly what we need to learn that. Yeah. And when we when we embrace it and stop fighting everything that's happening around us that we don't really have control over, uh, that's that's when we find peace. And we can find peace in, yeah. I have two boys serving their country right now, they're in war zones, right? I can find peace here because I've built built this resiliency within me, and that's given me the confidence to know that today I'm safe. And today they are exactly where they need to be. Yeah, and they're doing exactly what they're called to do, just as I am. And I love the freedom in that because now I don't have to act as if I'm God controlling the world around me, and that has alleviated so much stress, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

We have to you have to release the idea of needing control in anything. I mean, you know, like how many parents are out there and you're, you know, you you make a meal or or something and your your kid doesn't want to eat it, or they, you know, they spill everything when you just cleaned it up, right? Like, like you have no control over that. And so it's like you have to like be like, okay, well, there can either be where I get frustrated and it just adds to my plate, or there can be a lesson here. Like for for both people, like it's not that big, it's all clean up. You can clean it up, or like you you have options, or you can teach it and be like, all right, well, here to your child, like this is what is made. You if you don't like it, that's fine, but like I'm not making you anything else, like you'll have to figure this out, or spill it, you look at them and be like, I didn't make that mess. What do we do? And you problem solve with them, right? And then I mean, so much more comes with it. Like, I think we just automatically just assume, and I think a lot of mothers or single parents or people just assume it has to just be all us, you know, and so it's like um realizing, like, you know, if we get to shape, we get to shape everybody, like even your children, like your energy transfers, and they can feel they you can have a smile on your voice, but your babies are connected to you in a way that they can be like, oh, that ain't true. Like, I can feel that you're lying to me.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

They know. Oh, yeah, you know, you're throwing your voice, you're whatever. They don't even have to hear my voice, they don't have to see my face. No, they know exactly, and they knew even before they told me that they that they'd been deployed. Um, but you're right, and and I think that that is a beautiful mirror, right? Being a mother has taught me so much about humanity. And do I want my children to carry the shame of making a choice that's put them in harm's way? No, I don't. I know that those young men are under incredible amount of stress. They've left their spouses, they've left their families, they've left their their careers, and they're in a foreign country where they are dealing face to face with a true enemy that they've never experienced in their life, right? Um, the last thing that they need is a hysterical mother. Right. And I think being transparent with them and they're now that I'm dealing with adults, right? These children, these babies of mine are now adult men with adult responsibilities and adult jobs. They know I'm gonna cry when I hear their voice.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

Oh yeah. They know like you have a lump in your throat before the conversation even like connects. Like you're gonna, you're gonna, you're anticipating that.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Now I see their face come across my my phone and I say, Oh, thank God he's calling me, right, and not someone else. Right, right. Um, but it all it also speaks to authenticity, and that's one of the things that raising children is number one, my goal was not to harm them or or carry on a tradition of shame. Um, so that meant that I had to be honest with them. And and I always told them the truth, right? And so they knew when I was scared or worried, they knew when I was mad, they could they knew that what they saw was what they what they got. They also knew when I was silent that I was processing, right? And that was unpredictable, right? So I think um they've been a beautiful mirror for me, and they've taught me a lot about who I am because I had shut off, I had shut down. So, routine is important because we need to have that structure where we are free to express ourselves and we're free to to be authentic and we're free to create a rhythm of our life that feels good so that so that we can balance rest with discipline. Because there's a discipline in rest too.

SPEAKER_01 16:42

Oh, yeah, it's not easy. Um, before we move on, I just want to I just want to mention, like in case people are kind of new to listening or whatever, or a whole different mindset of thinking, when you use the word mirror when you talk about other people, I know like that confused me a lot when I started into this whole like energy and feeling, whatever. When when it's said to you that somebody is a mirror to you, that means that they're reflecting back your inner stuff, they're showing you, and a lot of times it comes in as triggers or sometimes it's like those mirrors are teaching you a lesson on yourself. Exactly. Yeah, so um, I think people just sometimes overlook it. So I just want to make sure people get that like what that's meaning when you say somebody's a mirror to you.

SPEAKER_00 17:27

I love that. Thank you for that. Because it is abstract, yeah. And um, I think I think um my experience as a mother has created this this divine love inside of me that gave me a new perspective. And that's why it's a mirror to me, right? Yeah. Now as we as we start to think about practical application for our listeners, I'd like you to think about one small rhythm to support this week. It might be a consistent wake-up time, a regular, predictable first meal, a simple evening wind-down ritual. At Living Simply Well, we talk about keeping things realistic, meaning it's attainable, it's timely, and that you have some way to measure how it's working. Let it be something that you can return to even on imperfect days. Notice how repetition and not perfection feels in your body. Because life happens.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

Do you have any little things that you do to make sure?

SPEAKER_00 18:48

I am a creature of habit. Yeah. Um I'm a mom of five children. So we lived in a hundred-year-old home in Duluth when I was raising these this young family, and we had one bathroom. Oh. So some would say that it was a it was a tight military operation. Uh so routine, routine has always been a part of my life, and actually, routine as a young child with unpredictable uh lifestyle that I lived from um with a lot of movement and different places that I lived in my early, early years. Routine became a safe place for me. And you can take routine a little too far. Oh, definitely. Where it becomes an addictive pattern. So routine is very simple for me now. Routine still grounds me. So each morning it looks the same. I get up at the same time every day. I on very rare occasion do I go to bed beyond a certain window of time. I always start with breath before I even put my feet on the ground. Uh, yoga has really provided a predictable pattern for me. So I'm stretching the body long and knees are coming to my chest, and then my feet are setting down on the f on the earth as I repeat that standing tall with three sun salutations, and then I go to the bathroom.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

Um, yeah, I the routines and the rhythms. I had kind of taken a couple notes on the differences because I think um just to get people's minds, uh, routines are structured, they're scheduled, they aid in productivity and to accomplish tasks. Where rhythms are flexible, they emphasize balance, well-being, sustainability. Routines are external motivation and um can feel imposed or necessary, where rhythms are internal motivation, the emergence from tuning into the body, um, your energy or your environment. So it's it's connecting your outer world with your inner world and balancing that.

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Correct. And don't forget your mind and your emotional body because if you want to incorporate rhythm with the intention of peace and joy, it needs to feel good. You know, if I jump out of bed and I do 108 sun salutations every morning, that isn't gonna feel good in my body. I'm gonna hurt from that, right? So sometimes if I need to sleep an extra half an hour, that means that I'm gonna do one sun cell that morning before I step into my day because I know one is better than none.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

Yeah. I um my thing that I do is I close out my day. Um, I have there's an app called Insight Timer. Um, and it has tons of music and Meditations and things like that. But when I go to bed, that's the the first after I set my alarm. The first thing I do is I'll grab my insight timer and like an hour, just a music, and then lay there. And then it almost is like you listen to it and you don't think about and it recalms. And then that music is um like we we know sound is healing. And so like it kind of you kind of incorporate that while you're drifting to sleep. And I have found like I look forward to it. And if I and if I don't, if I go someplace I don't have that, like the sleep is not as great anymore, but it's like that's like my thing where it's like, oh, I'm gonna end my day, yeah, making sure I pour a little back into myself. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

And we were just talking this morning about our journal, and you know, as as entrepreneurs, which we both are, we have schedules to manage, right? And a lot of times the things that keep me awake at night are what responsibilities do I have? And who's on first and what's on second, right? Right. So at nighttime now I've been writing, planning for the day ahead, saying these this is what I have on my schedule tomorrow, so that I can close that book and I can allow my mind to rest and know that I'm prepared. So in reflection, gently ask yourself where in my day would more rhythm feel supportive? Small rhythms create steady lives. And as always, we thank you for being here. Take good care. Thank you for spending time with me today on the Living Simply Well podcast. My hope is that something you heard in this episode helps you slow down, breathe deeper, and return to what matters most. At Living Simply Well, we believe that wellness doesn't come from doing more. It comes from living with intention, caring for the body, steadying the mind, and nourishing the spirit. If this episode resonated with you, I invite you to share it with someone who could use a little more balance, clarity, or healing in their life. Until next time, live simply, live well, and stay infused with what truly supports your health.