Episode 005 Show Notes: How (& Why!) to Cultivate Gratitude in Your Life

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In episode 005, we chat about all things gratitude — from studies that prove gratitude can make us happier to the wide-ranging benefits of gratitude to how to cultivate gratitude in your daily life. Let’s dive on in!

What is gratitude?

The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness. In its simplest form, gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what we receive, whether tangible or intangible. It helps us recognize and acknowledge the goodness in our lives.

What are some of the benefits of gratitude?

The benefits of gratitude reach far and wide. Seeing the world through a lens of gratitude can help us with everything from improving our physical and psychological health to building strong relationships to dealing with adversity.

How can we cultivate gratitude in our daily lives?

Though it’s unrealistic that we would be expected to always be grateful no matter the circumstances, there are ways to work a practice of gratitude into our daily lives. From being present to keeping a gratitude journal, tune in to the episode for tips and tricks on cultivating gratitude in your life.

Some great gratitude resources —

I want to thank the following awesome resources for helping me fill this episode with such great content!

Join me on this Capsule Life journey!

  • Subscribe to the Capsule Life podcast on iTunes

    • Like what you hear? We’d love it if you left a review! It helps us out more than you know!

  • This Capsule Life Community

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  • This Capsule Life on Pinterest

Until next time Capsule Lifers — keep finding joy through minimal living.

Episode 004 Show Notes: Getting Started with a Capsule Wardrobe

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In episode 004, we chat about the very thing that inspired This Capsule Life — capsule wardrobes! I promise it’s not as scary and overwhelming as you might think — let’s dive on in.

Episode 004: Getting Started with a Capsule Wardrobe | Capsule Life Podcast

What’s a capsule wardrobe?

A capsule wardrobe is a collection of clothing that’s composed of only interchangeable items in order to maximize the number of outfits that can be created. With a capsule wardrobe, you’d ideally have an outfit suitable for any occasion without owning an excessive amount of clothing. Who else could use a capsule wardrobe in their life?!

Did you know some sources suggest adults make an average of 35,000 decisions per day? I have always had an overflowing closet — which I am so grateful for! — but now that I’ve grown older, picking an outfit from it just feels like another decision I have to make. And let’s be honest, adulting is hard enough as it is without making getting dressed more complicated!

And according to an infographic from MakeSpace in 2017, clutter effects our mental health. It can raise levels of the stress hormone cortisol, can wreck our diet, can trigger respiratory issues, and can decrease productivity. How much better would you feel without so much clutter overflowing from your closet?

How can you get started with a capsule wardrobe?

There are LOTS of resources out there about building a capsule wardrobe, and lots of different methods.

If you haven’t heard, Marie Kondo’s show is blowing up on Netflix! It’s called Tidying Up and is based off of her book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I love her method of auditing your possessions by simply asking yourself if the items spark joy. This is a great first step to reducing and editing your closet down from a scary number of clothes to a more manageable amount.

Then, with your edited closet, there are a variety of ways you can continue narrowing in on your ultimate capsule wardrobe. You can:

  • Build a capsule wardrobe by season

  • Build a capsule wardrobe around a set collection of colors you LOVE to wear

  • Build a capsule wardrobe around a type of wardrobe category — for example, do you live in yoga pants? Or wear a cute tee, distressed jeans, and a blazer more often than anything else?

Build your capsule wardrobe around YOUR lifestyle and what makes you happy.

What should you consider as you’re putting together a capsule wardrobe?

  1. Following Marie Kondo’s method, does it spark joy?

  2. What are the seasons like where you live?

  3. What’s your lifestyle like?

  4. How practical are the pieces you want to keep?

  5. How many pieces are you aiming to narrow down to? A general guide is to land somewhere around 25-50 pieces.

Start your capsule wardrobe!

Get started with your capsule wardrobe by downloading this free worksheet I built for you that will help guide you in editing your closet, keeping track of what you have, identifying the staples you might need to purchase in the future, and figuring out how everything will go together.

My before and after capsule wardrobe photos

In this first stab at building my capsule wardrobe, I reduced my closet by about half of what was originally in there — there is now actually space between categories of clothing, you guys, it’s crazy! — it’s not stuffed to the brim!

I’m proud of what I accomplished, but as I chat about in the episode, my focus in this first round was to edit, edit, edit, and reduce the number of items in my closet. Ideally, I would like to challenge myself to be around the 50 pieces mark once I am able to truly create my capsule wardrobe. But this is definitely not an overnight process, and I know I’ll continue to refine, edit, and replace pieces with fewer staple pieces that go with more variations of outfits — while still keeping my style, of course. 

Before

getting started with a capsule wardrobe
getting started with a capsule wardrobe

After

getting started with a capsule wardrobe
getting started with a capsule wardrobe

Buh-bye, clothes!

Join me on this Capsule Life journey!

  • Subscribe to the Capsule Life podcast on iTunes

    • Like what you hear? We’d love it if you left a review! It helps us out more than you know!

  • This Capsule Life Community

  • This Capsule Life on Instagram

  • This Capsule Life on Pinterest

Until next time Capsule Lifers — keep finding joy through minimal living.

Episode 003 Show Notes: Ayurveda with Malia Wright

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In this seriously ENLIGHTENING episode, I interview Malia Wright, an Ayurvedic Wellness Coach, all about Ayurveda and how we can simply incorporate it into our daily lives. 

What is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is a 5,000-year-old science. The word Ayurveda literally means the “science of life.” Ayurveda is about tuning into yourself, your environment, the seasons, your mindset, how you eat, and more, in order to find the best balance for you. It’s about tuning into yourself and your life to understand how to balance yourself with the energies in this world — Air, Ether, Water, Fire, & Earth.

In this episode, Malia walks us through her journey from her intense “go, go, go” lifestyle to slowing down and discovering — and now practicing and teaching — Ayurveda.

What are a few misconceptions of Ayurveda?

  • While food and digestion are a large part of Ayurveda — because they are a large part of life — Ayurveda is not a diet or part of diet culture. It’s bigger than that!

  • Ayurveda can be overwhelming because there are so many tools and “tasks” associated with the practice, but in this episode Malia teaches us how we can simply incorporate it into our daily lives — from drinking warm water with lemon in the morning to meditating to everything in between.

  • Ayurvedic body/mind type quizzes can be helpful guides, but keep in mind that we are all — by nature — a combination of all 3 doshas, and that while we may be primarily one dosha, we can experience an imbalance in any of the doshas.

What is abundant wellness?

Abundant wellness is really about giving yourself grace, being adaptable, and understanding — and being OK with the fact — that sometimes things are great and sometimes they just aren’t. The feminine form of healing is a great guide toward abundant wellness in that it’s all about being so in tune with ourselves that we 1) learn how to balance ourselves with the energies in this world and 2) understand we are already whole and have everything we need.

What are the Ayurvedic body & mind types (doshas)?

Vata: Air + Ether

Kapha: Earth + Water

Pitta: Fire + Water

Learn more about the 3 doshas in our free Simple Guide to Ayurveda!

Resources

Connect with Malia

Malia is seriously such a magnetic light in this world, and I can’t thank her enough for taking the time to teach us a bit about Ayurveda and how it can help each and every one of us in our journeys to finding joy through minimal living. You can connect with Malia at the following places:

This Week’s Challenge!

I’m going to dive on into Malia’s FREE 10-day video guide to Build a Morning Routine — who’s with me?

Download this Simple Guide to Ayurveda

Read More About Ayurveda

Want to read more about Ayurveda? Malia recommends the book “Healthy Happy Sexy: Ayurveda Wisdom for Modern Women,” written by her teacher Katie Silcox!

Join me on this Capsule Life journey!

  • Subscribe to the Capsule Life podcast on iTunes

    • Like what you hear? We’d love it if you left a review! It helps us out more than you know!

  • This Capsule Life Community

  • This Capsule Life on Instagram

  • This Capsule Life on Pinterest

Until next time Capsule Lifers — keep finding joy through minimal living.