Episode 008 Show Notes: 10 Ways to Cut Down Your Screen Time

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Episode 008: 10 Ways to Cut Down Your Screen Time

In this episode, we chat about the elephant in the room: screen time. We talk everything from the addictive nature of it to its physical and mental effects to 10 ways to reduce the amount of time you spend scrolling vs. living.

Let’s get back to basics and fill our time with things that fill our souls. Who’s with me?!

Ah, less screen time. It’s the elephant in the room. With screen time apps becoming all the rage and the focus on how too much screen time affects your health, you know you should put limits on screen time and create a better routine. But why-is-it-so-hard? 

It’s true: screen time can actually be addictive.

According to results from a study by Dimitri Christakis, a psychology professor at the University of Washington and director of a children’s center at Seattle Children’s Hospital, certain types of fast-paced media might be truly addictive. Hellooo, social media!

And the Center for Humane Technology says social media sites know what they’re doing when it comes to using “tech trickery” like artificial intelligence-driven news feeds, notifications, and autoplaying videos. The group is quoted as saying: “These are not neutral products, they are part of a system designed to addict us.”

So how does screen time affect our health?

From physical effects like an increase in a sedentary lifestyle and interrupted sleep cycles to mental effects like anxiety, depression, social isolation, and social comparison, screen time can take a serious toll on our overall health.

10 ideas for you to cut down your screen time

Here are the first 3 ideas from the podcast — tune in on iTunes for the rest!

  1. Use the tools available to you — there are lots of apps out there and settings like “do not disturb” that help balance screen time.

  2. Create a sanctuary for your bedroom — the best way to get rid of the temptation to look at your phone while in bed is to get rid of the temptation entirely. 

  3. Prioritize exercise — according to Psychology Today, while stress and screen-time break down brain connectivity, exercise builds connections and actually makes the brain bigger, which helps fight depression, poor focus, insomnia, addiction, and anxiety.

Screen time studies & other resources

Join me on this Capsule Life journey!

  • Subscribe to the Capsule Life podcast on iTunes

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

Episode 007 Show Notes: How to Create a Non-Toxic Home Using Essential Oils with Janelle Settle

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In this education-packed episode, I interview Janelle Settle, a Healthy Lifestyle Promoter, all about essential oils for the home and how we can begin to incorporate non-toxic products into our home care routine. Janelle shares great tips, resources, and recipes - you don't want to miss out on this amazing episode! Let's dive on in!

How to create a non-toxic home using essential oils with special guest Janelle Settle

What are essential oils?

Essential oils are natural aromatic compounds extracted and distilled from plants (including their respective parts like seeds, bark, leaves, stems, roots, flowers, fruit, etc.) for health benefits. If you've ever come in contact with peppermint and lavender plants or orange peels, you've already experienced essential oils to some degree. 

What are a few misconceptions of essential oils?

  • You can’t use essential oils for pets. Correction — you CAN use essential oils for pets. If oils are used properly, they can be really beneficial to pets. Check out the Essential Oil Vet on Facebook for tips.

  • Essential oils are a waste of money because they don’t last very long. Essential oils can actually last a long time, even sometimes longer than herbs and food in your cabinet. But make sure you’re storing them properly. If they smell weird or are discolored, they probably went bad.

  • Essential oils are just for diffusing. Essential oils aren’t just for diffusing! There are a myriad of ways to use essential oils — you can cook with them, clean with them, use them in your skin care routine, and more!

  • All essential oils are created equal. All essential oils are NOT created equal. Make sure to do your research — if you’re seeing essential oils in the $1 bin, run away!

How can we work essential oils into our homes?

Essential oils can help you replace several toxic home care products like Clorox wipes, candles, and more. From garbage disposal refreshers to stove top cleaners to laundry, essential oils can be easily worked into your daily and weekly home care routines.

Resources

Connect with Janelle

Janelle is such a great example and living proof for how essential oils can truly help us live our best, non-toxic lives. With all of the great education she provides, she makes it easy for her community to switch over to non-toxic products throughout all areas of our lives. She’s such a wealth of knowledge and such an inspiration to live healthier and I’m so grateful she took the time to chat with us. Connect with her at the following places:

Learn More About Essential Oils

This Week’s Challenge!

I’m going to dive on into building a non-toxic home using Janelle’s tips — who’s with me?

Download this Simple Guide to a Non-Toxic Home

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

Episode 006 Show Notes: My Ayurveda Journey So Far

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In this episode, I’m giving you an update on my Ayurveda journey so far — what I’m loving, what I’m struggling with, and how I’m moving forward. Would love to hear about your journey so far as well! Share with me over on Facebook.

Episode 006: My Ayurveda Journey So Far

So what’s my dosha constitution?

Coming out of episode 3 with Malia, I was curious which dosha was most prominent in my basic nature. Chatting with Malia and hearing her talk about the doshas, I definitely felt like I knew which one was probably most prominent in my life, but I wanted to also take a quiz to see what it said. 

So I took the quiz on The Chopra Center’s website. It told me that my mind-body type is Vata. Take it with a grain of salt, but I was VERY surprised by how accurate the quiz seems to be. 

My dosha constitution is made up of:

  • 50% Vata

  • 20% Pitta

  • 30% Kapha

This means the Vata dosha is predominant in my basic nature. Vata is the principle of movement and change, so Vatas tend to always be on the go, with energetic and creative minds. Definitely true for me! I can’t seem to sit still and am always working on some kind of passion project or side hustle.

As long as Vata is in balance, I’ll be lively and enthusiastic, with a “lean” body. If Vata becomes imbalanced, I’ll start to feel out of control. This is — I believe — where a lot of the anxiety I struggle with comes through.

How to balance the Vata dosha:

I love this simple description from The Chopra Center:

Vata is considered cold, light, dry, subtle, flowing, changeable, irregular, rough, and clear.  Therefore, excess Vata requires warmth, moisture, grounding, calm, and stability. 

From an approach that includes all five senses, this means warm colors and aromas, soothing music, hot and nutritionally-dense foods, grounding activities such as yoga and meditation, and soothing body treatments that help restore equilibrium.

The Chopra Center also provides very specific guidance, like avoid becoming chilled (since Vatas typically have cold hands and feet), perform a daily self-Abhyanga massage (yes please!), drink ginger tea, favor aromas that are sweet, heavy, and warm, eat fats and oils, favor sweet, heavy fruits, eat cooked vegetables, and lots more.

I learned from Malia that the beauty of Ayurveda is that there aren’t hard and fast rules. While the above guidance is exceptionally helpful in better understanding our core, we must give ourselves grace to flow with the seasons and life stages we’re currently venturing through. And that’s how we’ll be able to keep the best balance for our unique selves.

Where have I won in my Ayurveda journey so far?

I’ve won in dry brushing and Abhyanga self massage and in food!

Abhyanga Self-Massage

Malia spoke to Abhyanga self-massage in episode 3, and also suggests it as part of her ‘Building a Morning Routine’ guide. Sign up for her guide at maliawright.com to get a great tutorial for how to practice this type of self-massage — you seriously won’t regret it. 

I tried it for the first time a few weekends ago and Malia wasn’t kidding when she describes it as life changing. One of the most powerful benefits I’ve gotten from it so far has been growing my self connection and self love. 

Food

The second place I’ve won (a smaller win, but still a win) is food. One example of this is how I switched up my morning breakfast routine. I made the change from breakfast smoothies (although delicious, just too cold for me in the mornings) to warm oatmeal with banana. This simple shift made all the difference in me savoring and enjoying my first meal of the day on a whole other level!

Where have I “failed” in my Ayurveda journey so far?

I don’t even really like saying “where did I FAIL?” in my Ayurveda journey so far because that’s just it — it’s a journey and will take consistent practice to build these routines. BUT, the two areas I know I can improve are general self care and technology cut-off times.

To me, general self care means keeping a gratitude journal, getting regular exercise, reading daily, and not eating dinner at 9 p.m., among other practices. And I know as a Vata that it’s important to keep a regular lifestyle routine. But somehow schedules and motivation continue to be my biggest battles when it comes to cultivating a fulfilling routine in my life.

And ohhh technology cut-off times… can you relate to using technology to wind down and decompress? My goal is to get to a point where I’m not using technology past 7 p.m. or before 7 a.m. But it’s a definite work in progress.

Check out these great Ayurveda resources:

If you’re interested in finding out what your dosha constitution and make up is, I did like the quick and short quiz I took on The Chopra Center’s website. And if you simply search for Ayurveda quiz on Google, you’ll find lots of other amazing resources as you start digging in.

Check out the book Malia recommended, Healthy Happy Sexy: Ayurveda Wisdom for Modern Women, and self-care products to help you kick off your Abhyanga self-massage journey.

And of course, as you’ll remember from episode 3, if you want to learn more about Ayurveda, Malia graciously created a FREE simple guide to Ayurveda — check it out here.

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.