4 Animals of Sleep (SURPRISE: no birds, cats, or owls) + Exercise & Smoothies

March 19, 2022

Mar 19, 2022

4 Animals of Sleep, which one are you?

This last week we celebrated a few holidays, including St. Patrick’s Day and World Sleep Day!

Now, is there any particular reason why world sleep day is directly after another holiday used in the US and elsewhere for excessive drinking ??

I have no clue, but hopefully you can catch your needed ZZZzzzzzsss this weekend as you work to rest, relax, restore, and revitalize your health after a strong week.

How are you doing?
Are you feeling worn out?
What do you hold as precious?
Do you consider your soul and spirit to be precious?
Do you live your life aligned in a way which shows others how much you love and cherish yourself?
Are you wondering where time has gone?
Have you enjoyed Spring Break?
How are you honoring your circadian biology as a human these days?

I’m a dolphin. I’m also pretty impressed by the moon – like physically I’m pretty impressionable with the energetic changes around the times of full moons, provoking deeper level thinking, openness and creativity for me, as well as keeping me from falling asleep at a healthy early bedtime.

Full moons have kept me awake for several years. What about you?

Anyone who has ever worked in a nursing home or hospital probably has a whole basket full of stories they could tell you about how crazy things happen during the middle of the night during a full moon. In fact, before I was born the doctors strongly encouraged my mom to try to go into labor a few days before an upcoming full moon, which they said can sometimes lead to higher risks of complications for unknown reasons.

Strange stuff, right?

But humans have been energetically intuitive about these things for thousands of years… our ancestor’s ancestors knew about these things – like how the moon and stars impact our health and biology – so why don’t we?

I have my own ideas, but tell me yours to help me shape my own perspective! :)

Okay okay, so like I said there’s 4 different kinds of animals that help us understand how we sleep.

Dolphin, Bear, Lion, Wolf

Bear – needs 8 hours, strong sleepers, exercise in evening; may enjoy an afternoon power nap

Lion – energetic, fitness enthusiasts, strong personality, big thinkers and leaders, early risers, exhausted by the evening, most active in morning to midday

Wolf – similar to ‘night owl’ the wolf seems to feel more energized at night, sleep cycle tends to begin around midnight or later, tough to awake and most productive in afternoon or eve

Dolphin – trouble sleeping, periodic highs and lows of sleep, creative at odd times of day mostly in the morning, like to be brisk, swift, and incorporate movement in their day, don’t sit still and thus resting for long times doesn’t really work for them like it does for bears.

Learn more here: Find Your Sleep Animal

Share ZigZag Nutrition

Now, if you picked up any good tips from learning more about your animal type, you might be curious about if timing your movement and exercise routine would actually help you too. It’s likely it will. Both in timing, time, and tendency – the when, the how long and how often you exercise.

When it comes to Exercise, most people just focus on Protein and Protein and Protein, running more miles on the treadmill or spending more time on the elliptical. But, actually, our health is more complicated and more holistic than that. BUT, let’s take a look at some easy healthy protein options to include after your exercise to make sure you don’t feel disastrously listless and exhausted no matter what time you workout. Protein is key, but so is the overall balance of real food highlighting a blend of whole food fat and healthy carbs too.

Greek Yogurt + Hemp Seeds + Blueberries
Silken Tofu Scramble + Sauteed Greens and Tomatoes + handful of pumpkin seeds
Chia Seed Pudding + Clean Protein Powder + Raspberries + Hazelnuts

Some people like smoothies, and there’s a good reason for that – easy, fast, and usually very SWEET, but it’s incredibly important NOT to drink smoothies fast, not to consume them on the go and to fully acknowledge them as a meal, so sit down, take a sip... close your eyes and enjoy slowly.

Make sure to add healthy fat, fiber, and protein to make sure to support healthy blood sugar balance without spiking blood sugar and insulin and crashing your energy later.

The Fiber in foods (along with healthy fats and protein) are digested slowly so they will also keep you fuller for longer. Include at fiber foods in your diet regularly and consistently.

1/2 Banana + handful of blueberries + Greek Yogurt + Cocoa Powder

1/4 Mango + 1/2 Avocado + 1/2 cup peas + topped with handful nuts and seeds

You can add flaxseeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, tapioca, silken tofu to these blends too if you so choose.

Personally, I also like to experiment with unsweetened pure pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice flavorful spices.

Oh, and if you want a beautifully delicious, new and nutritious smoothie variable, consider throwing in 1 small or half of 1 large cooked beet.

Tart Cherries also are great too. Small amounts can go a long way.

Bonus: Use frozen bananas, frozen cauliflower and/or ice to change up the smoooothie-ness of your smoothies however you like to enjoy them. Plant milks typically support digestion better than dairy for most folks.

Mental / Emotional / Spiritual Health + What I’m listening to:

We all deserve a chance to grow, a chance to journey, a chance to heal with love and support and inner nourishment for ourselves and promote our health going forward – inside and out.

Check out this Podcast by Rangan Chatterjee:

Could finding out more about our families be the key to knowing more about ourselves?

Julia believes so, and I’m very pleased to welcome her back as my guest on this week’s episode of my Feel Better Live More podcast. Her new book, Every Family Has A Story: How We Inherit Love And Loss, is a powerful exploration of how inter-family relationships inform all aspects of our lives.

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxPuZWfia5SPZBHwM7uDMSmVUQ1AoHXPYb

‘You cannot fix what you don’t face.’

Cherish You:

Hold your mind precious and sacred first thing in the morning. Hold it to be cherished and honored before you let in all the thoughts and feelings, worries and messages of the day, hold your first waking hour as holy and sacred for your soul. Leave away the phone, the screens, the internet and whatever else may distract you from your inner peace.

4 Animals of Sleep (SURPRISE: no birds, cats, or owls) + Exercise & Smoothies

March 19, 2022

4 Animals of Sleep, which one are you?

Dolphin, Bear, Lion, Wolf

Mental / Emotional / Spiritual Health + What I’m listening to:

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