One of the Best things I did for Myself This Year (Part 1) And It Was free!

I stopped a few years ago really pushing hard right on January 1^st. It started to not feel right putting so much pressure on myself to change so many things right away when the world, at least where I live, is in a resting state. Winter brings rest and reflection, so it seems odd to me to push hard to plan goals and start implementing in a time of rest and reflection.

So, I gave up the long list of things to change and gave myself permission to implement something if it felt right, but also to not start anything until spring if that felt right too.

My word for 2025 was foundations. I had neglected myself for a VERY long time, putting everyone else first, and needed to set up some things for myself that would help catapult me into more growth and wellness as the years went on. Going back to the foundations of my health was the perfect place to start. Circadian rhythm, calories, protein, hydration, and movement were my focus. I didn’t master all of these, some will carry over into 2026, but I put a good dent in implementing some!

I worked on several of these foundations over the year, but one stood out far above the rest.

The one that had the most impact on me this year and one of the best things I could have started doing was the circadian rhythm foundation! It was very easy to implement, and it was completely free! I didn’t need anything special to start.

It is very simply this…. get outside in the morning (preferably before 10 am….sunrise if you can mange it) and get the natural light on your eyeballs before any other light hits them. Yes, that means you can’t pick up your phone first thing and look at it, you will be okay I promise. 😉

Getting outside and getting that morning light on your naked eyeballs (no contacts or glasses on) helps tell your brain what to turn off and what to turn on because it’s daytime. The sun emits natural light signals that help your body understand what part of the day it is.

If you pick up your phone right away or turn on an LED light, that blue light tells your body it’s already the middle of the day. This can confuse your system before it’s had a chance to properly wake up.

This is much more scientific than I’m explaining here, but I’m not an expert and I want to keep this simple so you can start and learn as you go.

Before I started this habit, I couldn’t physically get out of bed in the morning. My body felt like bricks making it feel like it was impossible to move. I also had very bad brain fog and heavy grogginess until almost noon every day.

6 weeks after implementing this consistently (don’t read that as perfectly…I did miss a few days), I wasn’t feeling those things at all!! It was much easier to get out of bed even if I didn’t sleep well the night before. The heaviness and grogginess were gone, and I was grateful. And this happening only helped me to keep going with the habit.

As I mentioned above, I did implement more of the foundations, but this one is the one and only one I worked on for almost 6 months before doing anything else, so I know that this specifically was what helped me get rid of the awful feeling in my body.

 If this is new information to you, I know you probably have questions naturally. And I encourage you to seek out information to learn more about it, but don’t let it keep you from starting. Going outside first thing in the morning and getting 10 minutes of light (I started with 5 mins…. make this what you need it!) into your naked eyes is easy. Start there, learn more about it, and implement more if you see fit.

For me, this was one small foundation that helped everything else feel possible again.

Vicky 🙂

Here are a few resources to help you learn more: Two people that I have learned a lot from @ashfaue and @cassidy.woelfel on Instagram. I have also taken 2 challenges (The Spring Reset and Prep for Winter) from Carrie B Wellness and learned a lot as well. All 3 have tons of free information!

P.S. Part 2 will go a little deeper into how I protected my light environment more once I got the hang of just getting morning light. When you are ready for this next step, give it a read 🙂