(upbeat music)
- Hey, health nuts.
Welcome back to my channel,
I'm Nikole and today I'm gonna be sharing
my updated morning routine
with a little bit of a self-care twist
for the month of February.
I thought it was appropriate just to give ourselves
a little bit more appreciation and love this month
and I really wanna share with you guys
some of the habits that I've personally been doing
and just loving and have made a huge difference
and I'm gonna be sharing them in today's video.
I'm also so excited
to be working with one of my favorite brands, Caf-Lib.
They make my favorite herbal coffee.
I've been drinking them probably
for like over five years.
I bet I can go back into the archives of Health Nut videos
and find me talking about them
in a favorites video or a recipe video
or just another routine video.
You guys are always asking me about herbal coffee,
why I drink it, what's in it.
I essentially stopped drinking coffee
about like six years ago
because of my anxiety and having an alternative
like Caf-Lib has been a lifesaver
and I'm so excited that they are sponsoring
and collaborating with me on today's video
and it's just like a dream partnership.
I'm so excited, they're Canadian, I love them.
And I basically drink them every single day without fail.
Without further ado, let's hop right into the video
and I'm gonna share with you guys
my self-care morning routine of 2020.
So, the first thing I like to do
when I start my day is to practice some sort of mindfulness.
This may be writing in my gratitude journal
which helps me process things that I'm grateful for,
things that I hope will happen
and just a lot of positive thinking
and doing this really helps set my day
on a positive note instead of focusing on things
that aren't going well,
I really try to focus on the things
that I'm grateful for in my life.
And it can be as small as I'm grateful for a sunny day
or I'm grateful for my family,
whatever it is in your life that you want to reflect on.
I think it's really nice to write it down
and see it in a visual way.
I like to drink a nice, tall glass of water when I wake up.
I always find I'm pretty thirsty in the morning,
so this just kind of helps wake me up
and then before I do my mediation,
I like to just throw on some nice, calming
and relaxing essential oil.
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Another thing that I do every single morning without fail
is I meditate.
This has been something I've been doing
for the last two years now.
It has truly changed my life.
I used to wake up with awful anxiety
and just letting my body reset
and create mindfulness in my mind and body,
has been such a game-changer
and I just cannot imagine my life
without this healthy habit.
And then when I'm done meditating,
I always end it with a really big self hug
and I just repeat to myself I love my life,
I love myself and then whatever affirmation I want
to follow, I usually will say something
like I release fear, anxiety, and worry followed up
with some kind of positive affirmation like I am happy,
calm and peaceful.
Hi!
Hi, baby.
You a good girl, you let Mommy meditate?
Yeah, hi.
I also just find something as simple
as making my bed as a form of practicing mindfulness.
I never would of thought I would
actually enjoy making my bed,
but it's just a nice way of telling myself
that it's a new day
and I'm kind of leaving the bedroom and starting my day.
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My next self-care habit
that I've been doing every single day
now as well is moving my body.
I used to think that I would only exercise
three or four times a week if I went to the gym,
but I've been making it a habit
to just move my body everyday.
I find it's easier to keep up with something
that you do everyday as opposed to
when you feel like it.
If I know the goal is to move my body everyday,
then I look to make time for it in my schedule
and actually make an effort to make it happen,
so that could be as simple as walking Cashew,
going for a hike, doing a light yoga flow
or actually doing a really hard workout at the gym
in a class or whatever the case.
I like to always be switching it up so I'm not bored,
but at the end of the day,
I am moving my body, it is helping my mental health
and physical health.
It helps relieve stress
and it just gets all those kinks and knots out of the body.
I truly am grateful to be able to move my body
and I wanna be able to move it for as long as I can.
I'm gonna link the exact workout
that I'm doing in the info box down below.
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My next habit is to create a spa in your bathroom.
I just think it's so peaceful
to create an atmosphere
and environment that you actually feel happy
being surrounded by.
So, for my bathroom I really try to add fake plants
since there's no windows,
so nothing will actually grow in here
and I think it just makes a really
big difference in my mood.
It's very calming, it's a room that I like to spend time in
whether I'm dry brushing or just doing my skincare routine.
Here I'm doing a light dry brush.
I really like doing this habit.
It helps circulate blood flow
and helps to stimulate the lymphatic system
which is really great for a detoxification
and it really just gets off all those dead skin cells
and helps your skin look more glowy
and keeps it nice and soft.
This morning I decided to throw on a nice mask.
I don't always do a mask,
but because I'm just trying
to practice more self-care and love, I'm throwing on a mask
and I'll just let this sit while I'm in the shower,
washing my body, shaving my legs, all that stuff.
I can just let this sit and do it's thing.
Most days I feel like I don't have time to do a mask,
but it's the simple things of just putting it on
before you get in the shower
that makes it easier to incorporate.
Before I hop in the shower,
I just want to make a quick batch of my DIY body scrub.
I've been making this a lot lately.
It's just sugar, oil, and a couple of other ingredients.
I'll link it in a blog post in the info box for you guys.
It's so simple to make and it's really effective.
So, I've been making that a lot lately.
Popping into the shower,
rubbing this scrub all over my body,
it has been keeping my dry, winter skin nice and soft
and supple and it just makes it easier for my body to absorb
any moisturizer that I'm gonna put on afterwards.
You don't have to go to a fancy spa
or resort to get some self-care into your routine.
Doing these simple things at home
will make a big difference
and they'll also just make you feel better.
Now that I'm out of the shower,
I'm just misting my face with my favorite rosewater toner
and I'm gonna do a little Gua Sha facial massage.
So, I have my skin glow serum oil
that I'm just rolling on over my face.
And then I'm just taking this rose quartz Gua Sha
and I'm just gently rolling it
or I guess scraping but in a gentle way over my face.
There are a ton of YouTube videos
that you can look up to find the exact techniques
on how to do this, but it helps de-puff,
it helps circulate blood flow
and I find it really helps relieve tension,
especially in my forehead and on my jawline
where I tend to clench and the muscle gets a bit tense,
I find it really helps with that as well.
I'm just following up with my moisturizer
and the rest of my skincare and makeup routine.
I usually like to keep things pretty simple,
especially in the morning.
And slathering on some of my pit paste
from my Beauty Net Skincare line.
This was a fresh bottle which is always fun to dig into.
(optimistic music)
Now it's time to make some food
and my new favorite herbal coffee latte
that is so delicious and soothing
and it just feels like a hug in a cup, I love it.
So, I have my new frother here.
I actually got this from my aunt, they had an extra one
and it's been game-changing in my coffee-making experience.
So, I just have some oat milk creamer pop in there
to froth up and get delicious and creamy.
Boiling some water and then I'm just gonna take
some of my Caf-Lib herbal coffee.
This is the organic one,
but they have an original one and then a dark roast one
if you like a little bit more of a bold flavor.
It's completely all natural and it's made
with a blend of organic roasted barley and chicory
which really gives this beautiful, smooth, rich flavor
like coffee.
I like to do two tablespoons,
a dash of cinnamon, a few drops of liquid Stevia
and then I add in my boiling water.
This has just been my go-to combination lately
and then topping it off with my frothed oat milk
that is so creamy and it just brings this latte
to the next level.
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Sprinkle a little bit more cinnamon right on top
and this is the best homemade latte
I've ever had, highly recommend it.
(sighs)
So good.
Okay, so while I'm sipping on that,
I'm gonna quickly whip up my fluffy yogurt pancakes.
This recipe is on the blog.
It's a go-to of mine and it's really easy to just whip up.
I will have the full recipe linked
in the blog post below.
There is nothing like cooking up a batch
of your favorite pancakes in the morning
to really give yourself some self-love.
During the week I'm usually a green smoothie kind of gal,
but on the weekend I like to indulge, have some pancakes,
have some bacon, treat myself
and just spend a little bit more time
in the kitchen making my favorite meals.
I like to top my pancakes with some more yogurt.
And spoon on some stewed berries.
This was just a frozen mix of berries
that I just warmed up on the stove
and it just creates the most delicious berry syrup
to top your pancakes with
and, of course, a good drizzle of Canadian maple syrup.
Look at that fluff and those layers, this is so good.
(optimistic music)
My last tip is to create a happy space.
For me, that means diffusing essential oils.
I've been loving diffusing black spruce with orange lately.
It's really grounding with just a hint of sweetness
and it's just very soothing throughout the day.
I work from home,
so I really like to create a happy, calming space to be in.
But wherever your workspace is,
it's important to create that environment
that you wanna be in.
Over the years I've been slowly collecting plants
and, for the most part, keeping them alive.
I really love to surround myself with living things
and plants are a way for me to add the outdoors indoors
and almost give my space that nature vibe.
Plus they're really good.
They help clean the air and I do think
that they alter your mood.
Opening up the windows,
letting that sunshine in I think is so important
for your mood as well especially during the winter months
when it gets darker earlier.
It's especially important
to make sure we are getting exposed to sunlight.
Now this was a weekend morning,
so instead of pulling out my laptop,
I decided to bring back my nostalgic childhood vibes
and pull out a coloring book.
I had one of these stashed away in my library
that I've been meaning to use
and so I found some pencil crayons
and I just started coloring
and it was very therapeutic, I really enjoyed it.
I'll try to find one of these coloring books
and link it for you guys,
but it was a lot of fun
and I feel like I could do a party in this,
have some girlfriends over
and just have a coloring book party
and make some lattes and put some good music on
and just have a really chill night in of coloring.
It's funny how the things you used
to do as a child make you really happy as an adult.
There you have it, that is my morning self-care routine.
I hope you guys got some inspiration
to add to your own morning routine
even if you just do one thing
that maybe you saw and got inspired from in this video.
I think it's gonna make a huge difference in your own life.
These are things I truly swear by
and they're just kind of like everyday habits
that I don't really think about.
I don't always have pancakes for breakfast.
It's more of a weekend thing,
but I just wanted to inspire you guys
to give yourselves a little bit more self-love
in the morning and that can mean cuddling
with your little pup a little bit longer.
Cashew always looks very relaxed on the couch.
But yeah I just wanna say a huge thank you again
to Caf-Lib for sponsoring this video.
Like I said, it is a dream partnership
I truly love and just use their product every single day
in my life and you guys will see it all the time
on my Instagram stories, in my other videos.
One of the most questions I get asked
is what herbal coffee are you drinking
and what is herbal coffee?
So hopefully this video helped explain
some of those questions that I get all the time.
I'm gonna have a link to purchase them down below,
but they're available in basically any grocery store.
You can find them at Bulk Barn.
I see them all the time,
so it's really accessible to get which I like
or you can just order it online.
So, I'll have those links down below.
Thank you so much for watching and I can't wait
to see you guys in my next video.
If you aren't already subscribed,
there's a link down below.
You can click that red subscribe button.
It's free and I post new videos
every single week on this channel.
I will see you guys in my next one.
Have a fabulous day and have an awesome self-care morning.
Bye, guys!
I'm just gonna cuddle with my little girl
a little bit longer.
You all snugly?
She's literally snoring right now.
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