Good morning.
This is Mike Milios and this is the pilot episode of KarunaCast.
This is part of Karuna Community Minnesota.
This is a nonprofit organization that we started to bring mindfulness,
Tools to all different communities in need.
We noticed that a lot of these powerful life tools were being offered at major corporations,
Big government entities,
So we wanted to take the step to serve those that serve.
So we're offering up yoga,
Meditation,
Retreats to our fellow nonprofit community,
To those who are incarcerated,
Our military and veterans community,
And anyone out there who is serving others because we can't take care of our community unless we take care of ourselves.
So it's been fun,
It's been a wild adventure,
Especially learning how to navigate the red tape that is involved with setting up a tax-exempt 501c3 organization,
But it's been good.
Lots of life lessons,
Especially learning the importance of patience.
But for our initial session,
I thought it would be a good idea to talk about how do we start our day.
If you're like me,
A lot of times it's really hard to get out of bed.
I'm not naturally a morning person.
I like the snooze button,
I like my sleep.
Sleep is very good for us,
So I'm encouraging sleep.
But how we start our day can really dictate our decision-making process and how we react to those in our lives throughout the day.
So it's important to get started the right way,
And that does generally involve giving yourself anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour,
If you can,
Some extra time to really dial into you.
And so I've come up with five basic life morning hacks.
Actually,
They're kind of 10,
Possibly condensed into five,
So we have those sub-parts,
But I won't actually list them,
But we'll go over some general practices and some stuff to avoid.
So first,
Think about how our lives have changed,
Not just our personal lives,
But us as humans.
I mean,
Look at what we're taking in on a daily basis,
Whether it's screens,
Whether it's TV,
Social media.
Look how much we are taking on before we get out of bed.
So what I've started doing,
And I've heard a few other folks mention this,
Is avoid screens in the morning.
Don't check your social media,
Try not to keep the phone by your bedside,
Avoid the 24-hour news cycle.
You'll have plenty of time to catch up with global and local events,
But it's just not the first thing we need to take on as we get out of bed.
I mean,
Think about what your brain,
And the amount of information that you're taking in if the first thing you do is roll over and check the phone.
Next,
I recommend some type of mindfulness practice.
What I do is I get out of bed,
I even try to make my bed,
At least just throw the comforter over.
I wake up,
I use the bathroom,
And before I do anything else,
I go to my mat.
I have a small little yoga carpet or mat with a cushion,
And I take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes to orient myself using meditation.
I like to meditate.
It works very well for me.
I start with some gentle movement just to kind of get the blood flowing,
And then I meditate.
I'll share,
Or if you go to our website,
There's a lot of tools for learning how to meditate.
But this sets the stage for the rest of my day,
Because what we're doing when we're meditating is we're able to control our mind's awareness,
And allow ourselves to get into that,
Or get out of the reactivity mode.
We can process what is going on,
Whatever is going on in ourselves,
Because you're not blissfully whisking away all the problems,
Or going off into some trance.
No,
You're being with what is going on,
But you're doing so with a level of awareness,
Non-judgment,
And compassion,
Versus this scurried morning,
I'm going to fly out the door and just feel like I'm constantly in a rush,
Because when we do that,
The stress and the toll it will take on our body,
Especially over a period of time,
It will impact our health,
It will impact our digestive system.
Just a few minutes in the morning can really change the way our body and mind processes our day.
Other options is find a chapter in a book you like.
It can just be a few paragraphs.
This can be something by Mathieu Ricard,
Thich Nhat Hanh,
Pema Chodron,
Jack Kornfield,
You name it.
Or if you're spiritually inclined,
This can be a Buddhist text,
A Christian text,
A Hindu text.
There's so much out there to help you refocus and reorient.
The practice of writing pages in the morning is really good.
I got a book from a friend called The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.
It's just this process of writing three pages of whatever is on your mind.
It is a great way to just get out there,
To put whatever is on your mind and put it down.
Afterwards,
No matter what you're writing,
If it's just blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Literally writing blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
Blah,
It is a tremendous way to clear the deck a bit.
So whatever you're doing,
If it's a gentle yoga practice,
If you're going for a walk with your dog or just going for a walk by yourself,
If you're meditating,
Give yourself anywhere from,
Even if you can only spare five minutes,
Give yourself that time before you take on your day to just recalibrate.
For me,
It's a gentle movement practice with meditation.
But perhaps if I have a little bit more time,
I'll open up a passage of a book that I like.
It really reframes your day.
Then as we talk about the healthy consumption of what your brain is taking in,
It's also important for healthy consumption of what your body is taking in.
For me,
I know this will hopefully not make you all turn off this podcast,
This recording,
But I've reduced the coffee intake.
I was a caffeine junkie and now occasionally I will have a half-caf cup,
But I start my coffee,
If I have one,
Later in the day because I found that my body has the natural energy in the morning once I got rid of the coffee addiction.
I am a lot more productive and my body,
I think,
Is able to regulate better.
Then my stress levels are way down because what the caffeine was doing,
It was just getting me fired up,
Which isn't necessarily the mode I needed to be in.
So watch the caffeine intake.
I know I have plenty of friends and colleagues that are like,
I will never give up coffee.
But try to do a half-caf.
Try to find something that's got a little bit less caffeine.
Then I use the cold shower technique.
This is not for everybody.
Of course,
I have to do the legal disclaimer with all this stuff.
Make sure you check with your medical provider.
But when I'm in the shower,
Towards the end,
I'm taking it from Wim Hof.
You see how long you can sit in the cold shower.
It is amazing.
It's a great way to jumpstart your day.
Especially living in Minnesota,
I was like,
Yeah,
Of course.
I want more cold into my life.
The first few times you do it is torture.
You try to see if you can do it for ten seconds.
Then the next day,
You try to see if you can stay in the cold water for twenty seconds.
You watch your breath as you do it.
But it is.
It's invigorating what it's doing for the body in terms of energizing it.
It's moving stuff through your system.
I love it now.
Perhaps I've been conditioned,
But I think it's a great way to start.
It fires me up.
It's just a good way to get going.
Well,
Folks,
Thanks for taking the time to listen to our pilot.
We're exploring different approaches to media to get folks to take care of themselves.
We want to connect communities.
We want to connect people.
Because when we can take care of ourselves,
We can take care of our community.
So make sure you check us out.
We're at karunacmn.
Com.
And then we're also on the Book of Faces at Karuna Community MN.
And then the Gram,
As the Youngins or the Millennials call it,
At karuna community MN.
Have a great day.
I'm Mike.
I will talk to you soon.
