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Easy Ways to Find Adventure in Your Every Day
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As we get older, it’s easy to fall into the work-gym-sleep hamster wheel where every day feels the same. The monotony of adulthood can be draining, and often it leaves us asking: is this all worth it?
But, finding adventure in our lives doesn’t need to happen only when we escape on exotic trips (or let’s be honest, while scrolling through our phones). It’s really important for us as human beings to spend time exploring and engaging in creativity— for our health and longevity.
As a conscious decision-making coach and wellness entrepreneur, I’ve figured out some of the most effective ways to get moving and start exploring in your own backyard.
Here are my four simple, low-cost (mostly free!) ways to find adventure on the regular:
Get some fresh air.
Did you know that nowadays the majority of us spend 93% of our time indoors? Being outside and breathing in the fresh air actually has the power to shift our brains and invigorate our perspective. In Japan, there’s a national program called Forest Bathing to encourage residents to spend more time outside for their health. So, ask yourself truthfully: when was the last time you took a deep breath of fresh air? And take your movement into nature—whatever that looks like for you.
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Get some fresh air.
Did you know that nowadays the majority of us spend 93% of our time indoors? Being outside and breathing in the fresh air actually has the power to shift our brains and invigorate our perspective. In Japan, there’s a national program called Forest Bathing to encourage residents to spend more time outside for their health. So, ask yourself truthfully: when was the last time you took a deep breath of fresh air? And take your movement into nature—whatever that looks like for you.
Take yourself on an inspiration date.
Julia Cameron, the author of ‘The Artist’s Way,’ talks about the importance of engaging in creativity daily. One of the ways she recommends doing this is taking yourself on an “Inspiration Date.” A lot of times when we get stuck in our mundane routines, our lives become devoid of creativity. So, make a commitment to yourself to shift your perspective at least once a week. Maybe go on a walk in a new neighborhood. Meditate in a park near your house. No matter what it is, set aside time for yourself (even if that means marking it on your calendar!) to get inspired and recharged.
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Take yourself on an inspiration date.
Julia Cameron, the author of ‘The Artist’s Way,’ talks about the importance of engaging in creativity daily. One of the ways she recommends doing this is taking yourself on an “Inspiration Date.” A lot of times when we get stuck in our mundane routines, our lives become devoid of creativity. So, make a commitment to yourself to shift your perspective at least once a week. Maybe go on a walk in a new neighborhood. Meditate in a park near your house. No matter what it is, set aside time for yourself (even if that means marking it on your calendar!) to get inspired and recharged.
Shift your sweat routine.
One of my favorite ways to feel adventurous is to change up my workout routine. If I’ve been obsessed with yoga for a few months, I’ll try to head to a boxing class or go on a run with a friend. It’s easy to treat moving our body like another thing we have to check off our list. But, what if you could use it as a form of releasing stress and recharging your internal battery instead? Brainstorm some new classes or types of movement you want to explore and don’t overthink it—just get out there!
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Shift your sweat routine.
One of my favorite ways to feel adventurous is to change up my workout routine. If I’ve been obsessed with yoga for a few months, I’ll try to head to a boxing class or go on a run with a friend. It’s easy to treat moving our body like another thing we have to check off our list. But, what if you could use it as a form of releasing stress and recharging your internal battery instead? Brainstorm some new classes or types of movement you want to explore and don’t overthink it—just get out there!
Connect with another human IRL.
Sadly enough, over 70% of Americans consider themselves lonely. At the same time, we spend on average 24 hours a week on technology, engaging in “low-quality leisure,” often by ourselves. It doesn’t take much to ask a friend to coffee or go on a hike with a coworker. Humans are social creatures, and engaging in deep regular connection allows us to get outside of our busyness bubble and put things in perspective.
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Connect with another human IRL.
Sadly enough, over 70% of Americans consider themselves lonely. At the same time, we spend on average 24 hours a week on technology, engaging in “low-quality leisure,” often by ourselves. It doesn’t take much to ask a friend to coffee or go on a hike with a coworker. Humans are social creatures, and engaging in deep regular connection allows us to get outside of our busyness bubble and put things in perspective.
As a San Francisco transplant, I try to take advantage of the calm nature and literal jungles that are at our doorstep. After moving here from the hustle and bustle of New York City, the ability to get outside and be surrounded by nature is still astonishing to me.
Some of my favorite places to explore in the Bay Area are:
• Changing my scenery and going on at urban hike at Mount Sutro
• Climbing the hills of Mount Diablo
• Soaking in the views at Bernal Heights
• Relaxing by the ocean at Muir Beach
• Walking through the wildflowers in Half Moon Bay
• Meditate in the botanical gardens
• Go for a run along the water near Fort Mason (and stop at the Sunday Farmer’s Market afterward!)
No matter what your version of adventure looks like, use this as inspiration to get outside, move your body, and shift your perspective.
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As a San Francisco transplant, I try to take advantage of the calm nature and literal jungles that are at our doorstep. After moving here from the hustle and bustle of New York City, the ability to get outside and be surrounded by nature is still astonishing to me.
Some of my favorite places to explore in the Bay Area are:
• Changing my scenery and going on at urban hike at Mount Sutro
• Climbing the hills of Mount Diablo
• Soaking in the views at Bernal Heights
• Relaxing by the ocean at Muir Beach
• Walking through the wildflowers in Half Moon Bay
• Meditate in the botanical gardens
• Go for a run along the water near Fort Mason (and stop at the Sunday Farmer’s Market afterward!)
No matter what your version of adventure looks like, use this as inspiration to get outside, move your body, and shift your perspective.
Wellness
What is Wellness?
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To say the last year and a half was tough would be an understatement. In fact, it will probably go down as one of the most difficult times for our modern generation. In one of the many social polls we conducted during the pandemic, some of you described this time as a sheer “dumpster fire” or “like stepping on a Lego.” And to be honest, I couldn’t agree more.
Luckily, we’ve been able to get back to some form of normalcy in our lives and wellness routines over the last several months. As vaccines became available to the public, wellness businesses welcomed fitness fanatics, haircut seekers, and massage lovers back to in-person wellness experiences. And thank goodness for that—my roots and horrible posture from working from my bed were both getting wildly out of control. This girl needed a good massage and cupping session stat.
If there’s one thing we learned from the pandemic, it’s that our wellness routines are as personal as they are important. During shelter-at-home, those routines looked a bit different. For many, it meant taking a new approach to the “typical” wellness services we count on—I’m looking at you DIY haircuts, at-home waxing sessions (ouch!), and virtual swerking classes.
Now that we can leave our humble abodes to take advantage of in-person experiences again, the word “wellness” has seemingly taken on a new meaning.
Recently, we conducted another one of our famous social polls to see what wellness means to you, our Mindbody community, now that we're slowly but surely getting back to our regularly scheduled programming. We also tapped some of our most influential Mindbody business owners about the ever-evolving wellness landscape.
Here’s what you all had to say.
Wellness is more important to you than ever
According to our annual Mindbody Wellness Index, 60% of Americans say they’re more focused on their health and wellness since COVID. Consumers are now realizing they need to take greater care of themselves to optimize and preserve their health. When we asked you on Instagram how important wellness is, a whopping 98% said it was more important than ever. When it comes to how you’re practicing wellness, though, the answers were all over the board. Many of you pointed to journaling, practicing breathwork, and daily workout routines (cycling and yoga topped the list) as being the activities that help you keep your chill throughout the week.
I’m also happy to report that over 50% said you tend to feel more blessed than stressed on a daily basis—which is more than likely a big improvement. Let’s be honest, a year ago I would’ve bet a billion dollars that 99.9% of us knew no other feeling than anxiety—am I right? But even with the stress in our lives dwindling, many of you are still experiencing burnout at the end of a long work week (guilty!). But instead of succumbing to a bottle of wine for relief (please, that was so 2020), you’re unwinding by going to your favorite workout classes—with hot yoga, barre, and Pilates as your faves.
What wellness means to the pros
Let’s be honest, we should credit the business owners in this space for helping us reignite our spark when it comes to our wellness routines, right? Thanks to them, we’ve been inspired to prioritize the activities that help us feel our best. In turn, we thought it’d be interesting to learn what wellness means to them—and how that definition has changed over the past eighteen months.
Here’s what they had to say.
“Wellness is living in balance—mind, body, spirit. Highs and lows. It all ebbs and flows and we can navigate it a bit better when we take time to move, breath and remember who we are, and how we are connected to this big, beautiful world.” - Jess Pierno, Founder, Owner, and Chief Inspiration Officer of Yoga Heights
“Wellness is a true balancing of the mental, physical, and spiritual. It has definitely evolved over the years for me—from something that I just thought was about exercising and eating a healthy diet—to also incorporating balancing and healing internally and spiritually.” - Stefanie Patterson, Owner, Indianapolis Salt Cave and Halotherapy Center
“My sense of wellness has evolved from staying healthy and motivated, mind/body/spirit... to being more gentle with myself, less demanding. Accepting my limitations, taking time for resting, and gaining real clarity about what's important. I care less about what people think of me—difficult as a performer and as a business owner with so many demands on me—and more about getting quiet and tapping into the divine source inside of me that helps me discern my next move. In this way, I know my motives are as pure as possible and I'm not getting distracted—not that I don't make mistakes! Those are necessary, that's how we learn!” - Johanna Krynytzky, Owner, Hip Expressions Belly Dance Studio
“My studio name reminds us that we are constantly evolving. The past 18 months have certainly shown us that! Wellness to me means doing your best on any given day to make sure that you are taking care of yourself as best you can. It leads to resilience. Diet, exercise, sleep, a sense of community, and some form of faith. It all matters. Setbacks happen all the time, and every day is a chance to start again. We strive to be 'cheerleaders' for our clients when we sense that things are coming out of balance in their lives. So many have been with us for 18 years and are friends—they are our community and we all watch out for each other.” - Mo Wolfe, Owner and Founder, Evolution Pilates
Putting wellness into action
I think we can all agree that there isn’t one true definition of wellness anymore. To some of us, it means getting that hot yoga sesh in daily, and to others, it means carving out time to treat ourselves to a massage or manicure. As long as you’re actively pursuing wellness—whatever that means to you—you're on the right track.
Our MO has always been about connecting the world to wellness—a term that's seen a lot of change lately. Whether you’re fully embracing the in-person experience or still delighted by the convenience of practicing at-home wellness, the Mindbody app makes it easy for you to book experiences that help you feel like YOU again.
