Bare Minimum Mondays
If you’re just joining the Bare Minimum Mondays posts, here’s the premise…
Action always gets more results than ideas. (Related to this: the thing you do is better than the thing you don’t do, progress is better than perfection, consistency, even with something small, is more effective than occasional bursts of excellence).
Every Monday, we send out things to try in four areas: movement (exercise), nutrition, sleep, and stress management. These are, without question, the four most powerful tools available for tackling a massive number of maladies. The goal isn’t for you to do all of them forever. It’s not even for you to do all of them this week. The goal is to give you enough things to try that you can find a couple that stick, and then for you to have some intentionality in each of those areas that you can stick with for the rest of your life.
Take what you need, discard the rest.
Let’s get into it.
Move
Do 3–5 minutes of gentle movement to warm your body before the day starts (stretching, walking, light mobility). This is more about improving circulation than burning calories. Light daily movement improves circulation, joint health, and metabolic markers even at low intensity.
Eat
Add one warm, whole-food item to your day (soup, oatmeal, chili, roasted vegetables). The goal is to get something both nourishing and comforting in the cold weather. Diets higher in whole foods improve nutrient intake and cardiometabolic health.
Sleep
Dim lights and lower stimulation earlier in the evening — winter is already doing half the work for you! Reduced evening light exposure supports melatonin production and sleep quality.
Manage
Take 60 seconds once a day to breathe slowly and warm your hands together — simple nervous system regulation. Slow breathing reduces sympathetic nervous system activation and stress response.