Hey Solos,
I’m a woman in her early 50’s who is a solopreneur trying to figure out how to create a sane solo work environment that moves my body, mind and soul.
In this newsletter and it’s accompanying podcast I’ll be sharing thoughts, movements and more that help me. I’m clearly NOT a doctor, mental health or nutrition expert and as such are not claiming that these experiences are ones you should do yourself.
In posting these experiences/experiments I hope to encourage you to find ways to make your solo worklife more enjoyable. Working solo doesn’t mean we have to be stagnant, right?
Let’s get started!
Steph
Yin yoga favorites
I love yin yoga because it’s a restorative, slow stretch that heals my soul and loosens up my body without pain. I’ll be sharing the videos I’m watching so you can get a taste of the slow calm that yin yoga can promote in your mind and body.
My absolute favorite yin yoga video that I’ve been using for years is this one:
Podcast episode 1: Certainty is not spicy enough for our solo worklife
“The search for knowledge is not nourished by certainty.
It is nourished by a radical absence of certainty.”
Physicist Carlo Rovelli
Let’s relax into uncertainty with this brief meditation.
Transcription is available below these links.
text: The transcription is available at the bottom of this post.
YouTube:
🪐Contact me if there’s a particular solo work life stressor you’d like me to work into a meditation. https://www.stephfuccio.com/contact.html
👉🏾This episode is sponsored by Streamyard the very platform that we record, go live and distribute these videos to YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Find their link below.
🤸🏽 Music from Key Frame Audio: https://keyframeaudio.com
Episode 1 feedback:
We did it! We went live last week for our premiere episode. The feedback so far has been lovely. So lovely. Here’s some of it.
I’m so touched by this. Thank you all.
Eat more veggies
I’ve been experimenting with an eating plan that’s focused on whole foods. Oddly enough, getting enough veggies in my diet, 3-5 cups a day, is the hardest part. So to get back into the veggie habit, here’s what I’m doing. This especially helps me when I’m too busy with work deadlines OR want to go work from a coffeeshop.
While I’m cooking my breakfast, I also slice up 1-2 different colored veggies (eat the rainbow, right?) and put them into Tupperware. So when I feel peckish once I start working, I can grab these veggies instead of just having another coffee or worse yet, not getting my veggies in for the day.
I’ve got another veggie increasing tip that I’ll share in the next newsletter.
If you’ve got a veggie increasing hack, please share it in the comment section below.
FREE preview of the premium newsletter issue
This has been a FREE preview of a premium newsletter issue. There will be 3 issues like this before we switch to a free/premium model because I want you to have an idea of what you can get with the paid issues.
Free: podcast in audio, video and text formats
Paid: things that have helped me throughout the week. This can include but is not limited to
online exercise videos,
quick busy people food recipes
books, podcasts and social media posts that help my solo worklife brain relax and keep a good perspective on things
I hope you enjoy it! If you have, please LIKE (hit that heart button) and/or share it with someone you know!
Podcast audio transcription:
“The search for knowledge is not nourished by certainty. It is nourished by a radical absence of certainty.” Physicist Carlo Rovelli
If you work alone most of the time and experience that mental chatter that's a little bit too strong because there's nobody to bounce your ideas and stress off of, then you're in the right place.
It doesn't matter if you're small business owner, solopreneur, digital nomad, or any kind of remote worker. These meditations are made for you. This is a motion meditation to help you let go, connect, and energize your solo work experience.
In the next few minutes, we'll focus on disconnecting from work. Acknowledge any lingering thoughts about tasks and deadlines. Imagine the uneasiness with uncertainty in your solo work life fading away.
For this first meditation, we're going to stay at your desk, sitting. We will move a little bit later on, but we're not going to do any drastic changes because all mental changes, as with physical changes, are done little bit by little bit. So let's stay in our comfort zone right now.
Okay? Are you ready?
Now close your eyes if that's comfortable for you. If not, you can stare at something that's okay. Uncertainty is something that makes our work life exciting, but it also brings a lot of stress.
So we can't wish it away, but we can get more comfortable with it.
I accept that uncertainty is a necessary part of my solo worklife.
Say it out loud with me so your stubborn brain, which is like mine, my stubborn brain, I have one too, can hear it. I accept that uncertainty is a necessary part of my solo work life. One more time.
I accept that uncertainty is a necessary part of my solo work life.
I can hear the tone that you put on uncertainty. Stop that. It's not a bad word. You can do this. Let's repeat it a few more times and let the worries melt away. I accept that uncertainty is a necessary part of my solo work life. I accept that uncertainty is a necessary part of my solo work life.
Now let's shift our focus to our breath. Inhale deeply through your nose. Feel the breath fill your lungs and exhale slowly. Take two quick breaths through the nose and let it out in one long, slow breath.
Like this. 1-2 in.1-2-3-4 out. Let do it again. Let's do this three more times. Do it two more times by yourself without me doing it. Go for it.
You gorgeous creature you. You do so much already. You need to keep track of your effort and your energy, not just your success, financial and otherwise. And you are comfortable with uncertainty.
As we wrap up this meditation, let's bring some body movement into the mix. Stand up and shake your arms from side to side. There's no wrong way to do this. Just stand and kind of sway from side to side until your arms start to move and hit your torso. Have them hit your belly, have them hit your butt. But don't judge how you're doing it. Just let your arms move.
In our daily work life, we have to make so many decisions that tension, that responsibility can tighten up our body. By just letting your arms flail around, you're signaling to the universe that you're comfortable with all of the mistakes that you're going to make.
You're comfortable with all of the things that will happen that you don't know about yet, that you're comfortable with your uncertainty. You're loosening your body up to let things happen instead of trying to control them.
I know this is hard. I live this. Keep moving around. Just a few more seconds.
Final body movement. Put your arms down and just bend over and hang there. Just let your body go where it goes and just feel it. Feel your body relaxing. Just be. There's no wrong way to just relax.
As we conclude this session, take a few more deep breaths. Let's do two. Ready? I'm going to do it with you. One more.
Remember, as you go back to work that you are comfortable with uncertainty. Do your work, be genuine, and let go of the result.
Thank you for joining me for this meditation. If there's an aspect of solo worklife that you'd like me to focus on in one of these, let me know. I'd be more than happy to.
I'm a solopreneur, too, and I work at home by myself, so I understand. I understand the things that you'll be talking about. Coffeelikemedia.com/contact
Okay, now get back to work.