Midlife Wellness: 5 Tiny Habits That Changed My Energy

Feel like the rules changed when you reached that certain age?
They did.
This series shares tips and tricks to navigate this time in life.

I’ve spent years looking for more energy.

Not because I wanted to be more productive but because I wanted to feel like myself again. (Although more productivity would be welcome, too! :-) )

Living with chronic fatigue* since my early twenties, and now navigating the hormonal changes of midlife, I’ve tried a lot of things. As someone with a master’s degree in exercise physiology who has spent decades teaching wellness, I also understand the science behind what actually supports energy.

And yes—I absolutely use supplements and some have made a meaningful difference for me.

But some of the biggest improvements in my day-to-day energy came from a handful of tiny habits that quietly changed how my body functions every single day.

These habits are surprisingly ordinary. They’re not glamorous. They’re not expensive.

AND they don’t promise overnight transformation. (But most truly foundational wellness habits don’t.)

But they have consistently helped me feel more awake, more grounded, and more like myself during this season of midlife.

And together, they’ve had a bigger impact than I ever expected.

This one surprised me. I knew sunlight was important, but I didn’t think it would make that big of a difference.

Then I started paying attention.

Stepping outside for just five or ten minutes shortly after waking helps set your body’s internal clock. It tells your brain, “It’s morning.” That simple signal supports healthier cortisol rhythms during the day and helps your body produce melatonin at night.

The result?

I wake up a little easier. I sleep a little better. (I also added an alarm clock with the light feature - it’s so helpful! When I look at the light, I feel my brain perk up. This light is clutch in the winter because we sometimes don’t see the sun until almost 8am!)

And those improvements build on each other.

You don’t need perfect weather. You don’t need to stare at the sun. Just step outside.

Drink your coffee/tea on the porch. Walk to the mailbox. Take a few deep breaths.

Five minutes counts. (But do more like 20 if it’s cloudy.)

Another easy thing we do is open all of the shades in our house right away. (Or later if it’s winter. Again, I live in Minnesota!)

For years I focused on getting “eight hours.” (And often it was 9 or 10 - chronic fatigue, remember?)

Now I pay much more attention to when those hours happen.

I know that I get my best sleep when I’m asleep by 9:30 and up by 6am. I still need an alarm to wake up - I don’t wake naturally - but if I let myself sleep in, I feel groggy.

If I go to sleep at 10:30 and sleep to 7am, I feel groggy.

My fitness watch tracks quality of sleep and I get significantly more deep sleep AND deep sleep cycles when I sleep the right hours for me. (We need deep sleep for our brain to clear toxins - google “glymphatic system”. And cycling in and out of deep sleep is particularly good for this cleansing.)

I’ve shared this technique with so many people and others have found the same thing. Finding your right hours helps you get deeper sleep.

Of course, life happens.

It’s not perfect.

But treating bedtime like an appointment instead of a suggestion has been surprisingly powerful.

Good energy starts the night before.

For most of us, the problem isn’t that we’re tired.

It’s that we’re tired and wired.

Our bodies are exhausted, but our nervous systems never got the memo.

Our nervous system is still going strong and this is key,
even if you feel relaxed.

You see, feeling relaxed is relative.

Stick with me here:

• Let’s create a scale of the feeling of stress of 1-10, with 1 being totally relaxed and 10 being super stressed,

• Let’s just say that numbers 1-3 means your nervous system is in parasympathetic dominance, which means you are truly, physiologically relaxed.

• If you have spent the day running around and stressed out, maybe an 8, 7 is going to feel relaxed and 5 is going to feel really relaxed BUT you are still not physiologically relaxed.

And we need True Relaxation to get a good, restorative night of sleep.

This is absolutely crucial to understand! TRUE RELAXATION takes more than 5 minutes to find. (If you want more, check out the Vault for subscribers: Nervous System Reset Collection.)

BUT if you want a helpful, nearly foolproof way to relax, check out one of my favorite ways to shift into rest.

I lie on the floor with my calves resting on a chair. It’s a variation of “Viparita Karani” (Feet up the Wall) from Yoga. It is one of my very favorite poses.

With feet up like this, your body begins to shift into the parasympathetic nervous system, relaxation.

I stay there for as long as it takes to relax. I breathe deeply and let go.

I strength train. I practice yoga. I have a treadmill and stationary bike that do more than hold dirty clothes. I love intentional movement.

But I’ve realized that a simple walk outside gives me something those workouts don’t.

Fresh air. Natural light. It’s grounding and helps me get a calmer nervous system.

Even ten or fifteen minutes can completely change how I feel. I get the movement but I get something more, too.

Movement isn’t only about burning calories. Sometimes it’s about changing your state.

This is the habit that changed everything (but it may take changing how you feel about being “productive”!)

For years I believed I should push through fatigue. If I’m being really honest, I felt like fatigue was a weakness. (Of course, with chronic fatigue it especially felt like a weakness. I was tired so much more than others and didn’t have a diagnosis* so I assumed it was something I was doing wrong.) But even on my energy days, when I felt good, I would get a natural afternoon lull and want to push through. You know:

• Drink another coffee

• Do some jumping jacks

• Be more disciplined

• Push, push, push

Now I pay attention to my cycles and use them a couple of ways:

Energy #1: I rest when I need to: Full disclosure: Still not perfect here. I feel so inclined to push through all of the time! BUT it’s night and day from what it was. I am so much better and really listening and taking better care of me.

Energy #2: I follow my energy and use it: Stick with me: We all have energy for certain tasks. Yes, physical energy, but also mental energy.

Start to track the best time of the day to do certain tasks for you.

I have the most focus energy in the morning so that is when I do detailed work, make plans, etc.

In the afternoon, I sometimes feel groggy (I don’t always! If you want to know what helps, let me know. I’ll write all about it!)

BUT that groggy energy is GREAT for writing articles for me or working on a new course I am creating. There is something about being sleepy that brings out great thoughts from me.

Now, I finalize an article for substack in the morning when I have to make sure all of the subscribe buttons are in place, the links are correct, the headers are made, etc.

Ironically, honoring my energy has given me more energy and I get more done because I’m not working against how I’m really feeling.

Think of how long it takes you to do something that you don’t feel like doing. I always have this feeling of walking through quick sand, the more I try to force it the slower I get.

But when I’m in the energy for it? I can get it done so quickly!

I am definitely not perfect at this and I’m not sure I ever will be, but I’m so much better!

It took me a long time to learn rest isn’t laziness. (Let’s be real, that took me way too long to figure out! 😂 )

It’s just part of the cycle.

None of these habits changed my life overnight.

But together, they completely changed the way I experience my days.

More steady energy, better sleep, less fighting with my body.

More trust that I don’t have to force energy.

I simply have to support it.

Because the goal isn’t to become someone who has endless energy. The goal is to create a life that works with the energy you have—and gently expands it over time.

If there’s one thing I hope you take away from this article, it’s this:

You don’t need a complete life overhaul.

You just need one small habit that feels doable.

That’s where real change begins.

Ready for my biggest lesson:

Be intentional with the energy you have instead of wishing you had different energy.

Your body isn’t asking you to do everything. It’s asking you to listen.

And sometimes, that’s the most powerful wellness habit of all.

* It wasn’t chronic fatigue. I was just diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). Just wanted to add this piece of info, in case it’s something that helps you.

Join the Inner Circle through any paid subscription and you’ll also receive:

• I share a SIMPLY :: well Practice: Something small you can do to help you relax at night. (With a 5 min voice recording for you to enjoy. :-) )

• Journaling prompts to help you think through your energy highs and lows.

• Yoga video for a bright and upbeat morning. (Full disclosure: The video is also on my YouTube channel so you can check it out there.)

• My fave essential oil for a quick pick-me-up.