I’ve learned that the habits that actually stick are rarely dramatic. They’re small, repeatable, and easy to return to — even when life is loud. I think of them as micro habits: practices so simple they don’t ask for motivation, only presence. I like to start with just one.

Settling into Habits that Actually Stick

Over the past year (and in many cases, several years), I’ve settled into a rhythm of wellness that feels realistic for real life — kids, work, seasons, and all. None of this is about fixing myself or chasing trends. It’s about caring for the body I’ve been given, consistently and without urgency.

With the kids getting older I find myself with a bit more time to focus on building habits that work for me. Habits that work because they aren’t about quick fixes or outward appearance, but instead, habits that focus on bettering my health and the quality of how I spend each day. Heartsill Wilson said it best: “What I do today is very important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.” I’m here for all of the small shifts that turn into sustainable habits!

Creating Micro-habits: The Starting Point

First, let’s define Micro-Habits. So often starting anything “new,” new job, new project, or even new habit can bring about anxious feelings. Feelings of resistance: Can I really do this? Do I really want to push myself like this? So often anything “new” feels intimidating and overwhelming.

Think of micro-habits like baby steps or tiny actions. Small, manageable changes in your lifestyle that easily slip into your routine. This may look like, making your bed in the morning, stretching for 5 minutes before bed, flossing every night, or drinking a full cup of water before your first meal. I find this is the most approachable way to achieve my goals, especially my goals going into 2026: not major life changes, just simple, consistent actions that can quietly change your quality of life.

---

The Micro-Habits I’m Carrying into 2026

Here’s what I’ve been doing, the micro-habits and wellness practices I’m keeping in 2026, and what I’m curious to add next.

Posture, On Purpose

Having a straight posture helps with your breathing, prevents headaches as well as neck and back pain, and can even strengthen your core. Using a posture corrector has quietly changed how I move through the day. While working, driving, or sitting at ball games, it serves as a reminder of where my body is in space. Over time, that awareness carries over even when I’m not wearing it — which feels like the real win.

If you don’t have a posture corrector, I recommend slating out times in your day for a posture check. This can look like setting a 20-minute timer and resetting your posture every time it rings or making it a habit to check your posture every time you take a sip of water or put your phone down.

---

Light Weights for Bone Health

I’ve been intentional about adding in light weights, especially as a way to support bone health. I have both 6lb and 12lb vests, now. I feel like it sort of replaces carrying my children around when they were younger on my hip or in a carrier while I garden, except it’s more balanced. Nothing extreme. Just enough resistance to remind my body it’s meant to stay strong.

These short sessions are easy to stack onto daily life — a few minutes here and there — and they add up in ways that matter long-term. These vests can be worn while working out or as you carry out your daily routine – adding a bit more resistance into your everyday activities. I’m anticipating this will only help me once summer comes and carrying materials (whether it’s wood, soil, or tools) around the garden is a regular task.

---

Hair Oil & Gentle Care

Weathering the farm work that each season brings means I needed something to keep my hair nourished and clean especially because I’ve got a lot of it! I started testing products that allowed my hair to look presentable even if I was going straight from an afternoon of gardening to selling our products at our local farmers’ market.

Years ago I found a simple dry shampoo recipe that worked and more recently, I have really found success using hair oil. I’ve been using my homemade hair oil for the past few years now. It’s a nourishing blend of tea tree, rosemary, geranium, and olive oil. I massage a few drops into my scalp and the ends of my hair before washing it. Each oil gives strength and shine to your hair, and the simple act of massaging the drops into your scalp promotes blood flow and hair growth.

This routine has allowed me to wash my hair less frequently and handle it more gently, but even more, it’s taught me that patience is rewarded. I’ve learned that how you treat something daily matters more than what you do occasionally.

---

Rebounding (Movement That Feels Like Play)

The trampoline stays close for a reason and it’s been one of my new favorite habits I’ve picked up recently. Just by setting a few minutes out of my day on the trampoline boosts circulation, supports lymphatic flow, and it feels approachable on even low-energy days. I love that I can slide ours under our bed when I don’t want it out.

The simple act of movement is a great warm-up, cool-down, or something you can do when you wake up or before you lay your head down to sleep. It’s movement without the whole production of “working out,” a routine that’s easy and honestly fun to slip into your day-to-day activities, which is often the kind that lasts.

---

Open the Windows First Thing (Even in Winter)

Before coffee, before checking your phone, open the blankets and crack the windows.

I pull the covers back, let the beds breathe, and open the windows just enough to let fresh air move through the rooms—even in the dead of winter. The cold doesn’t stay long, but the shift is immediate.

Overnight, bedrooms collect carbon dioxide, moisture, and stale air. A quick exchange of fresh air can:

• Improve alertness and focus
• Support better breathing and sleep quality later that night
• Reduce lingering odors, allergens, and dampness
• Gently cue your nervous system that the day has begun

There’s a reason Nordic households have practiced daily airing for generations. It’s not about freezing your home or wasting heat—it’s about resetting the space.

I’m not flinging windows wide open for hours. Just a few minutes. Long enough for the air to change, for the room to feel alive again.

It’s a small act, but it does something subtle and important: it reminds your body that the world is bigger than the four walls you slept inside. The day doesn’t rush in—but it’s invited.

This one takes less than five minutes and costs nothing. And somehow, it makes the whole house feel clearer.

---

Frownies & Facial Care

I’ve been consistent with Frownies for the past 3 years now, and consistency is the point. Less about changing my face and more about becoming aware of habitual tension. These patches are made to be worn while you sleep, holding your forehead muscles relaxed and preventing any unconscious tightening of your face overnight. These also help with tension headaches.

I wake up feeling more refreshed and satisfied knowing my facial muscles were resting still, just like the rest of my body. I pair this with lymphatic massage (I love using these dry brushes) using tallow for both my skin and face — slow, grounding, and restorative.

---

Tallow Lip Balm & Winter Skin Care

Between all six of us in the family it’s always been a juggle trying to find a lip balm that actually keeps everyone’s lips moisturized and happy. Maybe you feel this too.

Tallow lip balm (and Whipped Tallow Balm!) has truly changed the way our skin handles the cold months (which tend to take up most of the year here in Minnesota). A stick of my homemade tallow lip balm lives in every pocket and bag this time of year, a satisfying blend of whipped tallow, jojoba oil, and castor oil- and they’re almost sold out in our online shop.

Once I find a solution that works, I try my hardest to stick to it and using tallow for skincare has served my family well. Alongside it, a bit of olive oil for winter nasal dryness has become a non-negotiable micro habit — practical, simple, and deeply effective. When your skin feels good, you feel good!

---

Morning Coffee, Made Intentional

I like to start the morning with a big glass of water.

Then, each morning, I add a couple of teaspoons of collagen to my coffee. This ritual sets the tone for the day — not because it promises anything dramatic, but because it reminds me to start with nourishment instead of rush, adding to the work that coffee is already doing in my body. I also take a few minutes to let the morning sunshine rise on my eyelids as I sip my coffee, thankful for the day before and grateful for a new day ahead.

In moderation, coffee has significant benefits, meaning your morning cup of coffee is doing more than just warming you up for the day ahead. The caffeine is working through your body in ways that prevent stroke, heart disease, and Parkinson’s, among other common conditions.

---

Sauna & Cold Plunge (A Weekly Reset)

Early in 2025, I had the opportunity to attend a guided sauna retreat where my knowledge and appreciation for contrast therapy – intentional time between a cold plunge and sauna – grew immensely. Weekly sauna and cold plunge offers contrast — warmth and cold, effort and rest. It’s a reset that asks me to be present in my body, not distracted from it. I started “Sauna Sundays” with our family and friends and this is something we plan on continuing for many years to come.

Slipping out to the sauna has become a necessary routine for me, even if it’s just for a few minutes. It’s calming, and I know that my body is reaping major benefits from these relaxing moments.

Read more about the benefits here

---

Outside, Purposeful Movement

This might be the most important habit of all. Not workouts for the sake of checking a box, but movement tied to real work — hauling, lifting, walking, tending, fixing. In the spring and summer, all of us are constantly moving from sunup to sundown, and while it’s a tiring season, we all feel the grogginess that comes with the lack of physical activity in the winter. No need for a crazy workout schedule, just activity that satisfies our craving to stretch out our muscles and get our blood flowing.

When the lack of fresh air and movement starts to creep up on us, we go for movement with purpose. Movement truly grounds me in the day in a way nothing else quite does. It allows time to appreciate how your body works for you and the best way to say thank you to your body.

---

The Topics I’m Curious About in 2026

So, what are the beneficial habits to start in 2026? I don’t add much unless curiosity sticks around long enough to earn its place.

Going Analogue

We got rid of Netflix this past fall and I’ve got friends who are in shock that we sit through commercials. Letting patience stretch again. Letting commercials interrupt the spell.

Now we get to say, “ok guys, next commercial, go brush your teeth, get your pjs on, the show is over”, ect.

Streaming has trained us to expect entertainment without friction—no waiting, no deciding, no pause between episodes to ask if we actually want to keep watching. Going analogue feels like a small rebellion against that ease. Commercials force a break. They pull you out of the trance. You stand up. You refill your water. You notice the room you’re in, the people near you, the clock on the wall.

Red Light Therapy

I’m interested in how red light/photo therapy might support recovery, increase collagen production and help with whole-family pain relief. I’m approaching this slowly, with the same mindset I bring to everything else: observe first, decide later. Stay tuned, we’ve only had it for about 1 week and everyone’s fighting over who gets to use it after our recent family ski trip.

The Landline Experiment

We still have a 1950s landline in our house. Heavy receiver. Real ring. No apps. No scrolling. Just voices.

Instead of handing our kids a smartphone when the begging begins (because it does), we’re trying something different: they make a written list of friends’ phone numbers. They ask for permission to call. They stand in the kitchen or sit at the desk and actually talk.

There’s something formative about this. They learn how to introduce themselves. How to wait while someone gets called to the phone. How to handle awkward pauses. How to end a conversation kindly instead of disappearing mid-text.

It’s slower. It’s imperfect. Sometimes it’s inconvenient. But it builds confidence without constant access, connection without consumption.

I’m curious what this kind of friction might give them—stronger social muscles, a better sense of boundaries, and the understanding that communication doesn’t have to live in their pocket to be meaningful.

We’re not anti-technology. We’re just pro-timing. And for now, this feels like a small, intentional way to let childhood linger a little longer.

Creatine for Strength & Bone Support

Creatine has been showing up more in conversations around bone density and muscle health, particularly for women. I’m curious — and cautious — and plan to explore this thoughtfully. Another stay-tuned topic!

Reading More, Scrolling Less

More time with books. Finished thoughts. Longer ideas. Less fragmented consumption. This feels like a micro-habit with an outsized impact. Starting with: The Sacred Slow- Alicia Britt Chole, The Rhythm of Life- Matthew Kelly, Deep Work by Cal Newport, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek- Annie Dillard. Let me know if you have any must-read books

---

Starting 2026 with Intention

Building healthy habits means building a better life, one where you feel your best from the inside out. Habits that quickly become a normal part of your routine and can ground you in any stage or season of life.

This list doesn’t include all of the habits I’ve been building, read more in my 21 simple habits to take back your day post, where I share more research-backed habits I’ve kept up with this past year.

Pin for Later

The Thread That Ties It All Together

These habits aren’t about optimization or control. They’re about stewardship.

Caring for posture, bones, skin, strength, and mind doesn’t require intensity — it requires consistency. These positive micro habits don’t ask you to overhaul your life. They meet you exactly where you are and quietly support you from there.

And that’s what I’m carrying forward into the next year — not more, just better.