As February comes to an end, I felt like gathering my favorite things over the past 4 weeks. so let’s get straight into my favorite products, books, apps, and more that I feel added value to my life and made my February more fun and productive.
going on runs has been a part of my routine for years. it’s a way to be active while spending time in nature and burning away cortisol to manage my stress. I tried dozens of running shoes but never found ones that were comfortable enough to last my runs that ranged from an average of 2-8k a few times a week.
these right here changed the game for me. they’re lightweight and support my ankle well enough so that they have some sort of stability, but not to the point where they feel restricting. I don't get any shin splints anymore thanks to beneficial recovery plus these shoes for running. I can even use them for sprinting with no problem, and since I don’t usually go on long runs above 10k, the subtle cushioning they have for the sole is perfect.
this is one of my favorite backpacks I own. it's lightweight, and has a versatile material that can be used for several activities like hiking, school, or even going out. It also has several many pockets and dividers for laptops, pens, chargers, and two side pockets for a water bottle or anything else.
Lemon Balm Tea:
I cannot describe the way this helps me sleep in literally 10 minutes at night. I had so much trouble sleeping over the past year, but I've been drinking this every other night or so and it's helped me calm down and get into deep sleep so easily.
I've linked the exact one I drink in the image above so you can try it out if you're interested. it's so far helped me wake up the next day feeling rested, and I've been waking up less throughout the middle of the night.
An Immense World by Ed Yong
this book is crazy. I ordered it a while ago and when it finally arrived, I dove in. I absolutely loved reading it so far and am excited to finish it this week.
it's all about animal senses and how they perceive the world around us. even from the introduction, my perspective shifted about life, and the multitude of ways that the same environment can be experienced on a sensory level.
Toucan (a Chrome Extension for learning languages):
the key to learning a new language is to totally immerse yourself in it, surrounding yourself with the language so that it becomes second nature to you eventually. Toucan is an app that I’ve been using for a couple of months to learn Spanish, but recently as I began using it more often, I’ve become so much more fluent in the language. While I still consider myself a beginner, it’s allowed me to grow my vocabulary so much and I don’t have to rely on an accountability method to get me to open the app. since “Toucan” is a Chrome extension, it’s automatically there whenever you make an online search. it basically translates a handful of words on the webpage you’re on, to whatever language you’re learning. for example with me, every time I research something in school, a new word from that page is highlighted and translated into Spanish for me to learn. once you click on the word and begin ‘practicing’ it, the adjacent words in the sentence also translate, and more words end up translating into the new language.
overall I feel like it’s been a great way to work on my goal of becoming trilingual since I don’t have to find and plan out specific time every day to practice Spanish.
The Huberman Lab Podcast: I mentioned how much I love this podcast in one of my previous posts here, but the episodes this month have been specifically useful to my life and have genuinely added value. one of my favorites was this episode with Dr. Gina Poe about sleep to enhance learning, memory and emotional state which already benefited my life and sleep patterns.
I'm a lover of lip balms, and the same applies to coffee-flavored anything. Crazy Rumors is one of my favorite brands for lip balms, since they use clean ingredients and still have high quality products at affordable prices.
this feels like something in between a lip balm and a mask, being light enough to wear throughout the day but also feels nourishing and moisturizing at night.
also I'm obsessed with the packaging, which is always a plus. I have the watermelon slice flavor right now, and have a good feeling I'm going to be trying the other two pretty soon as well.
the takeaway:
there's a lot of cool ways we can increase the number of subtle good moments throughout our days, like adding a step to our night routine of drinking a calming tea to relax before bed. it's not always materialistic to have a tangible object you want to buy that you feel would add value to your life, and these have been a few of my favorites that have hit differently this month.
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