SPRING: THE TIME OF THE YEAR TO WAKE UP AND GROW

SEPTEMBER 2026 newsletteR

My favorite type of a clock, packaged nice and neat.

Storm waiting on a opponent to play noughts and crosses.

Both photos completely irrelevant to this newsletter, but a good cat photo is always relevant to life!

It’s been a while, folks. I was running a little human experience for 5 weeks here: being alone at home while my partner was traveling. It was great! Good opportunity for some soul-searching and growth. So peaceful and quiet, but I also encountered some feelings and sensations in the body that I don’t get in touch with while surrounded by other people. I like my own company, haha, so being alone is easy for me. Well, it’s better with the cats, of course. I will tell you about the ‘results’ of the past 5 weeks below.

STEP 1.

Removed all the electronics that I could. This involved a fair bit of extension cord and furniture shifting. Unplugged the rest unless I was using them. I ended up using a fair bit of data on my phone because I also forgot to turn on the Wi-Fi several times. Given some more time alone, I probably would have moved the fridge to the garage as well, so I wouldn’t have to listen to the electrical whirring at all. This affects my body a lot. No headaches, less body aches, and a way calmer mind. I was still surrounded by power lines, street lights, neighbours' lights and devices, and the sky full of satellites, but it gave me a little more breathing space. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful I can use a warm shower, heat my sauna and own a fridge, but there’s a lot of excess light, noise and exposure we can eliminate or only use when needed.

Things to try:

Use a headtorch when it’s dark, and you need to do something specific.

Change light bulbs to orange or red if they are on when nature has turned its lights off.
Always use red-lens glasses if watching screens after dark.

These will help protect your eyes and your circadian rhythm that has a huge impact on wellbeing, like hormonal balance and weight loss, to name a few.

STEP 2.

Timing and making my meals was way easier. I don’t struggle with this a lot anyway, but when you only cook for yourself, it becomes really easy. My normal eating habits are 2 or 3 meals a day, no snacks, no extra drinks in between, just nature’s best elixir, water. Also, the atmosphere of eating was stimulant-free when I ate alone. Concentrating on the eating (and cats staring at you) makes things easier for the nervous system and digestive tract. This, combined with longer intermittent fasting, makes my body purr. I am a strong believer in fasting and do think it can benefit everyone. Like noise and light, we expose our systems to too many substances too many times a day. The digestive tract can never rest and deep clean itself, which would make it work way better.

Things to try:

1.Keep a food diary to expose your own habits to you.

Mark foods, moods, surroundings, and actions, as they all impact how food will be processed within. We all do a lot of stuff without realising.

2.Take baby steps to Intermittent fasting.

Food is a sensitive subject, and this is just a scratch on the surface, so proceed gently and ask for help when getting more into it. Intermittent fasting is at its best when done as an extension of the night. Absolutely best would be to eat dinner early or skip it in total, cause that gives your digestive tract all night to rest and clean up. But most people prefer to extend the fast in the morning by skipping or moving breakfast, which is fine as well. For a start, just push one of the meals an hour, and you are already extending the gap in between. Change nothing else; don’t make other meals smaller or bigger. Record sensations.

STEP 3.

Socialized more. I know it’s hard to believe it myself that I sacrificed sacred alone time to other humans. I love my partner and appreciate our life together, but living with someone does consume my social battery. So when I was alone, I suddenly had more social energy left. I spent more time with friends, which was really cool. My absolute max. still was 2-3 plans a week, but the recovery time was shorter.

Things to try:

Encourage or organize stuff for your partner/kids/housemates that excludes you. Be sneaky if you must, but everyone needs time on their own in their own space, even for an hour. What you do with it is up to you, but it needs to be for you, not for others.

The darkside notes:

Number 1:

I am a scaredy cat. I didn’t expect this to be so strong. Before NZ I lived alone for years and loved it. But now that I am used to sharing the space and existence, evenings and nights were a bit challenging. My nervous system was on high alert, scanning like a cat for what’s happening around me. This isn’t ideal living in an old house in windy Cromwell, where the house talks to you all the time. I still slept ok, but as soon as I woke up even a bit, I could feel the adrenaline being pumped straight back into the system.

Management:

1.Talking out loud to yourself. When you speak out loud, your own mind believes you more. Affirmations of safety, declaring that the noise is the wind, rationalizing things before they take over your mind. In addition, you can try to speak to the house spirits as well; I do this daily, but I’m still waiting to properly hear back from them.

2.Breathing and relaxation. Calming the breath and using your own healing powers to calm the body by placing your hands on your chest or wherever you feel the tension. It feels almost like a safe cuddle from yourself to you. Can be amplified with a cat on your lap.

Number 2.

Procrastination. I got loads done as well, but when you don’t have a certain time frame on your day, it’s easy to get carried away into missions that are not necessarily at the top of the list. I struggle with this a little bit anyway. But now, I had endless time to polish the floor, clean the wardrobe, or weed the garden, even tho my calendar said Study.

Management:

1.Create time frames. Get a friend to hold you accountable. Make a pact with yourself that something needs to be done this week, so the sooner you get the “unpleasant” or hard task done, the more time you have to do whatever.

2.Set timers, so you know when your time is up! So you need to lay down the headtorch and polish rag and get into studying. True story for me; luckily I have good friends who will call me and tell me to stop!

3.Sit still; that is the only other option you have besides doing whatever you were supposed to do. Suddenly, things will get a lot more appealing when entertainment and distractions are taken away.

There were a number of other sensations and experiences. Becoming more attuned to ourselves, we need to spend more time and awareness with ourselves internally and externally. To stop. To notice. To differentiate. Pain is never just pain; neither is tension just tension. Your body is a map; learn how to read it. Fear, sadness, anxiety, happiness, and excitement are not just emotions; they are created, and they have a beginning and an end. The mind is like a storm; learn how to navigate it. Your map and inner compass will help you if you let them.

Long as always. Useful, hopefully. Entertaining, maybe. Modern-day marketing standards, definitely not. Nevertheless, I like writing these. I share another wee secret of my 5weeks: me and the cats had a few single malts by the fire one night and started writing a book. I will tell you in about 10 years if anything comes out of it, haha!

Have a great rest of a week, everyone. Hopefully see you soon.

Love

Kaisa❤️🐾🌱