The 5 Daily Vitals: Foundations for Hormone Balance and Lasting Vitality
Reclaiming energy, clarity, and calm through simple, sacred routines
by Lori Finlay, MSN, NP, CNS — Functional Medicine Practitioner & Vitality Mentor
“Wellness is a connection of paths: knowledge and action.” — Joshua Welch
About the Vitality Cycle Series
Each month, we move through a four-part rhythm that mirrors your body’s natural healing flow — the Vitality Cycle.
Over four weeks we explore:
- Week 1 – Hormones & Detox
- Week 2 – Nervous System Reset
- Week 3 – Mind–Body–Spirit Healing
- Week 4 – Lifestyle & Daily Rituals for Renewal
This week’s focus: The 5 Daily Vitals — how you breathe, hydrate, nourish, move, and sleep your way to sustainable vitality.
Your Daily Vitals: The “Doing” of Healing
You’ve heard me teach about the Creation Principles — See, Say, Feel, and Do — which I share in Create the Vitality You Crave.
These principles are the framework for transforming thought into reality. You must first see what you want to become, say it into being, feel it as if it’s already yours — and then, finally, do the actions that bring it to life.
This week’s focus is on that final step — the doing.
This is where healing leaves theory and becomes physiology.
It’s where all the affirmations, mindset work, and spiritual growth translate into healthy hormones, balanced energy, and a calm nervous system.
When you consistently honor your body with small, intentional actions, your biochemistry begins to shift. Your cortisol steadies. Progesterone rises. Your mitochondria hum with energy again.
In Create the Vitality You Crave, I call these the Daily Vitals — five sacred habits that keep your divine feminine energy flowing and your physiology balanced. They’re simple, foundational, and deeply restorative: Breathe, Hydrate, Nourish, Move, and Sleep.
Let’s explore each one.
1. Breathe — Anchor Your Nervous System
“The key to emotional control is breath control. Breath control is the ultimate weapon.” — Jim Loehr
Breath is your body’s most immediate way to influence your nervous system — faster than any supplement, pill, or protocol.
When life feels out of control, your breath is what brings you home.
It shifts you from the Survival Nervous System (SNS) — where stress hormones surge and clarity fades — into your Pretty Safe Nervous System (PSNS) — where calm, repair, and healing begin.
Yet under pressure, most women do the opposite. We tighten our shoulders, clench our jaws, and take shallow, chest-level breaths. This locked posture keeps us in a state of subtle panic — oxygen-starved and disconnected.
The practice:
Try diaphragmatic breathing. Place one hand on your belly and the other on your heart.
Inhale deeply through your nose, allowing your belly to rise and expand.
Exhale through pursed lips and feel your abdomen gently fall.
Or use Dr. Andrew Weil’s 4-7-8 pattern: inhale for 4, hold for 7, exhale for 8.
Each breath reminds your body it’s safe to rest, safe to release, safe to heal.
2. Hydrate — The Most Overlooked Medicine
“Water is the most neglected nutrient in your diet, but one of the most vital.” — Julia Child
Water is life.
It carries nutrients to cells, flushes toxins through the liver and kidneys, supports hormone transport, lubricates joints, and helps regulate temperature and energy.
But here’s the truth most women haven’t heard — you can’t hydrate without minerals.
You can drink all the water you want, but without sodium and electrolytes, that water simply runs through you. True hydration happens inside the cell, where water and sodium meet.
Sodium isn’t the enemy it was once made out to be. In fact, your adrenal glands and nervous system depend on it. Chronic stress, sweating, caffeine, and diuretics all deplete your mineral stores — leaving you tired, foggy, and craving salt for good reason.
Start simple:
Begin each morning with 16 ounces of filtered water and a pinch of quality sea salt or an electrolyte mix.
I personally love LMNT — it provides the perfect balance of sodium, magnesium, and potassium to support hydration at the cellular level.
If you’re a coffee or tea drinker, follow each cup with two cups of water to offset dehydration.
Avoid plastics with BPA (which disrupt hormones). Use glass or stainless steel bottles and refill throughout the day.
For deeper hydration:
- Add Himalayan or sea salt to your water.
- Include hydrating foods like cucumbers and celery.
- Bless your water — speak gratitude over it. Your words and energy matter.
Hydration is one of the fastest ways to improve mood, skin, and energy — because it’s literally the flow of life moving through you.
3. Nourish — Food as Information, Not Just Fuel
“Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” — Edward Stanley
You cannot heal in a body that is starving for real nourishment.
And yet, we’ve been sold confusion — endless diet trends and food rules that leave us depleted and disconnected.
I’ve lived through them all: the cabbage soup diet, low-fat, Atkins, keto, and more. But true nourishment is not about dieting — it’s about partnership.
Food is chemistry, yes, but it’s also communication.
It tells your body whether you’re safe or stressed, nourished or neglected.
Whole, living foods — vegetables, proteins, healthy fats, clean carbs — speak a language your cells understand.
They fuel hormone metabolism, steady blood sugar, and feed your microbiome.
As Dr. Mark Hyman reminds us, “Food is information, not just calories.”
And Michael Pollan said it best: “The food industry’s biggest product is patients for the health care industry.”The takeaway? Eat close to nature. Bless your food. Savor it.
Your body temple deserves ingredients that honor its design.
4. Move — Circulate Energy and Emotion
“The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.” — Mark Twain
Movement is the language of vitality.
Every time you move, you tell your body: “I’m alive. I’m safe. I’m in flow.”
Movement improves hormone metabolism — helping your body process and clear excess estrogen, one of the major factors in hormone-related cancers.
It improves lymph flow, boosts oxygenation, and balances cortisol.
As research shows, even gentle daily activity — walking, stretching, yoga, or rebounding — reduces anxiety, enhances immunity, and increases longevity.
You don’t have to “work out” to move.
Stand more. Take the stairs. Stretch between meetings. Dance in your kitchen.
Your body was designed for motion — not punishment.
When you move with joy, you increase endorphins and calm your nervous system naturally.
5. Sleep — The Ultimate Reset
“When ignored, poor sleep will make you fall down a hormonal flight of stairs.” — Sara Gottfried, M.D.
Sleep is where healing becomes embodied.
It’s when your brain detoxifies, your hormones rebalance, and your body repairs.
Yet for many women, sleep is sacrificed first — for productivity, for care-giving, for everything else. But you can’t pour from an empty vessel.
Quality sleep restores cortisol rhythm, balances progesterone, improves memory, and strengthens the immune system.
It also supports estrogen metabolism and reduces inflammation — two key drivers of vitality.
Start here:
- Keep a consistent bedtime and wake time.
- Make your room cool, dark, and quiet.
- Avoid screens and bright lights two hours before bed.
- Limit caffeine and alcohol.
When you prioritize sleep, you’re teaching your body that rest is sacred — not selfish.
The Power of Simplicity
These five Daily Vitals — Breathe, Hydrate, Nourish, Move, Sleep — are the rhythm of real vitality.
They are not glamorous or new, but they are revolutionary in their consistency.
Wellness is not about doing more.
It’s about doing what matters — daily.
Your Next Step
If this resonates with you, you’ll find each of these principles — along with practical steps and spiritual reflections — in Chapter 18 of my book, Create the Vitality You Crave.
And if you’re ready for a personalized plan to support your hormones, stress patterns, and nervous system, schedule a complimentary 15–20 minute Vitality Consult at ConsultLori.com.
Let’s fine-tune your Daily Vitals — and help your body remember what it feels like to thrive.
