The Sunday Sanctuary featuring Neha Ruch
A weekly series that profiles the most fabulous, hard-working, 24/7 hustlers, and how they spend their Sundays.
Neha Ruch is the founder of Mother Untitled, a community empowering women choosing to pause or shift their career for family life. Since launching Mother Untitled in 2017, Neha's interviewed over 200 women to blur the edges between stay at home and working mother. She writes and speaks about ideas to feel confident and clear in where you are, embrace creativity during a pause and use the untitled chapter for growth.
A former brand director, Neha worked in strategy for 10 years on mom & millennial brands and got an MBA from Stanford. She lives on the Upper West Side with her husband and two kids.
Here’s how Neha spends her Sunday’s!
What time do you wake up or does the alarm go off ?
Oh gosh, the idea of naturally waking up sounds divine. I have two children, aged 5 and 2 ½, and they are early birds. So, 6:30 is pretty luxurious. However, my husband and I have gotten into a rhythm of trading off mornings of who wakes and who gets to lie in bed or do whatever they need to do until 7:30. We just decided to make that 8 o'clock on the weekends, so on Sundays, if it's my turn to sleep in, that's a treat!
What is your morning routine (specifically the first 15):
After the pandemic started in March, I cemented a routine that helped me start the day with a good mindset. I know I seem like a cliché saying "gratitude meditation,” but it has served me well. When I wake up, I use the Calm App, a series of meditations that I love because they are 10 minutes. Then I do a bullet list style gratitude and intention-setting journal exercise on my iPhone. From there, if I have that extended period of time to do a quick flow, I love Melissa Wood Health, and I find her workouts to be very efficient, and they have gotten me back into the practice of movement. Pending time, I try to listen to a fun audiobook (right now, it's the whole series by Abby Jiminez) or a podcast (currently very into Second Life Pod) while I take an extra minute on my morning skincare.
What is your Sunday mantra?
I would say, "keep it easy.” What I mean by that is so often, as parents, we think that the more we're doing (or more complicated), the better job we’re doing. I try to go into our Sundays, reminding myself to have fun with it, keep it simple and follow the kids' lead.
Do you give yourself any Sunday self-care treatments?
I do love to take a little bit of extra time on my body and skincare. If I have the spare time, I'll make the simple things a bit more elevated. I'll make showers just a smidge longer and dry brush before, use a eucalyptus spray during and use a lush lotion (I'm loving Karité shea butter) after. For an extra little bit of R&R, I'll do the light boost salon LED mask after. A few additional little elements ritualize the otherwise ordinary experience, which is quite a bit like how I try to approach all these days in early motherhood!
What song is a good representation of your Sunday?
The first thing that comes to mind is so cheesy, but it's Jack Johnson's Banana Pancakes. I swear my kids prefer the mornings when my husband wakes up because he makes them fresh pancakes with funfetti sprinkles, and that's what I come out to in the morning. That scene is often at the top of my gratitude list.
How has your Sunday routine changed over the years?
I loved a leisurely Sunday brunch once upon a time, but that is not happening anymore. I would say our Sundays are now really a morning and a late afternoon, punctuated in the middle with my youngest's nap when we all take a little rest. In our mornings, we try to do a fun outdoor activity, explore a new part of the city, or meet up with friends. On Sunday afternoons after naps, we think about it as unwinding and reconnecting the four of us before the week. We'll do a little picnic if the weather's good, and keep it as easy as possible.
How do you prepare for the week ahead?
Once the kids are in bed, my husband and I try to set aside time for getting organized for the week ahead, which starts with aligning on calendars and asking each other for any support we might need. The check-in with each other is helpful as we navigate the next set of changes after a year of cocooning and now with external commitments. After we check-in, we try to give ourselves half an hour to an hour to get on top of the email. For me, that means responding to community messages or reviewing my to-do's on various projects for Mother Untitled within Asana and looking ahead at the editorial calendar for the site and social to see what's coming up. I try to take Sunday off from social media generally, but usually, I'll sign on and scroll for a bit to collect little inspiring bits or insights to help get me in the flow of creating during the week.
What are some of your favorite Sunday activities?
We're trying to get back that love for the city that many of us lost during the pandemic. So, we've been trying to make a habit of picking a new neighborhood and exploring it with the kids. Last weekend we went to Coney Island, which in all the years I've lived in NYC, we've never been to. It was so classic, nostalgic, and fun! Another weekend, we went to Battery Park - to the hidden slide and then to drinks and lunch at Tartinery, where we watched the boats at the Pier. The change of scenery from where you live truly injects such different energy into the day. When we're in the neighborhood, usually in the afternoons after rest or nap time, we go pick up Shake Shack. We take a Gathre mat, a Yeti thermos of Sancerre, and loads of fries and shakes to the park with bubbles. It's sweet and simple. It is not long leisurely brunches, but it feels right for right now.
What is your ideal bedtime?
My ideal bedtime is in the 9-9:30 range. I love sleep, and I feel genuinely affected by sleep. My kids are early to bed as they are early to wake. On the worst of days, it's about 10:30, and on the best of days, it's around 9.