If you follow me on instagram, you would have noticed that this week I set myself a 5 days of yoga challenge. Making the commitment to go to yoga class 5 times this week has been transformative. It has been a powerful form of self care, and a beautiful act of self love. I found this practice so empowering, that it inspired me to dedicate this weeks work to the practice of self care.
We are in the midst of a very busy and crazy time of year. December is often filled with Christmas parties, sweet treats, the stresses of buying gifts, finishing up the working year, alcohol, attending events and functions, new year celebrations, etc.. There is a lot going on! In order to support yourselves through this busy time, I want to encourage you to implement lots of self-care practices through the upcoming month.
(above: my 5 days of yoga)
Are you meeting your own needs?
It was not just the practice of yoga that I found so powerful. What was so special was the commitment I made to myself this week. A commitment to making my needs a priority. It felt so empowering to schedule this time in to my diary as non-negotiable me time. I felt so proud of myself for following through on this commitment. And I ended this week with new levels of self-love for the new and beautiful person I had become from this experience.
Self-care is all about honouring and meeting your own needs. How often to you neglect what you really need for yourself? How often does your self-care practice get bumped to the bottom of your very long to do list? How many times have you decided that you were going to start take better care of yourself, only to find yourself reverting back to your old habits almost instantly?
Yes, I know you are busy, and time-poor. But this is not about time, and this is not about how busy you are. This is about priorities. You need to make your self-care a priority. As long as you keep allowing other things to be more important you will never be able to find time for them.
The Week 9 Work
In this week's worksheet I pose the questions - Which of your needs have you not been meeting or neglecting? What can you start to do to meet those needs?
Have you been neglecting your need for rest? For connection? For time in nature? For time with your man? For time with yourself? For play? For creativity? For sleep?
If so, what do you need to let go of to create space for you to meet those needs? And what self-care practices do you need to start bringing in to your life?
If so, what do you need to let go of to create space for you to meet those needs? And what self-care practices do you need to start bringing in to your life?
I also ask you to look at your current self-care practice and see what it involves. Do you even have one? I have shared mine below the VLOG.
How I practice self-care
A few weeks ago when I was still working full time and juggling my coaching business in my spare time, I was literally burnt-out. I was not meeting my own needs, and it took a massive toll on me. I knew I needed more sleep, I needed rest, I needed to meditate, I needed time away from the computer, I needed more time outdoors, I needed more time with my boyfriend, and I definitely needed a more nourishing diet. But I continued to use the excuse "I do not have the time". And so how did I feel? Miserable, irritable, sad, deprived, exhausted, drained and riddled with anxiety.
When I compare how I felt then, to how I feel now the difference is HUGE. Sure, I now have more time. But what is different is how I am choosing to spend my time.
The decision I made to leave my full time job was an extremely powerful display of self-care. And this demonstrates that self-care is not just about taking on new practices, but it is also about letting go. Letting go of those things that drain you of energy, that weigh you down, that leave you feeling empty. So, often we fill our lives with things that so not serve us. We need to stop and look at what we need in order to feel good, and then let go of anything that is not supporting that.
My current self-care practices include;
+ Waking up at 5.30am in the morning so that I can either go to yoga or go to the gym. I feel really good about myself when I spend the first part of my day doing something dedicated to my own wellbeing
+ Making a green smoothie every single day (no exceptions) which is full of cucumber, lemon, baby spinach or kale, parsley, stevia, water and a green powder consisting of barley grass, spirulina, wheat grass and chlorella.
+ Getting in to bed early at night so I can spend some time reading something inspiring and beautiful before I sleep. I used to go straight from my computer to bed, but now I get ready for bed early and will read a book that fills me with truth and happiness before I fall asleep.
+ A morning gratitude practice
+ Dedicating more time to what I love. Making the decision to leave my day job was a massive self-care practice for me and it made me realised how exhausting and soul destroying it is to force ourselves to do work that we do not love.
+ Taking breaks from my work to meditate, re-connect and recharge. Whenever I sitting at my desk and I am feeling drained, tired or unmotivated, I turn off the lights, burn candles and roll out my yoga mat. I use this time to just sit with myself, reconnect and recharge.
+ Giving to others when it feels good, but as soon as I feel myself feeling drained I pull back.
+ Reducing my caffeine intake (yes this is still an addiction I need to tackle!). I have now swapped coffee for chai tea and I find it gives me a pick up without that awful 'wired' feeling.
+ Being in nature daily. I live near a big beautiful park, so I love to go down there to just walk around amongst the grass and trees. My boyfriend and I also often head over to Bondi to walk along the coastline to Bronte, which always leaves me feeling grounded and refreshed.
What self-care practices do you need to include in order to support yourself through December? Is it a beautiful affirmation practice? A morning exercise routine? A daily green juice? Time out for yourself each day with a cup of tea? More sleep? Waking up earlier?
The self-care practices I commit to for December
1. Quitting caffeine
2. Quitting sugar
3. Maintaing a yoga practice of a 2-3 times per week
4. Daily meditation
5. Feeling and communicating my emotions (especially the uncomfortable ones)
+ What self-care practices are you going to commit to for December?
+ What self-care practices are you going to commit to for December?
I am unemployed and trying to get my blog off the ground so from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep, I am online, reading, reading, reading, writing, and reading some more. Usually around 12 hours a day... My body gets sore from being at my laptop for so long and I often skip meals because I am so engrossed in what Im doing.
ReplyDeleteI would like to take the time to do yoga, meditate, read and eat properly and occasionally get out of the house!
Really inspiring, all these self-care tips, definitely food-for-thought!
ReplyDeleteRegarding caffeine and an alternative pick-me-up, have you ever tried matcha tea? I love making a morning latte out of it (either with milk or with soya milk or any other alternative to milk), it really gives you energy, without making you tense, like coffee does. If you decide to give it a try, experiment with quantities a bit, since the usual 1 teaspoon they suggest for a cup makes a quite strong beverage. I hope you enjoy it. :)
Connie - your post is so true and relatable. Being burnt out and working hard hours in a job you don't love is so draining! But reconnecting with ourselves through yoga, meditation, eating well & getting good rest is very re-energising. It is so empowering to focus on our own well-being and it makes us not only more content, effective and happy people but I believe also brings us closer to our true selves :)
ReplyDelete