I’m Always Surprised at How Much Focus Self-Care Requires

I’ve been enjoying doing our “31-day Easy, Self-care Challenge” since the first day of this shiny, New Year, and it’s been eye-opening.

I awoke on that first day of the New Year (which feels so far away by now!), with all sorts of resolve for the things I’d like to achieve this year, including paying attention to my self-care and not letting my schedule get out of control.

That first day was easy, since my commitments were limited. However, I’ve noticed as the days have gone by – and again, it’s only been a little over two weeks! – that it’s been harder and harder to fit in everything I want and need to do, including self-care.

Self-care always starts with the basics, so I thought about:
– Getting good quality sleep every night (with a target of 8 hours per night)
– Taking some time, even a short moment, for myself every day
– Eating nourishing food and drinking enough water
– Moving my body every day at least for 10 minutes
– Listening, reading or watching something that is enlightening

I seem to be able to start my days with lemon water, and often can fit in time to make myself a smoothie. But finding time for body movement is more challenging for me, even though I realize how important it is. I’ve noticed that even taking a break from “sitting and working” every 30 minutes is a big gift to my body!

Getting enough sleep is also a big challenge for me. There just don’t seem to be enough hours in the day, and I tend to give up an hour or two of sleep as a way of “keeping up.”

It’s difficult to stop “beating myself up” about all the things I want and need to do for my self-care, so another challenge I’ve noticed is working on my negative self-talk and turning that into something positive. An example would be rather than saying or thinking: “I didn’t get my walk in today; what am I doing!?!?” to say or think: “I haven’t fit my walk in this week YET, but I will commit to fitting it in tomorrow.”

I’ve noticed that making things a part of my routine work well for me. For example, slathering myself with body lotion after every shower. I started this practice several years ago, and now it is impossible for me to omit this step from my routine. I also take that moment (while I’m doing it) to actively acknowledge that I am giving myself a small 3-5 minute self-care moment. It seems I should at least be able to have those few minutes!

There have been some great ideas from our self-care challenge group, including new smoothie recipes (avocado-spinach-almond milk!), drinking a tablespoon of vinegar in the morning (for probiotics and metabolism), taking the time to do a 3-minute stillness meditation everyday, and even listening to soothing music while brushing your teeth.

In our weekly chats, we’ve also talked about the benefits of journaling, meditation, and aromatherapy, and we’ll be talking about stretching and yoga, and nutrition in our upcoming two chats.

Thinking about these first two+ weeks, I think I’m doing okay with my self-care actions, but there is so much more I want and need to do. So for the next two weeks, I will be working on: getting enough sleep and getting movement (walking or stretching 3x for a minimum of 10 minutes per time).

It’s never too late to start working on your self-care, or to recommit to it. The sign I saw in a local coffee shop just this past Monday says it all:

Never let a stumble in the road be the end of the journey!