When was the last time you thought about honoring yourself? Maybe you do it often, or maybe you stumbled across this post and are just beginning to ask yourself these questions: How’s your self-care practice? Have you set aside time for yourself lately? What foods are you feeding yourself? Are you incorporating movement into each day? How are you sleeping? What’s one thing you do each day that brings you joy and calm?
I’m the first to admit that I don’t always tend to myself as well as I tend to others. I’ve improved over the years, and it’s a constant practice. I know that I need to, so I often schedule check-ins with myself, and that’s when I hit the reset button. For example, it’s been a pretty busy few months. In January our family was hit with Covid, mildly, but we were all at home, juggling my daughter’s online school since she couldn’t go in person, while my husband and I tried to keep our work going smoothly. Then while resting at home with Covid, I wanted to get out so badly that I scheduled two-weekend trips. Back to back, when my third quarter report cards were due! One trip was for me with girlfriends to celebrate my birthday, and the other trip was for our family. Not bad, but definitely ramped our weekends up to a quicker pace than we have had for almost two years!
So, how do I handle these times? Here I share with you 5 easy ways to honor yourself.
- Get Your Sleep I know when I don’t get enough sleep, it’s not pretty. At all. So I try to stick to a regular bedtime and wake up time, with some flexibility on weekends. Getting a good night’s sleep is one of the best things we can do for ourselves, yet it sometimes is the last thing we permit ourselves to do. America, it’s OK to sleep!!!!
2. Prepare Your Food
When we prepare fresh, wholesome foods our body says Thank You by giving us energy and keeping us running through our busy days. I love to cook, however with a full-time job and growing child, it’s often challenging to find the time for the fancy recipes of days past. As a family, we decided to try out a meal prep kit twice a week. It’s worked well and definitely given my husband more confidence in the kitchen while getting my daughter a little more involved in the dinner prep process. With so many meal options, we’ve been able to pick the most nutritious meals and even try some new flavors. I also meal plan to help us stay on track and be sure we are eating healthy throughout the day and busy week. It’s nothing fancy, but just having our dinners written down has lightened my mental load so I can focus on calmer evenings.
3. Incorporate movement throughout your day
You may have read in my previous posts, finding the right kind of movement is important to keep you moving. I’ve found yoga and long walks are my favorite forms of movement, but some days a dance party with my daughter or push-ups and some planks are what gets my blood flowing. Since I teach virtually, I start every class by having my students stand, take some deep breaths, stretch, and then take their seats. This is my sneaky way of getting movement in for myself and modeling this healthy habit for my students. When you find movement that you enjoy, you no longer think of it as exercise, you just move.
4. Surround Yourself with Beauty
As the old saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Our environment is very important and plays a huge part in our mental and physical well-being. The older I get, the more this plays a part in my day-to-day life. I find minimalism and nature beautiful, but beauty is different for everyone. Colors and shapes and textures help us see life from different perspectives. I have several of my daughter’s art pieces hanging throughout our house. I also have plants in almost every room and on our porches. When I look at these things, I immediately smile and am reminded how beautiful our life is.
5. Make Meaningful Connections
It’s been a very challenging 2 years through the pandemic. We’ve all suffered loss, but the one thing that we all have in common is we’ve lived through this experience. Now it’s time to allow ourselves to connect with one another around the experience. We were made to be social. Humans need one another, and not just on a screen. Our bodies need hugs and touch. Our hearts beat healthier when we connect and interact with other humans. Trust me, I’m an ambivert, I love my alone time, but I also love a good, in-person social connection with friends and family. The trip I took with my girlfriends recently was one of the most amazing weekends of connection. We hiked, we did yoga, we ate good food, and drank libations. We shared our struggles as wives, moms, and full-time employees. We shared music and laughter. It was the best birthday present my husband has ever given me. Even if I did all the planning!
While it’s March, we celebrate Women’s History, by honoring those women who have made wonderful contributions to our world. Be sure to stop and honor yourself too. You are one of those women making great contributions to our world in the way you show up each day. Now I’m going to go honor myself with some sleep!
Thank you for stopping by. If you know someone who could benefit from my post, please share it.
Diary of a Recovering Perfectionist 