What calming activities help you to center yourself? Do you work on doing the same relaxing things everyday? I try to work on incorporating a couple of things everyday to help support my everyday mood, stress level and appreciation for life. We have talked about many of these things already in my blog this year, this weeks installment is related to how to make it happen each and everyday.

Life is hard. We are all busy. Some days there are no moments for ourselves. Work, life, family is all very important, however, in order to show up as our best selves for the activities and the people who are so important to us, we need to take care of ourselves. We need to do those things that help center us, relax us and motivate us for our peak performance.

I have been struggling with my self care routine for a little while. It has inspired me to write this blog this year, as a way of helping me to research new ideas for self care, try them and report out here how they work and how I have incorporated them into my life.

My life is very busy. The workweek is exceptionally difficult. I have an hour commute each way, this is new for me- I am about 8 months into a new job that is a considerable distance from the farm. I have successfully incorporated wellness routines into my commute. I listen to self care books on my ride to work and I make social connections on my ride home. I live for phone calls to family and friends on the ride home, it makes me happy and helps me to feel connected. There are some days when the commute is easier and other days when it is so difficult. An opportunity for me during my commute: when I am feeling down, make sure to make the social connection to a friend via a phone call. It always makes me feel better.

Life during the work week is very routine, as I am sure it is for most people. I feel like for right now, especially given that it is wintertime in the Northern Hemisphere, it has to be routine. The darkness of the mornings and evenings is waning, springtime is approaching, however there is not a lot of time for outdoor activities during the work week. I miss the outdoors incredibly during my work week. I try to sneak out for walks during my lunch breaks, but often I eat my lunch standing at my computer on a zoom meeting and I roll right into a busy afternoon, not allowing for time to take a break.

Eureka! Another Opportunity! I need to work on taking a break at work and moving. Walking, rounding in the hospital, something that is not sitting or standing still (at my stand up desk).

The work week stifles my creativity. I wait for the weekends to crochet, write my blog and think about new products for the farm. I know that I feel my best when I am creative everyday. Definitely on my self care list is doing something that I love everyday. Crocheting, reading, writing in my journal and thinking about new farm store products are all things that I can incorporate into each and everyday, but sometimes this falls to the wayside when life is very busy. I try to spend a few moments in the early morning doing these favorite things. I usually wake up about an hour earlier than everyone else, have my first cup of coffee while journaling or reading, then move to a craft- even if for a few minutes. It reboots my mood and helps me get focused for the day.

So, I have some goals for my self care this year. One obviously being this blog, taking time each day to research and write will help me work towards my “Big Audacious Goal”, writing The Book! But, I also have some personal daily tasks so that I can be my best self.

My “Big Audacious Goal”- I try for 60 minutes of writing, reading and thinking about my blog and book each day.
Planning. I spend 5-10 minutes planning what I am going to do the next day related to ME. My work calendar is pretty much set, I work on how I am going to focus on ME. My self care, my exercise, my creativity. If I don’t schedule it, I don’t do it.
Mindfulness/Meditation- 10-20 minutes. I do this first thing in the morning. If I don’t do a meditation when I first wake up, I find that I can’t squeeze it in during the day.
Gratitude. I have incorporated a weekly gratitude practice on Fridays at work. I write thank you notes and recognitions each Friday to staff at the hospital.
Movement. I am still working on incorporating an exercise routine into my weekly/daily life. I enjoy walking outside on the weekends. It has been difficult with my new job and commuting finding time in each day working on my physical self, so this is still a work in progress.
Doing something I love everyday- this is where I get creative. Crocheting (currently I am working on rabbits for Easter!) and planning new farm store products.

Be well,

Teresa

Additional Reading and Resources:

The Art of Impossible, Steven Kotler

The Little Book of Hygge, Meik Wiking

The Nordic Theory of Everything. In Search of a Better Life, Anu Partanen

Cleaning up your Mental Mess, Dr. Caroline Leaf

Hardwiring Happiness, Rick Hanson, PhD

Stumbling on Happiness, Daniel Gilbert

Chatter. The Voice in our head, why it matters and how to harness it, Ethan Kross