Feature Friday: Self Care

Happy Friday! I originally always wait to put up our Holiday decorations until after Thanksgiving, but I’m kinda thinking that I might put them up earlier. I LOVE the holidays so much and the 4 weeks that our decorations are up never seems long enough. Anyone else put their decorations up earlier than normal this year? I think we’ll still wait for our tree though because this scene happens every year 🤦🏼‍♀️

I wanted to do a post special for self-care because it’s the Holiday season and with the pandemic, everything just seems like A LOT. Especially if you’re working in the healthcare industry (or have a spouse/family member/ friend that works in it)- always worrying about bringing the virus to/from work and dealing with all of the extra special precautions being mandated or restricted now. It’s tough and certainly not easy.

Know your limits. Know when you’ve extended yourself too much or when you’re starting to get burnt-out. It’s ok to take a step-back. You’re not doing anyone any favors if you’re not able to take care of yourself first. It’s OK to acknowledge that you haven’t been - don’t beat yourself up over it - acknowledge and move forward. I love to over-commit myself and have slowly learned that I’m doing a disservice to everyone when I do that. Rested is best.

Find your favorite hobbies and make time for them. It doesn’t need to be running. It doesn’t even need to be anything active. Maybe it’s reading for 30 minutes or having an extra cup of coffee/tea. Just give yourself some time to ‘fill your cup’ however and whatever you want to fill it with (wine, anyone? 🤷🏼‍♀️… JK, unless a glass of wine is your self-care then go for it!)

Don’t feel guilty for your time. Even if you have fifty other things to get done, it’s so important to do ‘you’ first. Maybe that means getting up earlier (OR sleeping in more rather than getting up early)- try out some ways to help you give yourself some time to rejuvenate. It’s ok if not every meal is hand-made or that you didn’t set the coffee maker or laundry doesn’t get done today. No one is perfect and no one is ‘doing it all’ .

The most important thing? Be kind. To yourself. To others. Because these are challenging times for all🧡

Self Love: Favorite Ways To Give Back To ME

One of my favorite ways to show myself some self love to do SOMETHING THAT I LOVE. Sometimes that means relaxing in Epsom Salt Bath with some hot tea/cocoa/ coffee and Gilmore Girls.

You probably also know how much I love to explore the outdoors. Whether it’s on gravel

Or on snowshoes in the winter! Side note: can’t wait to explore trails here in New England this winter.

Reading really good books is also one of my favorite ways to de-stress and make time for myself.

Kitty cuddles and enjoying a cup of hot cocoa is also pretty grand. adds hot cocoa mix and mini marshmallows to my grocery shopping list

Sometimes a really good pint of Ben & Jerrys also works.

Signing up for really scary running goals and then accomplishing them is one of the most powerful feelings ever. Also knowing when you have had too much or can no longer finish something then honoring yourself and backing away is important too.

And the thing that I’m loving the most right now? 5 minutes of meditation and journaling in the morning before the day begins. I love to get my thoughts out there, set intentions for the day, and just have a few moments to collect myself. Sometimes it doesn’t happen and that’s OK, but when it does- I consider this one of my most powerful ways to give back to ME.

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What are your favorite ways to show yourself some self-care and self-love?

Self Love: Confidence Building

Still here, still recovering from the race, still riding that runners high post-26.2! Anyone else feel like that feeling begins to fade after 3-4 days?!? My goal this time around is continue to keep it going for at least two weeks straight. I worked hard and want to celebrate my accomplishment! I though it would be fun to check in with you and let you know how my goal to create more love for myself and confidence was going.

First things first- it’s been HARD. Like, really challenging on some days! Why is it so easy to throw out compliments to others, but yet be so difficult to turn around give ourselves a pat on the back? One thing that I’m really trying to focus on is turning every negative thought/feeling/emotion that I have into something positive. For example, last Saturday (the day before the race) it turned out that I would have to travel solo to the marathon (Alex had a bad cold and honestly, I did NOT want to catch it). The first thing that popped into my head -> “I’m going to have to drive down there the morning of, my legs will be stiff, and there goes my goal race time”. THEN I realized what any opportunity this was. It wasn’t a negative. I would be able to FULLY focus on myself, the job that I had to do when I was there, and not worry about others at the start/finish line freezing in the rain waiting for me/ letting them down/ etc. I realized that it was a gift and I would use it to my advantage.

Another thing that I’m continuing to do is to build up my positive affirmations to myself. Whether it is dressing nicer for a ‘day off’ just to make myself feel more confident, booking that hair cut appointment for myself that I haven’t had time/money to do in almost a year, creating and honoring a schedule that works for me (and not taking other into account -> sometimes you HAVE to be selfish (but it’s also really nice to fit others into your life too!)), and holding myself to a higher standard if I didn’t perform my best.

One thing that I’ve always struggled with ‘letting myself down’ and then moving on RATHER than evaluating what went wrong and working to improve upon it. I’m really trying to focus on evaluating myself and working towards creating a better environment/person/space/life for myself. Rather than just ‘throwing in the towel’ and not dwelling over things -> I’m giving myself the time and space to dwell a bit, evaluate how can I improve for next time, STICKING TO those evaluations/items I need to do, and then moving on.

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-What are three things you love about yourself?

-What can you improve upon in your life TODAY?

Self Love-> Building Up Your Self Confidence: Three Things To Do Today

OK. I’m starting two new mini blog series this week and today is the first one! These will run through until the beginning of December and Thursdays will be dedicated to SELF LOVE. I think it’s so important that we acknowledge our self love and also continue to BUILD IT UP. I know that it’s something that I continually struggle with- some days it’s totally “there” and I feel like I’m on top of the world and other days it is a real STRUGGLE just to find one thing that I’m good at.

I believe that it’s important to acknowledge both the hard days and easy days. I also believe in the power of feeling vulnerable. I feel most vulnerable when I’m on the edge of a really big breakthrough and have slowly come to realize that if I just push myself a tad bit further then I will grow and succeed and become a more confident person.

It’s so challenging to push past your comfort zone. Also why is it so challenging to LOVE ourselves?

I know I constantly give other people compliments, but when it comes to myself I struggle somedays to see anything beyond my flaws.

That’s why I’m doing this mini-series. Mainly just to benefit me. I want to check in and let you know how I’m feeling. What I’M doing to build up my self-confidence. How it’s going- the good and bad days.

So, first thing I’m doing TODAY to build up my confidence is creating a note for myself. I came across two key words that are really powerful to ME. I actually came up with them while out on a run (ha)- which is generally when I get my most brillant ideas. Or they come to me at like 4am when I haven’t even had any coffee yet. I wrote down my phrases as “I AM” because that is SUPER POWERFUL WORDS (now I kinda feel like Rachel Hollis ha). I put my note in the bathroom where I brush my teeth. Each time I’m in there I glance at my phrases and repeat them to myself while brushing my teeth/washing my face/etc.

The second thing I’m doing is repeating these phrases to myself as much as possible throughout the day. Maybe it’s while I’m on a run, maybe it’s while I’m getting ready for the day, or when I’m cooking lunch/dinner/breakfast. Whatever time of day it is, I repeat them to myself often!

The third thing I’m doing is squashing those negative thoughts as often as possible. If I’m struggling to remember my phrases, I just try to think of SOMETHING positive that happened to me today. Maybe it’s I got out of bed, maybe it’s I put makeup on, maybe it’s I rocked an exam. Whatever it is, I remind myself that hey- yeah I am a rockstar at that thing and maybe I can also acknowledge that I’m a rockstar at other areas of my life.

My goal is to not let myself go a day without acknowledging something positive about myself. I want to give MYSELF compliments! Because you know what? I’m worth it and you are too. Ok, that’s enough sounding like Rachel Hollis for one day. I hope if you needed to hear that today, then it hit home for you.

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What’s your power phrases?

What’s three things you totally rocked TODAY? -> I ran 9 miles despite it being a ‘Bomb Cyclone’ outside today, Made a killer breakfast, and booked Alex a ‘very much needed’ haircut for tonight!