Between the weather and my constant running around serving, supporting and stressing, I find myself suffering from either a cold, allergies or sinus or a combination of all three. My body said, listen Drea, you need to slow down, rest and recharge before I shut down on you. What am I doing? I am resting and writing the blog post. I guess you can consider me being hardheaded because I am not being mindful nor resting. Technically, I am indulging in self-care because I am spending time loving myself and loving you all for writing this post to share knowledge.
As women, we are faced with many responsibilities such as being a wife, sister, friend, daughter, aunt, colleague, coach, mom, organizer, counselor, President of an organization(s), entrepreneur, the go to girl, the go get it girl, the do-er and whatever else you want to add. I also realize as women, we take on a lot of people's stuff without blinking and eye. We don't realize how these things effect us, we internalize and suppress people's stuff and our our stuff and eventually self-destruct. We don't do a great job with setting limitations and boundaries with others. We also don't do a great job with putting ourselves first on our "to do list" Hence, this is why we suffer from burn out because we don't take the time to love ourself first. In order, to help others, serve others and encourage others, we must do these things to take care of ourselves first.
Many women feel guilty when they love and put themselves first. I am here to tell you that if you don't take time to care for yourself, you will be taken advantage of, become resentful and become bitter. I don't want that for you, I want better for you. Self-care is a must! You are doing yourself a service when you care for yourself. Celebrate yourself by loving yourself and appreciating all your greatness. Check out some simple ways to start your self-care routine.
1. Listen to Your Body. Stay connected with your feelings and emotions. When you feel imbalance, it is time to reconnect with yourself. Rest, Relax and Recharge. To prevent illnesses and burn out, get out exercise for about 30 minutes, switch up your eating habits, for example, are you an emotional eater? Do you overindulge in alcohol? Eat lots of junk food? Exchange those habits with healthier alternatives such as eating a meatless meal once or twice a week, instead of alcohol try drinking herbal tea and take a nice warm bath.
2. Breathe. Breathing is such an underestimated positive coping mechanism. At times, we need to breathe in and out. Breathing helps with being mindful, slow down your tempo and helping you to appreciate YOU. Breathing also helps with relaxation. Let's try a quick breathing technique, breathe in and out for three seconds and repeat two times. Did you noticed a difference? Breathing help with slowing down and calming the body. Whenever you are in self-care mode, remember to breathe and be mindful of your awesomeness.
3. Schedule Time to Recharge. Do you glorify busy? Are you always on the go? If so, schedule/block off 10 minutes or more for self-care. When you schedule your self-care appointment, don't forget it. Go ahead and get your calendar, alarm or whatever organizational tool you use for scheduling to block off your self-care time. Don't reschedule yourself nor allow anyone to interrupt your self-care routine. You need to refocus, recharge and reinvest in you.
4. Take a Vacation/Stay-cation. When was the last time you took a vacation or stay-cation? Now, if you have to think about this question, you haven't took a vacation/stay-cation in over a year. You don't have to go far to getaway. You don't have to be a planner to plan an amazing vacation. With the help of Groupon, Living Social and others coupons, you can go on a weekend getaway. If you don't have the financial ability to do a week or weekend getaway, plan a stay-cation in the comforts of your home. Watch your favorite movie, buy some aromatherapy candles, fragrances and body wash from Bath and Body Works and enjoy your at home spa. *Disclaimer* Bath and Body Works have a their semi annual sale going on now. Go purchase your smells goods for 50 to 75% off.* Back to the topic. You don't have to spend a lot of money to care for yourself.
5. Say No! No is a complete sentence and it will save you from having your plate full and burn out. When people know you are a giving person, that glorifies busy, and don't have boundaries and limitations, you are easy preyed on. People will take advantage of you, if you don't set boundaries and limitations. You must say no without any explanations, if you are compromising you. I can see some of you cringing about setting boundaries, limitations and saying no to people, places and things. Saying no will protect you from heartache, headache, and burn out. Don't ever think that the world will end if you say no. That person may or may not understand but they will survive and find some else to assist them.
I hope you all will take heed to this blog post and start caring for yourselves. Let me leave you with this last quote from the amazing, strong, and powerful FLOTUS: Mrs. Michelle Obama. " Women in particular need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health because if we're scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don't have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own "to do" list. " -Michelle Obama
My questions to you: Are You FLY? How will you start taking better care of yourself?
Thank you for reading Brown Girl From Boston blog. I love you all and thank you for your constant support.
XOXO,
Drea
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