First I want to say I am sorry this post is a little late. I know I try to get a post out at least every Friday, but this week I have been tending to my self care. Lately, I have had a lot of anxiety and stress, because I have been too busy for self care. If I am being super honest, I figured out that I have been creating my own anxiety as a coping mechanism. So, I challenged myself last week to meditate once every day and it was life changing.

What does too busy for self care look like?

Sometimes life gets thrown at you all at once. For me, my six month old was teething hard core, and my husband and I have opposite schedules. Along with making sure dinner is cooked, laundry is done, baby is fed, dog is played with, and my goals are being met. In the mix of all of that, there was no stopping, thinking, or planning. It was just go, go, go. As you’re probably wondering, well don’t you do this every week? Yes, but I have recently started adding more to my plate. Which includes educating myself in perusing my dreams and goals. Also, my daughter has started this terror teething stage of not sleeping, and screaming a lot.

I finally had a meltdown and realized that I couldn’t keep this up. Crying, staring blankly at the wall, completely exhausted on a Thursday evening. My husband came in the door and I said “I need to take care of myself. I can’t take care of everybody else all the time.” So I watched a documentary on Gaia called Heal. It got me thinking about all of my anxiety and stress lately. If I am too busy for self care, I am not living an efficient life. If you block out self care you are not living your best life; it is mandatory.

So, I started doing some short guided meditations (also on Gaia). Whenever I started to feel stressed out or felt a headache coming on, I would do a quick ten minutes. I also did a deep meditation on my own each night. This helped me to get grounded and connect my mind and body together.

Why is self care essential to your life?

Going without self care for long periods of time tends to create more stress and anxiety, less confidence in yourself, tiredness, and the feeling of being disconnected. All of this adds up to being less efficient at our roles and jobs. If you take just five minutes to be mindful with yourself, give yourself a home pedicure, or do a few yoga poses, it will change your perspective. It will allow you to have more patience throughout your day. We all have daily challenges, usually unexpected. By adding in some daily or weekly self care you can go head on through your day efficiently and content.

The Challenge

By challenging myself to meditate each day for five days in a row I have felt no anxiety, little stress, and I am managing my daily challenges with grace. It has allowed me to enjoy my day with my daughter more than ever. As well as write and work efficiently, and be in a better mood.

I challenge all of you to do one thing that promotes your self care. Along with you, I will be doing the same. I am going to post my self care each day on Instagram. I encourage each of you to post your self care with me to feel confident in yourself and inspire others to do the same.

What exactly does taking care of yourself look like? Click here for some ideas!