Promoting self-care

Life has been busy lately, especially with work. Not only have my regular clients been sending lots of white papers my way, but I've been working on getting ready for the career shift taking place at the beginning of the year.

As a result, I've been sleeping less than I should, working more than I (probably) should, and running myself a bit ragged.

And neglecting self-care.

Unfortunately, I've been feeling the effects of the neglect, and have been having lots of high-pain days in the past few weeks. It's causing me to move slower, which in turn causes me to have to work harder to stay caught up with the workload. It's a vicious cycle.

It's going to stay like this through the end of the year, but I'll have some time off at Christmas and New Year's that I can use to slather myself with Icy Hot and hobble around with peppermint herbal tea until I feel better.

Hopefully, the upcoming time off will be what I need to recharge and provide some extra self-care, giving me the energy I need to jump into 2016 with a renewed energy and outlook.

Renew your spirit with self-care

If you've been reading my blog lately, you know that I've been struggling a bit with anxiety an depression popping back up in my life. I'm lucky to have an amazing support system, though, so I'm doing okay.

But feeling the way I have lately has reminded me how important self-care is in my life.

I am currently the sole breadwinner for our family, using my scribbling to make money for important things like coffee, cookies, and World of Warcraft subscriptions. I adore what I do, and I'm good at it. But it can also be stressful since freelancing income, particularly in my field, can be variable.

Most of the time I can handle the stress that comes with my every day life. I keep pushing through and get things done the way the need to be done, and all is well. But sometimes, like last week, I'm reminded that if I don't take care of myself, I can't take care of everyone else.

So along with all of the get-shit-done, there's an element of stop-and-take-a-breath that needs to happen.

I've gotten away from yoga, which had been helping. So I'm re-committing to yoga regularly, even if it's only once a week to start.

I've also gotten into some bad eating habits (like not enough healthy, whole foods). So I'm re-committing to healthier eating.

I hope that taking some smaller steps toward better self-care now can help keep problems from getting too big later on. Plus, it's nice to feel like I'm spoiling myself once in a while.


What do you do to take care of yourself regularly?

Transformation and clothing

I've been doing a lot of changing and developing, especially mentally/emotionally and spiritually, over the past several months. Along with reassessing my priorities in order to provide for my family better, I have renewed my efforts at self-care to ensure that I am in the best position to be the woman I want to be, and the woman my family needs to be.

As I've gone through these changes, I've noticed things about myself that have changed. I don't watch TV much anymore (I much prefer listening to New Age-y ambient music or indie, folksy music). I'm incorporating healthier habits in my every day life.

And my clothing tastes have changed significantly.

My clothing used to be simple, with most of my pieces coming from Soul-Flower (which I still love, by the way). However, as my career is taking a different direction, and I find myself interested in different things in my life, my wardrobe has changed. I'm shifting to a more minimalist wardrobe, focusing on French wardrobe-inspired basics in white, gray, navy, and black. That way, nearly everything in my wardrobe will coordinate with everything else, and I'll always look clean and polished, even when all I'm wearing is jeans and a tank top.

Sample French-inspired minimalist wardrobe (source)

I've got about half of what's on my list. I'm in the process of getting rid of what I don't wear and replacing with high quality pieces in my new wardrobe plan. The goal is to have the basic pieces I can wear throughout the year (especially easy since I live in Florida and the climate doesn't change too drastically between seasons).

The shift in fashion taste reflects a shift in my mindset, I think. I'm in a much better place than I was a year ago--or even six months ago--and this new wardrobe is a better expression of who I am on the inside: a professional, put-together, goal-oriented solopreneur.

One of the pieces of advice often given to those who work from home is to treat your home office the way you would a traditional office. That is, start at a set time each day, stop at a set time each day, and present yourself as though you work in an office.

It may be a great concept to be able to work in your pajamas, but if you look like you work in an office, your head-space is different. You allow yourself to feel that you're in "work mode" when you're wearing a pencil skirt, blouse, and heels.

Besides, the shift in my fashion taste has given me the excuse for a little retail therapy!

Do your fashion tastes change when you go through an emotional/mental/spiritual change?

Embracing Self-Care: Health and Spirituality

Note: This is part two of a series. Part one is here.

When I was a practicing Christian, there was a direct correlation between my physical health and my spirituality. If I felt like my spiritual life was lacking, I felt more tired, I seemed to get sick more easily. I fully believed it was my body's way of telling me I needed to keep my spirituality in check.

As an atheist, I have a different perspective on the relationship between my body and my mind/spirit.

I do believe there is a direct relationship between my physical health and my mental/emotional health. But it's the other way: when I'm not physically well, my emotional and mental health suffers.

I've been trying to focus on physical self-care lately so I can feel better mentally and emotionally. I've been trying to make healthier choices in my diet, exercise more regularly, and keep up with preventative care and check-ups.

It's not always easy to focus on my health when I'm working and have munchkins, but I know that when it comes to being the best mom I can be, it starts with being the healthiest mom I can be. So it's important for me to do what I have to do to be healthier. And (bonus!) when I take care of myself better, I feel better overall. When Mama's happy, everybody's happy!

Are you including your physical health in your self-care?

Embracing Self-Care: Know Thyself

Listening to your body is a good first step
toward embracing self-care.

This is the first week of my participation in Embracing Self-Care. This week's prompt is "Know Thyself."

Self-care is something I've been trying to pay more attention to lately, especially in terms of my physical health. I'm trying to eat better (plant-based diet) and take better care of myself (exercise) so I can be happier and healthier, which will make me a better mom to Puck and Tink. As I've been taking steps toward better health, I've begun paying much more attention to my body and the signals it gives me when something is wrong (or not). That has helped me better understand what I need to reach my goals.

Knowing your body/mind/spirit and its needs is the first step toward real self-care. After all, you can't take care of yourself if you don't know what you need.

If this is something new to you, one good way to start listening to your body is by keeping a journal. If you journal regularly, you'll know when something is "off," and journaling about how you feel will help you learn what you need to put things right again. I find that the more often I write in my journal, the better I am at gauging what I need and why. Even if you don't journal, make a note of how you feel (both good and bad) so you can start to learn what you need to be happy and healthy.

Knowing yourself is also important on a larger scale in your life. Yes, it helps you take better care of yourself (short- and long-term), but it's also a good way to make sure you're headed in the direction you want to go. Knowing who you are and what you need/want will ensure that you don't get stuck or settle or give up on your dreams.

Take some time this week to think about what you need to be healthy and happy.

Next week: Health and spirituality