I am so glad to be focusing on self-care this month, with our lovely hostesses, Valerie, Shirley, Iris, Kate, and Carrie
I definitely need it. I started a new project and the nerve pain in my legs and back got out of control…and I didn’t realize how good things had gotten until I saw how bad this was. Some of it has been the physical stress, but some has definitely been the anticipation/fear
/overwhelm/eeek!/woohoo kind of stress. Good, bad, ugly…all the colors of the rainbow.
It’s such a balancing act. “Playing it safe” for me equals regret and resentment, so I do push myself to do and try things that stretch my limits, or show me where my limits are. I haven’t figured out yet if it was “worth it” but sometimes in life I have to leap and give myself the opportunity to see what I can do.
So especially since I’m feeling quite depleted, self-care is taking center stage. I’ve been pondering my self-care goals for the last few days. Wisdom generally dictates that 2-3 goals is a good plan. And yet I reserve the right to chuck wisdom out the window—when I really need to replenish, I do really need to jump in to self-care headfirst. So here goes:
- Do a compassion or gratitude meditation 4 times a week (I’m hoping for daily—this gives me wiggle room)
- Take 2-3 days off in July and DON’T JUST DO WORK FROM HOME
- Go back to kitty snuggle times when I get home from work, ideally daily, but 4 days a week works for me
- Drawing—at least 3 days a week, hopefully 5. Bonus points for breaking out the fingerpaints.
Our fantastic group of bloggers:
- June 28th: Me! Cheryl of Gluten-Free Goodness
- July 6th: Valerie of City Life Eats
- July 13th: Shirley of Gluten Free Easily (GFE)
- July 20st: Iris of My Fairy Angel (you probably also know her from The Daily Dietribe)
- July 27th Kate of Eat, Recycle Repeat
- Aug 3rd Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl
Before we get into the “rules”, know that the main “rule” is to relax, enjoy, take good care of yourself and have fun.
Why join us? Because self-care takes a village, too.
These posts are to inspire you all to make July a month of reflecting on self-care and the many ways to nourish ourselves. We encourage everyone to participate in this event in a way that feels appropriate to them, whether through making different choices around food, adding in movement, personal reflection, journaling or other self-care. If you would like to share your experience with self-care, we would love to include you in the experience, whether you join us for one week or every week. We ask that you link back to this post so that more people can learn about this retreat, and leave a comment for the weekly theme host, too! That way, we can make sure we see your post and that you’re entered into the drawing.
ADDENDUM: NOT A BLOGGER? FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME OR ONE OF THE OTHER HOSTESSES YOUR GOAL/PROGRESS AND I/WE WILL POST IT ON OUR BLOG.
As a little added incentive, for each post on your goals and your progress you link back here or one of the other co-hosts, you’ll be entered to receive a $50 gift certificate to Nuts.com (they are not sponsoring, I just wanted something with healthy gluten-free, vegan, sugar-free, etc. options)
We also have a Facebook group and we’d love to have you join us! Just send along a request (it’s listed as a private group.)
- My Self-Care Goals 2013 GF Goodness
- Guest Post from Linda on Self-Care
- July Self-Care Goals on City|Life|Eats
- Wrap up and July Challenge on Eat, Recycle, Repeat
- 13 Self-Care Lessons from the Masters GF Goodness
- Guest post from Linda
- Saying “No” with Unexpected Results from GFE
- Debi of Hunter’s Lyoness on Unconditional love
- City Life Eats on Infusing some new into yoga
- Iris of Daily Dietribe on Letting Go
- Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl with 9 Things that Make Me Feel Happy & Calm My Spirit
- Cheryl of GF Goodness on Re-Writing the Story
- Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl on Emotional and Spiritual Growth
- Kate of Eat Recycle Repeat on “How to Surrender
- Cheryl of GF Goodness on Depression and Self Care
- Carrie of Ginger Lemon Girl on Exploring Self-Care through Faith and Meditation
Curious about past retreats? Recaps for July Retreats 2011 & 2012 are here:
http://www.gfgoodness.com/2012/08/05/a-july-self-retreat-recap/
Stumble It!
Pingback: July Self-Care Goals
Pingback: Wrap Up & July Challenge | Eat, Recycle, Repeat
Pingback: July Self-Care Retreat 2013–Join Us! | Gluten Free Goodness
Cheryl, I hope your goals are going well. My only commitment seems to be having less goals. I’ve been addicted to the “to do” list for too long. I still have one as it helps me accomplish needed items, but I’m no longer deluding myself that checking off the items is really meaningful. It’s a challenge to pull back while still moving forward … if that makes sense. 😉
Shirley
Shirley, that makes perfect sense. I find it doesn’t matter what I’m doing, it matters how present I am, and that’s really hard to quantify/qualify. I’ll have to do a goal “check in” soon!
I’m self-caring by tearing my face away from the computer screen RIGHT NOW and going to bed. But after a bunch of late nights at work in June and the start of this month, I’m hoping to spend the rest of the summer leaving on time (or nearly on time). AND I’m going to take my summer Fridays (two half-days and one full day left before Labor Day) and truly enjoy them.
So I’m a bit late to the party but I love that you’re doing it and hope it’s OK to join late! With all the free time I plan to have, I’ll be able to do a self-care post on my blog with a link-back soon. 😉