I usually blog about my husband's portrait studio. He is a talented artist and photographer, so I enjoy sharing what projects he's working on. I think this blog will actually be a bit more personal. I've had a challenging week and I can feel that I am not centered and if I'm honest with myself, I've not been centered for a while.
So, my focus today is about taking the time to stop everything, so that I can get myself mentally and physically aligned with what I need, to get myself back on track.
Sometimes it's tough in this busy world to actually listen to your body and mind - to focus on what brings you happiness and joy, the kind of happiness and joy that you get when you are doing what is right for you.
That really means going back to the basics for me:
Giving myself a bit of grace.
Practicing gratitude.
Simple meditation and stretching.
Moving and getting exercise.
Eating better
In reality, I am enough. I am worthy of a good life and all of the components that go into that.
Giving myself Grace. It's really easy to just let that negative self-talk in your head beat up on you for being too fat, or letting yourself go, for not getting enough steps in for the day - but I'm challenging myself to give myself a bit of grace and realize that in my haste to take care of others, it's okay that I didn't complete the things that would properly take care of me. Today is a good day to get back on track and that's my focus.
In my life, I have so much to be grateful for. I am married to the love of my life. I have a wonderful son. I am blessed with two loving parents. I have many friends and family members that are loving and supportive. I have achieved career goals that I have been aiming for over the last several years - so I love my job and I love my team. To harness the power of gratitude - I've dusted off my gratitude journal and have started to take the time to write in it. I always feel better when I start these little routines. This little step of writing in my gratitude journal is really powerful for me - it sets the tone for the day. A positive tone leads to a positive day - then I can just string those positive days together.
I am entitled to take some time for myself to just breath. To slow down and just clear my thoughts, clear out the stress and just relax. Meditation is sometimes really hard to do. It's really hard to get back into the practice of just sitting with yourself, without judgement, without the circling of things in your head, without the guilt of all of the other things that you should be doing. But it's really worth the time and practice. Meditation for me, has the most impact on how my day is going to go. When I haven't meditated for a while, I feel like I'm on a never-ending train of negativity and endless tasks that are raising my blood pressure and slowing sending me over the edge. These are the days that I start saying things to my loved ones that are sarcastic and negative and uncalled for which gives me perpetual guilt, but I still can't seem to help myself. Whereas, if I had just meditated - things don't seem so stressful and I don't have a buildup of negativity that I take out on others. I always like to end my meditation with a bit of stretching. It helps my body feel better and energizes my body and mind for the coming day. While I'm stretching, I usually allow myself to keep a positive mantra going through my head. Telling myself that "I am enough!" and that, "I am worthy of a good life with love, laughter, friends & family, health and wealth." I find that this is really helpful when building back up my positive energy. I enjoy being a positive person that laughs often - this really seems to be the best medicine for my soul.
Flowing right from the meditation and stretching into moving and exercise seems to be the easiest transition for me. I have a daily steps goal, so I start there and make sure to begin walking early in the day - either walking around the block several times or on the treadmill. I celebrate my successes and often continue on after I meet the goal, because I feel good about where I am and have the energy to see how many steps I can acquire by the end of my day. When I start feeling good about my steps for the day - I usually build on this by seeking out simple exercise routines on YouTube and incorporating them into my day.
Eating better always seems like a struggle for me. But when I take the time to make a better choice, then build on that by making a better choice again, this buildup of momentum really seems to help and soon, I have a chain of positive choices and the realization soon comes that I feel better both emotionally and physically. It's really just making that initial decision to do it that is the challenge that I need to get through. With eating better, I'm also focusing on getting more water into my daily routine.
I recently read an article where it talked about stacking good habits slowly, adding them ever so gradually to routines that were already set. Honestly, I feel like when I realize that I'm not aligned well with myself - that I just get to a point of realization that I need to reset my routine and focus on self-care - I just end up ripping the band aid off and shake up everything by changing my entire daily routine all at once, then being mindful of keeping that routine day after day. My kryptonite is when one by one, I let life get in the way and it slowly degrades my positive routine.
I am enough. Meaning that I am proud of who I am, I love that I am often giving to others. That I accept and give love positively. I try to do right by myself and others. I am me and that's who I want to be. I am worthy of all of the love that I can give myself. I am worthy of all of the love I receive from my family & friends. I don't have to modify myself to fit in with others - I am enough. I am entitled to give myself the love and attention to take care of me.
I've got this! Today is the day that I reset myself and do right by my body and soul. Thanks so much for being my sounding board. If this resonates with you, please let this be the catalyst to begin again and bring the positivity back into your life today.