Just what I needed…a 3-DAY WEEKEND to rest and recharge. I’m taking advantage of every minute. The intensity has been high at work for a couple of months as we implement programs across the state. How fitting it is to AMP UP my self-care routine during Labor Day weekend! I’ve been working hard at work and home. I strive to be a shining example to my team, colleagues, and family of managing IT ALL while simultaneously taking care of myself. My constant reminder to my team is to “take care of yourself”.

Self-care entails so many different things, but in my blog site, I share what works for me. I like to keep it simple. I do things within my budget, if money is involved. I hope you pick up some of my ideas to create a self-care plan that works for you.

Bubble bath

I kicked my Friday night off with a long soak in an Epsom salt and lavender scented bubble bath. I don’t know about you, but I’m achy all the time. I’m also very active with exercise. I don’t normally do bubble baths on Friday nights either. However, my body has been BEGGING for it. I have no idea why I haven’t had a bubble bath in a while (maybe 2-3 weeks), but if I had the time and energy (i.e., wash tub daily…no thank you), I would soak daily. Whatever the case, I was serious about getting some quality sleep of which I’ve been lacking lately. A nice warm bubble bath soothes my aches and sprains while setting the stage for some quality sleep. Speaking of which…

Sleep

As much as I try, I have a difficult time getting at least 7 hours of sleep per night. My average is about 6 hours per week night. On the weekends, I thought I was making up for it by sleeping in and taking naps, but I recently listened to a doctor indicate that the requirements for 7-8 hours of sleep account for daily sleep and not the “make up on the weekend” kind of sleep. I might be in trouble, but OH WELL. My goal this weekend was to take naps regardless. I took a 2-hour nap on Saturday and a 1 hour and 55 minute nap on Sunday. I’m still tired.

Unplug

I haven’t spent much time on social media this weekend. I’ve found that when I’m not feeling like my full self, I need to steer clear of social media. I’ve been concerned about my husband’s health lately and attempting to get some answers. Also, overall, I’ve been tired. I need to focus on nurturing myself and not reading about what other people are doing. I think it’s very healthy to pull back occasionally. As an introvert, I thrive on solitude.

Eat Well

I’ve noticed myself more freely accepting goodies at work. We had a retreat on Thursday and I WENT TO TOWN (expression meaning I overindulged)! I’ve done cleanses for several years now, a couple of times a year. I love the benefits of a cleanse: better sleep, better mood, better digestion, banish cravings for unhealthy foods, glowing skin, etc. With schedules being more structured now that the kids are back in school, this is the perfect time for a reset.

My reset means I’ll be doing a 7-day green smoothie and vegan cleanse. I wrote about my GLOW UP from the Fresh Start 21-Day Cleanse I’ve completed several times, which you can read about here. What I plan to do this week, starting on Sunday, is combine my favorite recipes from two cleanses (Fresh Start 21 and Thrive, courtesy of https://simplegreensmoothies.com/). I’ve written posts about my love of green smoothies and just overall eating well. You can read about them here and here.

Reset Menu. LPC

I wrote out the recipes I plan to eat this week. I’ve since added a meal not pictured on my list: Vegetable Medley with Basil Pesto. I’ve already spent a good amount of time meal prepping, which is essential for a successful cleanse.

Tamari Almonds. LPC

I forgot how much I love these Tamari almonds which are simple to make. Don’t believe me? Mix 1 cup of raw almonds with a tablespoon of Tamari sauce. Pour onto a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes. Let cool. Eat. Whoila!

A morning at the Farmer’s Market. LPC

On Saturday morning, my husband and I actually went to a Farmer’s Market. I haven’t been in over a year. I bought some apples, local honey, basil, and lemongrass. We enjoyed the experience.

Saturday morning at the Farmer’s Market. LPC

Farmer’s market and store bought organic apples. LPC

Local Honey from Austin Honey Company. LPC

Farmer’s market basil freshly washed. LPC

I made the Basil Pesto this evening and it is amazing! I’ve also made cashew cream, Vegan Waldorf salad, strawberry herb dressing, and the Cauliflower Rice Bowl…on a plate (Ha! Cover picture). This dish was like a flavor BOMB in my mouth. It consists of sauted cauliflower rice with lime and cilantro, roasted sweet potato cubes, onions, and peppers, and pineapple salsa. What I love about my vegan recipes is they are very decadent and make me feel like I’m treating myself.

Pamper

Although I was up very late on Saturday night, I’m glad I invested the time to wash/set my hair and give myself a mani-pedi. I didn’t have the funds this month to make a trip to the salon like I did last month, but that’s not a big deal. On one level, it seems like polishing my nails is a small thing, but it’s amazing how it makes me feel so much more pulled together.

Wash Day. LPC

My urge to cut my hair has been growing recently. I went as far as to ask my niece, who is a hair stylist, to send me pictures of short hair styles that would look good with my face. Well, she sent me some lovely photos! She matched various pictures of me from the past to a similarly styled short cut. The pictures were side by side: the short cut option, next to a picture of me. All of the short styles were FABULOUS, but what I unexpectedly got out of it is that I loved my hair in the pictures.

I strive to be content with what I have, which we know is contrary to societal pressures to constantly “want more”, “be more”, and “consume more”. It occurred to me that maybe I’m getting close to a breakthrough with my hair length and I shouldn’t cut it yet. I’m also not ready for the maintenance required with shorter hairstyles.

Instead of cutting my hair, (not in my budget anyway), I treated myself to some new products (not all pictured), which my hair enjoyed. I’m still basking in the lovely scent of my products. I will add I purchase products with natural and organic ingredients, free of harsh chemicals. I’ve toned it down some, but I can be a product junkie. I wrote a blog post about my product junkie ways, which you can read about here.

Day 2 of 3 of my weekend has been great. If you do or don’t have an extra long weekend, I hope you are practicing self-care daily. And it’s the little things. It doesn’t have to be expensive or cost any money at all. Call a friend. Go for a walk in nature. Write in a journal. Go to the doctor. Make a cup of tea. Take a deep breath.

Take care of yourself. Do it for you.

As a grown up person, you have to realize you are responsible for charting your own course despite past circumstances and upbringing. If you want to gain more confidence, do the work to increase your confidence. If you are not fulfilled in certain areas of your life, do the work to become fulfilled. If you want to write better, do the work to improve your writing. If you want to lose weight, do the work to release the pounds. You get where I’m going with this…Light lesson: Ultimately it’s up to you to manifest the life you want, and to get there, you must take action. I want to empower you with this: You direct the changes/enhancements you want in your life, but not without putting in some work…at times, some soul stirring, gut-wrenching, sweaty, messy, frustrating, humbling, confusing, unpretty, exhilarating, rewarding, and satisfying WORK.

Some of us have done the work, but I believe we also need periodic refresher courses. When you have a professional license and/or certification, you’re required to maintain a certain number of Continuing Education Credits (CEUs) to maintain the license in a specific timeframe. This ensures you’re keeping up to date on practices in your field. I haven’t renewed my social work license yet because I’m short on ethics CEUs. Those are hard to come by, especially with my schedule. In essence, refresher courses, like CEUs ensure you’re keeping your skills sharp.

Over the years, I’ve studied to earn an advanced degree, worked jobs that took me out of my comfort zone, gained parenting skills, improved my fitness level, improved my cooking and baking skills, learned how to cook vegan meals, learned how to be a better wife, learned how to garden, honed my communication skills, lost some weight, and on and on. I’m a constant learner. I’m an action oriented person. I put in the work.

All I do to gain knowledge and enrich my life adds to my self-confidence. Occassionly, I need a refresher course because despite my high confidence, sometimes I have doubts mostly due to my damaged wiring. Yes, although we may put in the work to conquer past demons, resolve old hurts, forgive past mistakes and people, there may be some residual damage of which we learn to live with. It doesn’t mean we haven’t done the work. It just means there are remaining mental and/or psychological scars and damage. We can’t control the memory triggers, but we can work on how to cope with them.

About a month ago, I was thinking of writing a blog post on confidence because I’ve encountered several women lately who lack confidence. They know it. I supervise a couple of them. I believe once they conquer the confidence factor, the sky is the limit on what they can do. This is important to me because I know how important confidence is in life and business. This blog post is really about how I’ve gained and maintain my confidence.

To help myself in my own periodic struggle with confidence, I recently opened my tiny purple tool box that rests on my dresser in my bedroom. It’s about 8 years old. In my field education class in graduate school, my instructor had each student decorate a tiny box. Once we completed the task, she had us write a positive message about each person in our cohort on tiny pieces of paper. We passed the tiny pieces of paper to each person, folded our own tiny messages, then placed them in our box. It was a brilliant and beautiful exercise. It’s like a time capsule in that strangers who bonded years ago shared their impression of you at the time. I read the tiny pieces of paper recently and a smile emerged on my face and heart. Talk about a confidence booster! I needed that refresher.

You may not have a tiny purple box filled with notes of inspiring messages from classmates, but my point is to find something that reminds you of what makes you FABULOUS. Also:

Take some life refresher courses, literally and figuratively
Create a tool box, literally (like my tiny purple box with powerful messages) or figuratively (books, activities, quotes)
Educate yourself
Plan and take action

We have access to so much information. No EXCUSES. Do the work.

myenlightenedlife

LIGHT saving lessons on self-care

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Happy Self-Care Weekend