A Day in the Life

The question I get asked most often from so many people is "what do you do all day?". I get it, I'm a 40-something-year-old woman that doesn't work outside the home. I'm sure most of the time it's out of genuine curiosity. And the answer is...none ya! ;-) I mean that in the nicest way and I will tell you I'm not sitting around in my sweats all day eating bon bons. Hopefully that is enough to satisfy most of you.

Now that the holidays are behind us, decorations put away, a little winter cleaning sweep has happened and it's back to being gray in Grayland I am returning to my "normal" routine. However, last week, to give myself a mental and physical reset I took the time for some self care. I will tell you what a day in the life of self care looks like for me. And I did it every day for a week because it's so important to care for ourselves.

I grew up with the belief that putting myself first was a selfish act. That I was supposed to take care of others first. And I got very good at it! Ask any of my close friends, I'm a natural caregiver. I will happily give all of myself until I literally have nothing left to give. But then what's left? A shell of a person, that's what. The last few years I've been working diligently on making sure my needs are met first so that I am in a healthy enough state to be there for people that need me without draining myself. It is also helping me set boundaries so that I'm not being taken advantage of. I'm still a work in progress but I continually make improvements and am proud of all my hard work and the discovery of who I really am because of it.

So what does a week of self care look like? Depends on the person; it's very personal. I will share with you what it looked like for me, though, in case you need some ideas! Every morning I started my day with some fresh air. Getting up and letting the dogs out, that's really what that means. =) Then I had coffee and breakfast with my husband. After he left for work I went downstairs to workout. I am lucky enough to have a small gym area set up in the basement. I call it circuit training - it consists of 15-20 minutes each on the rower, spin bike and floor work with The Mirror. Both of my sisters do Orange Theory but since we don't have that out here in this small town I made my own version of it and call it Shana Theory. Lol! Then, water water water. Lots of water. Next up was the infrared sauna that is now available to me just down the street. Check out "What Happens If You Use a SAUNA for 14 Days" by Dr. Eric Berg DC on YouTube if you want to see the benefits of adding this to your self care routine! After sweating it out at the sauna I would go home, rinse off and make a healthy lunch for my husband and I. Salad. That's what we eat for lunch. More water and some journaling. A couple hours later my friend would stop by for an afternoon workout. It's so great to have a workout buddy! We both hoped the other one didn't want to do it but instead encouraged each other to get it done! We would get 20-30 minutes in and then take some much needed girl time to catch up, vent, laugh and a couple times even had clear enough skies to sit outside and get some Vitamin D. After she left I would start dinner, except for the 2 nights I went to evening Yin Yoga and my husband cooked. And there you have it. Shana's week of self care. It was great for both my mental and physical well being and I felt ready to dive back into life as I know it afterwards!

Most weeks I don't have the luxury of doing this routine every day but I do always make time for myself. Working out is something I do every weekday. Yoga classes and the sauna I work into my schedule at least once a week. And my husband and I always do date night once a week when he's not fishing. We have some rules we follow to make sure we are both present and get quality time to talk (and eat!). It's important for us individually but also to strengthen us as partners. So tell me, what are the self care techniques that you make time for? Or is it none of my business?

Thanks for stopping by the blog! Part of the journaling I mentioned earlier is ideas for future posts but if there's something you'd like to hear from me about just let me know! Here's some pics of workout buddies, date nights and the dogs that help me get some fresh air daily.