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Ahh The Delights of Self-Care Sunday!

Ahh The Delights of Self-Care Sunday!

Build Confidence, Self care

Self-care is something we all need but many of us don’t integrate into our lives. One great way to fix this problem is to implement a practice of self-care Sunday.

I know. I hear you. Sunday is either your day of rest, a family day or a catch-up day. You don’t have time to pile in some ridiculous self-care Sunday routine.

Hear me out, okay? It won’t take you more than a few minutes to read this article and then, if you still think it’s not for you, no problem.

Why You Need Self-Care Sunday

I honestly don’t know how women do it. You go all day, every day, doing three things at once, seemingly without a break. Men can’t do this. We must do one thing at a time.

The thing about going ninety miles an hour through life is that at some point, you begin to feel either overwhelmed or burned out. This can cause you a frustrating mental shutdown and those never seem to happen at opportune moments.

By instituting a self-care Sunday routine, even if it lasts just thirty minutes, you’re avoiding that overwhelm or burnout.

What Exactly IS Self-Care Sunday?

By name, you might think that you’re being asked to set aside an entire day, once a week, just for yourself. Seems like a lot, doesn’t it?

Yes. It does.

But what if you committed to setting aside just an hour of that day? What if you could take one hour to clear your mind with meditation, a hot bath or some other activity? What if you were able to spend that hour reading a great dating book or practicing a creative hobby?

The idea of self-care Sunday isn’t about setting aside an entire day. It’s about saying, “Hey, it’s Sunday and I’m going to do something for me today.” You don’t need do the same thing every week or even set aside the same amount of time every week.

All you need to do is snag an hour or two, more if you want to, and declare it as your own to do with whatever you want. The more you do it, the easier it will be and the more you’ll look forward to it from week to week.

What Should You do?

This is totally up to you. Some people like to get out into nature. Others like to listen to music or read a book. Still others just want some peace and quiet and they don’t care where it comes from.

It really depends on you and what your priorities are. If you go to church on Sundays, choose a time after church so you aren’t restricted timewise.

If you have a family, set aside some of your day to spend with them and then ask for time to yourself. If you give them what they’re craving from you first, it’ll be easier to get what you want – alone time.

In my book, The Little Self Care Handbook, I’ve cultivated dozens of ways in which you can practice self-care any day of the week.

Here are a few ideas to get your juices flowing:

  • Enjoy a decadent treat
  • Spend time journaling
  • Get back into nature
  • Take a hot bath
  • Do a workout you enjoy
  • Do an at-home spa day
  • Better yet, invite a few friends over for a spa day
  • Bake or work on a hobby you love
  • Snuggle with a pet
  • Binge watch something
  • Plan the upcoming week
  • Hunker down in your comfy clothes and read
  • Do a digital-free afternoon
  • Try adult coloring
  • Go swimming or sit by the pool and relax
  • Turn on some favorite music and dance or sing along

There are many more activities you can do. Those are just to get your ideas flowing. Do the same thing every week or choose something different. It’s up to you. The point is to take some time for yourself, even if it’s just a few moments.

Self-Care Sunday Wrap-up

The point of self-care Sunday isn’t about what you do as much as it’s about taking the time to do something. The purpose is to spend some time doing something you enjoy, forgetting about the daily grind for a bit and resetting before you start a new week.

Having an effective self-care routine is crucial to your daily peace and happiness, but many people falsely believe that self-care is simply taking a hot bath with a glass of wine and some candles.

There are so many other ways to enjoy a self-care routine and this book walks you through them, providing you with many choices on how you can implement a self-care routine into your schedule. 

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Fun Ways to Practice Self Care for Women

Fun Ways to Practice Self Care for Women

Build Confidence, Self care

Self care for women is an easy thing to encourage, but many women falsely believe that self care is selfish.

When you think of self care, what comes to mind is probably not representative of what self care truly means. You might think it means taking some time out to pamper or indulge yourself.

Self care for women is more about understanding your worth and value as a human being and treating yourself accordingly.

Women tend to be better at nurturing others than they are at nurturing themselves. You’ll fill two water bottles each for your family and forget to grab yours on your way to the ballpark.

You’ll make sure your husband or boyfriend has a healthy lunch packed while zipping out the door with a promise to make your own healthy lunch next time.

I know I’m right. I’ve got three sisters and a mother!

What if I could find ways for you to enjoy self care? Read some of the ideas below to see if any of these pique your interest.

Self Care for Women | Creating Your Own Chick Retreat

Guys have man caves, but women don’t usually take the time to designate a space for peace and tranquility.

One fun thing you can do is create your own chick retreat. It doesn’t need to be an entire room of your house. It could just be a corner of a room, a special chair or an hour where you fill the bathtub with hot water and lock the door!

I know a woman who had a large walk-in closet she stole away to use as her chick retreat. Her husband was dying of cancer and she needed a place to use as a quiet place for rest, relaxation and reflection.

Your retreat can be whatever you want, as long as it is a place you can use to recharge your batteries.

self care for women

Read

Reading can be a very entertaining way to relax and recharge, especially if you enjoy books of a humorous or light-hearted nature.

Reading can also be a way to facilitate personal growth or inspire you to try new things. You can experience personal, spiritual, financial and intellectual growth by reading.

Use your reading time to forget about the stressors around you, relax and let go of the pressures of the day. Allow yourself to escape into another world, if only for 30 minutes a day, and grow as a woman.

Take Your Dream Car for a Test Drive

If you could own any car, what would it be? Why not take it for a test drive? There’s no rule that states you must buy a car you test drive! Even if this gives you just fifteen minutes of fun, it’s a temporary escape into your dream.

If you believe in the Law of Attraction, this could even be a step toward owning that dream car. You never know!

Meanwhile, drive it like a boss! Smell the leather. Feel the way the car handles. Lose yourself in the experience. Relax and enjoy the ride! More importantly, remind yourself that you deserve nice things in your life.

Even if you can never afford to buy this car, you can save up to buy something nice for yourself.

Find or Pursue Your Passion

This is good for you in so many ways, it could be its own blog post, but instead, I’ll try to summarize here.

Following your passion helps you focus your time and energy on something you love and it’s a great escape for you when your guy is out with his friends or off licking his wounds after a missed promotion or lost competition.

When you are passionate about something, you begin to build your story, which is interesting to any man worth having. It gives you something to share and talk about and it helps you build your confidence in new areas.

Self Care for Women | Journaling

Journaling and using a planner are very popular activities right now. When I was young, my sisters all had those padded diaries with the cheap little locks. They wrote their deepest, darkest secrets in those journals with those fun four-color pens everyone had.

Journaling today is a creative endeavor where some people write while others draw or cut out pictures from magazines, pieces of mail and recycled items.

It’s a great form of expression that you can either keep to yourself or share with your guy in the form of a couple’s journal.

Some people take a page of a journal, write whatever is troubling them, and then cover those thoughts with paint, gesso or other paper and embellishments.

self care for women

Enjoy Nature

I love nature and I am fortunate to be able to enjoy it by simply looking out my back door. You can enjoy nature by taking a walk or going on a hike. If you enjoy the water, go kayaking, skiing or just lay by the beach.

The outdoors can even be your chick retreat. Just walking around, enjoying the wonderful colors and smells can help you relax and recharge.

This can be a great thing to do first thing in the morning or right before you go to bed. It is a nice, calming activity, providing a sense of peace and joy all at the same time.

Celebrate Victories

I am a big fan of conducting a weekly review in which I take note of my weekly accomplishments and challenges.

Reminding yourself of your accomplishments helps you shift your focus from things that didn’t get done or hiccups in your week to the things you did well.

This is a great way to boost your confidence and sense of self-worth. You have abilities you don’t even realize and taking the time to remind yourself of those abilities helps you grow.

Self Care for Women | Practice Gratitude

It is so easy to become bogged down with the heavier side of life and our natural inclination is to focus on the mistakes we make or the things we wish we’d done differently. Some form of self care for women should include the practice of gratitude.

When you shift that focus onto things in your day or week that you can be grateful for, you change your outlook. It’s a great reminder that there are many things going right in your world and not just a world of wrong banging on your door.

Stretch Your Comfort Zone

For most people, staying within your comfort zone feels safe. The problem with safe is that there’s no growth in safe.

When you strive to stretch your comfort zone, you commit to growing as a person. It’s important to take a few risks in order to build your confidence and expand your horizons.

It is only when you push yourself in this way that you find your true self.

Self Care for Women Includes Taking Care of Yourself

Instead of staying up until midnight to finish the laundry, do the dishes and clean up after the kids, try going to bed at a reasonable hour and getting some good rest.

If you need to stay up that late to get things done, you’re either not prioritizing your tasks, or you have too much on your plate.

Not only should you get plenty of rest, but you should eat healthy meals. While it might seem easy to hit the drive-thru on the way home from a late day at the office, it’s much better for you to go home and heat up some leftovers or make yourself a salad.

I know one young woman who utilizes her days off to do her grocery shopping and complete food prep for the work week ahead. With proper planning, you can accomplish the same and lower the stress in your life!

Self Care Enables You to Properly Care for Your Loved Ones

If you are running on empty 90% of the time, you’re no good for the people you’re trying to nurture. Being exhausted and cranky just leaves them wishing you’d retreat off to nature or go read a great book. What they want to do most is enjoy their time with you.

Facilitate that by practicing good self care. Remember that you can’t be there 100% for them if you’re not there 100% for yourself first. It isn’t selfish, it’s providing your loved ones with the best version of you, and it’s providing you with personal and positive feedback that you are worthy of being cared for!

Having an effective self-care routine is crucial to your daily peace and happiness, but many people falsely believe that self-care is simply taking a hot bath with a glass of wine and some candles.

There are so many other ways to enjoy a self-care routine and this book walks you through them, providing you with many choices on how you can implement a self-care routine into your schedule. 

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Developing a Workout Habit

Developing a Workout Habit

Build Confidence, Self care

Swimsuit season is just around the corner if you’re like me and live in what was recently the frozen tundra. It’s Kirbie today and I thought we should have a little chat about getting into a good workout habit. Working out is not only good for your body and improving how you look on the outside, but it has benefits to your mind as well.

Set a time of day

I have found that the best workout routine I ever had was just that – a routine. Not in the sense of doing 50 sit-ups followed by 30 jumping jacks, but routine meaning every day when I came home from work, I got into my workout clothes straight out of my work clothes and headed off to the gym. It became part of my day. I was even able to tweak my work schedule a bit so that I got home a little earlier, allowing me to grab a shower and still get dinner going at a reasonable hour.

Get a buddy

Working out, especially in the beginning, is hard work, and it’s easy to say “I’m going to skip it today, I’m tired.” If, however, you ask a friend to start working out with you, they’re more likely to cheer you on, and you’re more likely to keep working out to help them stay encouraged. It also gives you someone to talk to while you’re working out and someone to share your aches and pains.

Tell someone

Have someone you trust to hold you accountable for your workout. This person should be someone who will hold your feet to the fire and ask you periodically how you’re doing. This can be really beneficial when you start to hit a wall. Make sure to tell this person that you expect them to be a little hard you when you need it. That’s what friends are for!

Start slow

If you haven’t worked out in a while, or, well – ever, be sure to start slow. Your first few workouts may only be 10 minutes long, but that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you’re doing something, and something is always better than nothing. It may be that you can only walk to the mailbox and back – that’s okay. Be sure to increment up slowly. Every few days, add a minute or two. Once you hit maybe 20 minutes, increase the intensity of your workout, instead of the time. Either add some incline to your treadmill or some sort of pressure to the machine you’re using. After you increase that for a while, go back to adding time.

Get a checkup

This should be the first tip, but that’s okay. Make sure to get clearance from your MD before you begin a new workout, especially if you have health issues or have had joint issues in the past. They will give you some ideas of where you should start and may be able to provide you with some dietary advice as well.

Let yourself off of the hook

You should always be driving to do the best workout you can, but some days, it’s just not happening. You may get 15 or 20 minutes in and just be wiped out. Wind down and wrap it up. It’s not worth forcing it. Your body may be trying to tell you something and it pays to listen. Tomorrow is another day and you will be back at it.

Drink lots of water

Take water with you to the gym. If you’re doing an outdoor workout and it’s hot, freeze a water bottle ahead of time and take that with you. It will melt as you go along and it will stay cold. Trust me, by the time you’re done, it’ll be empty! The important thing is to stay hydrated, otherwise you’ll run out of gas before you’re done. You should also be well hydrated before you go to the gym, and you should drink more when you get home.

Set some goals

Spend your first few days trying out different routines or machines, then go home and set some goals. If you have decided that the elliptical is your machine, make a plan for increasing your time and effort. Set a goal for getting from 10 minutes to 20, then from 20 to 30. How many days will it take you? Be reasonable but not too easy on yourself. Don’t forget to account for increasing intensity – build that in as well. This isn’t about setting weight loss goals, it’s about setting goals on the machine. The bonus is that you’ll lose weight and shed some of the flabby stuff we all hate.

Change things up from time to time

Even if you prefer the elliptical, you might think about using a different machine every now and then. Maybe once a week, use the bike instead. Another great workout option is to do a machine every other day and fill in with weight lifting on the off days. This is actually great for your bone structure and helps to prevent osteoarthritis. If you find that you plateau with your weight loss, this can be a great way to shake things up.

Get good shoes and take care of them

You don’t need to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe, but you will definitely thank yourself if you get a good pair of shoes. Ask someone at the shoe store for help if you’re not sure what to get. There are now shoes for any activity you want to do, so choose wisely. Try them on, walk around in them for a few minutes and make sure they will feel good on you while you’re working out. Once you have those shoes, take good care of them, and replace about every 3 months. Never wash sneakers. Spot clean them, take out the insoles and wash them, and wash the laces separately – all can be done in your kitchen sink.

Final thoughts

I find getting into a workout routine to be very difficult. It takes a massive amount of will power to stick with it, but if you can manage to force yourself for a week or two, you’ll become ‘addicted’ to the endorphins that are produced and you’ll find yourself wanting to work out! I promise!! I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true. Try it for a few weeks and you will see!

Your Prescription for Happiness

Your Prescription for Happiness

Build Confidence, Self care

I am always writing about how to be happier in life, but often, unless something comes from your own heart, it isn’t as powerful as it could be. So how about this: you write your own prescription for happiness. I’ll get you started with an example, but you will need to snatch the pen out of my hand and work your own magic!

My Prescription for Happiness – by Ima Hapy Gurl

As my own personal doctor, I am prescribing myself the following treatment, starting tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. I am doing this because I’ve noticed a slide in my own happiness and confidence. I am complaining more, putting on a little weight and I have lost my energy. My brother’s health and current divorce might have triggered my own sadness so I am going to lead by example.

My personal prescription starting at 8 a.m. tomorrow:

  1. Post one large affirmation on my bathroom mirror that says, “I will be happy ALL day!” Repeat it all day long and let nothing take you down – nothing!
  2. Do one thing that I have never done before: bring my laptop to Starbucks and have my first mocha cappuccino ever. (I have never had one – honestly)
  3. I will work out hard and afterward, I will do 10 minutes of yoga to relax my mind.
  4. I will change my entire diet. Whole foods here I come! That means cleaning out my cupboards of all the crap! I’m allowed one crap day and that is on Sunday IF I stick to my new diet/work out this week.
  5. I will sign up at Meetup.com’s wine tasting event this Friday and see if I can connect with one new friend.
  6. I will drop off one case of cat food to my local shelter. No asking, no calling, just buy it and drop it off!
  7. I will go to the beach and throw some rocks. Not really sure why, I just think it will be fun having a moment with nature

Finally. I will look over my prescription at the end of the day tomorrow and it will lead me right back to being happy because of all the stuff I did! Next up, tomorrow’s list starting with my new affirmation!

And guess what Doc? I feel so much better already!

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