May Self-Care Challenge
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rheddmobile wrote: »A thing I've been doing for a while now is going outside first thing in the morning to do a little stretching and bodyweight exercises before breakfast. It seems to have a large impact on my blood glucose, but the main thing is, I make myself head outside and see daylight first thing, and it wakes me up mentally and helps me prepare for the day. The rule is I head outside no matter the weather unless it's actually dangerous (such as hail or lightning.) Strangely enough, what began as a hardship intended to help me adjust to the different seasons has become a joyful thing. It doesn't hurt me to get rained on once in a while, or to see my breath freeze! But it's especially nice when a storm has just gone through and everything smells wonderful, the temperature has dropped to a reasonable level, and the frogs are singing.
What a beautiful idea! I will copy it and do this as well. I'll be on summer break soon and I plan on sitting outside in the mornings and journal writing every day.1 -
Yesterday, I weeded and planted flowers. Gardening does keep you in the moment. You just focus on what you're doing. I love that about Nature. It grounds me. Xo3
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Going to try and drink lots of water today and get myself back on that3
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May 27
You know, I’m coming to the conclusion that self-care is actually difficult for me. Tough to figure out what to do that will truly make me feel cared for. I’m good at the productive or semi-productive ones, but grapple with how to really figure out & meet my needs. Certainly explains how I used to use food for this.
I’m ok with the productivity being made interim step: decluttering, building cooking & exercising habits, posting to apps... but I see I need to begin to focus more on self-care & enlivening as I have the other areas mostly in place.
So, my Self-Care today is to write down three true self-care ideas.5 -
Yesterday, I went on a bike ride with my fiancé to a fun part of town, where we sat outside on a picnic bench and watched the sun go down. Although I'm not a big drinker, I have trouble resisting the urge to drink socially, and since I drank a salty dog with a friend at lunchtime, it took some willpower to order something besides beer at dinnertime. (That's to say, I recognized I didn't want the drink at lunchtime, which cast a light on my decision-making for the rest of the day.)
I didn't have a sip and, instead, ordered a kombucha. Enjoying my beverage (and a yummy jian bing) was a self-care moment. I have nothing against beer or alcohol, mind you, or sips or gulps or mugfuls. What's important is teasing apart my own needs from the needs of my friends and family. In the past I would socially drink without even craving a drink, and I've been practicing being the designated driver in specific instances, for example, or just ordering something non-alcoholic and delicious, too. I don't always succeed.
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Love the idea of this challenge! Congrats to everyone who made it this far - reading through the thread gave me a lot of great self care ideas! Will there be another challenge for June?4
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@katy_maher
Yes, I think so! See below!MadisonMolly2017 wrote: »@twyla77
This is such a great challenge/group...
Are you planning to continue this in June? I hope so!
Please let us know!!
Yes, let’s do it again in June! i love reading all these ideas!
Excited!!2 -
I declined an invitation to go to a sports bar to drink and eat with friends and watch the NBA game tonight. The self care part was I didnt drink too much, sleep awfully, and have a hangover. Drinking sparkling water and watching the game alone. It's all good.4
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10 km run.
Created a Strava club for women runners which I'm really excited about.
Read this thread and felt chilled-out from your posts. Thanks!4 -
May 28
True Caring/fun/indulgent Ideas I came up with yesterday!
1. Play with make-up! Go to sept store for application/ideas! YouTube videos?!
2. A tiny tip-toe into plants! Herbs, flowers, succulent-art Project?!
3. Create an art piece(s) to remind myself of ALL the ways my life is better now & place it/them where I can see them. For ex: I can hike now & don’t even hurt. I can pick things off floor or low shelves easily. I am never hungry. I can buy clothes at some small boutiques & I can find things I love that fit! My posture is transformed. Who knew...I have abs (slowly & steadily they are appearing) My skin is soft. I enjoy moving. I look on the outside the way I always felt on the inside.
4. Many more bubble baths.
Typing this from the bathtub!!!
Have an awesome day!4 -
MadisonMolly2017 wrote: »@katy_maher
Yes, I think so! See below!MadisonMolly2017 wrote: »@twyla77
This is such a great challenge/group...
Are you planning to continue this in June? I hope so!
Please let us know!!
Yes, let’s do it again in June! i love reading all these ideas!
Excited!!
Hi!
I'll post up a June challenge today! Glad everyone is wanting to keep it going!2 -
Did a hair mask this morning before work, and I'm loving how nice my hair feels and smells now! I keep getting faint wafts of coconut, so it feels like I'm somewhere tropical even though i'm just working away at my desk!4
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Spent time with the fam5
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got up early and walked - fabulous way to start my day.4
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May 29
Thanks to @rheddmobile ‘s post a few days back...
I took my breakfast outside on a tray - hubby joined me with his! Warm sun streaming through bright green leaves - a pleasant breeze. What a glorious way to begin our days! Will clean the table & outdoor furniture now that we saw how awesome it is & make this our new breakfast routine! Over a few weeks, we’ll finally hang the outdoor lights we bought last summer & I’ll create a couple of pots of flowers
Thank you rheddmobile!!! You have improved our lives and self-care tremendously!
I love this thread & how little changes & just giving our own care a little attention can have such a huge positive impact.
Hugs!6 -
Thank you for this thread! I love it!
Today, I played hooky from work; took the afternoon off and went to a local beach by a lake. I havent done that in years. I really enjoyed listening to people having fun, the water, reading my book, and the sun on my body. It was awesom!7 -
Sorry I haven't been checking in! I've been pretty good about self care the past few days, but my best news is, I'm running at the park again! When my knee was so bad that I could only amble along slowly for a couple of miles, it didn't seem worth it to get dressed up and go to the park to run, so we just ran in the neighborhood. We have been to the Greenline three times since my knee has improved, and seen three different snakes, one snake per visit. Including an eight foot long black snack stretched completely across the path which we just had to stop and wait on until he felt like leaving. And this was on the nice, broad, groomed and paved part of the trails! I don't mind snakes in general, and the speckled king snake we saw was very pretty, but this park is also home to water moccasins and copperheads, which makes me leery of running the unpaved trails down by the river. I trust most snakes to have enough sense to avoid me, but if I'm crashing through the leaves at 6 mph or so, they might not have the chance to get out of my way!
Running in nature is very nearly all the self care I need - so happy to be back. Other runners even remembered and greeted me! We always walk to cool down after our runs, and we're going to try out an app for identifying bird calls. We also saw some owl pellets on the trail, which means we plan to keep our eyes out for owls. Owls are tricky to spot in daylight, but in the past we have seen barred owls at the park.
@MadisonMolly2017 I'm so happy you're enjoying your new routine!8 -
It's nice to see everyone taking care of themselves5
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Didn't post yesterday, I was very busy. However I took care of my well-being.
For a couple of days I'd been getting really annoyed with all sorts of things. I worked out I was actually getting over being stressed about being parkrun Run Director on Saturday, although it had gone smoothly.
I decided I'd like to talk to my psychologist about that realisation, and she had an appointment free, so I saw her the same day, and we had a really, really great chat.
Today I'm relaxing by reading your posts, and will hopefully catch up with some other threads I like.4 -
Went to the ocean this weekend.Did a test of the xc track,2 laps.(It was a bit much for me).But afterwards we went riding along the sea shore and the next day i rode along the xc track,taking pictures of the participants,which included my husband and son.It was so relaxing and having fun.4
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Had breakfast outside again this morning. Everything tasted even better, I savored my food more, and I could feel myself relaxing more fully.
I had been thinking I had to think of a new self-care each day! LOL But I’m going to stick with this one for awhile to cement it as a habit
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I'd love to echo that big thank you to twyla for starting this thread. Congratulations to you, rheddmobile, for healing well and getting back to the running trails. The going-outside-every-morning idea was inspiring to me, too, as it was for MadisonMolly. And, like Orphia, I've enjoyed relaxing by reading this thread. There are probably a few more people who deserve a shout-out, but please know I'm enjoying this entire community of thread participants, although my own self-care (and self-care input) has been less than consistent.
In the meantime, just to keep track, I will share that on Monday I went with a friend up a steep hiking trail (and back down). We walked (and occasionally talked) in the trees for six hours.6 -
Walked in the woods before. Just listening to nature. Meditated for 30 minutes. Am exhausted today from work, so I am letting myself be lazy this evening.3
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big time splurged on a hair cut / colour tonight! it’s been a long time since i got my hair professionally colored, so i went a little lighter for summer! more than i’d normally spend, but i think it’s worth it every now & then!3
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Winter starts tomorrow here in Australia. Haven't bought any nice new clothes since summer.
Today I bought myself a super-long, mustard-yellow, knitted scarf.3 -
And I like it so much here's a pic.
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I love your mustard scarf!!2
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@Orphia Happy Winter! I love your scarf!3
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Got my hair done today.2
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