Wow I am glad to see the sun shining again, spring is finally here and it has to be one of my favourite seasons of the year.
As always, we have been so very busy supporting members, advocacy, setting up a regular in-house mindfulness clinic, photoshoots, new brochures, our AGM and planning.
I have also been on a bit of a personal journey… I was tuning into the signs that my body was struggling to keep up with what I wanted to achieve. My signs included low energy, headaches, body aches, night sweats, feeling cold constantly, skin issues and low tolerance to even the smallest stressors that cropped up.
This I knew was heading for more than just a three day weekend in bed, so I had to take a step back to evaluate what I was doing and what I could do to improve the way I was feeling. This involved:
– Figuring out short term all the things that I didn’t have to do, delegate what I could to the family and leave the rest of the “stuff”
– I took extra rest when I could and was super strict about lying down with my eyes closed and allowing my mind to quieten
– I allowed my colleagues, family, and friends to know how I was feeling
– I took a harder look at my diet and identified adjustments I could make to ensure I could get the most nutrition on the end of my fork or in a sip of my smoothie. I included some fun additions such as tofu, kombucha, fresh turmeric and kimchi and bought some prepacked colourful stir-fry mixes (rather than having to think about ingredients and chopping)
– I tried a new meditation app which I am really enjoying
– I took a rain check on extracurricular activities, including media platforms
– I gave myself a BREAK and allowed myself to be OK with how I was feeling
– I made plans for moving my body when I was feeling able
Plus more but I wont bore you with ALL the details 😊
The point is, all these actions (and non-actions) carried me through my blip feeling empowered and allowed me feel more in control of my symptoms.
We all have different tools in our toolbox and different strategies work for different people. But I believe there is always something we can do to improve how we are feeling inside and out.
What are your helpful tools and strategies? It can be helpful to write a list in advance of the things that you can try if/when you have a blip.
Better yet, what can you do today that your tomorrow self will thank you for?