Solitude & Sereni.tea

We are at the end of my first month of making self care a priority in my life -and there has been a whole lot happening. There are some hits and some misses, some things that I have done earlier than expected (which happened organically) and some things that I just haven’t had time for and will try to reintegrate this week.

Here are the hits:
1. Most weeks I have gotten outside for 90 minutes of exercise 5 days each week
2. I have managed to attend every meditation club session in the past 4 weeks, which is not easy since it meets at 5:30 am
3. For 3 of the past 4 weeks, I have done at least an hour of yoga and stretching everyday.
4. I have written morning pages and in my gratitude journal every day in July (though sometimes its in the evening)
5. I am drinking a lot more water, more tea, and much less coffee (I am down to 1 cup of coffee a day).
6. My eating has gotten much healthier. I take supplements and have a greens drink or smoothie everyday. I am still obsessed with cheese though.
7. I am starting to listen to what my body, mind, and spirit needs and I am becoming less dependent on my self care calendar.
8. I have given myself space to explore new ideas and begun to pay attention to what feels good.
9. My therapy is going really well. I am starting to challenge my belief systems.
10. I have started to think about other career paths and have started networking and going on information interviews, and I am starting to get excited about what is out there for me.
11. My relationships with my friends and my partner are getting stronger.
12. My relationship with myself is much improved.

The misses:
1. I am still obsessed with cheese.
2. I fell hard and almost died. Though I have recovered, I am still moving on the slow side and am feeling overly cautious.
3. I am falling short of my sleep goals. My goal is to sleep 7 hours a night, I am somewhere around 5 1/2 hours.
4. I completely missed out on the breathwork sessions, which was this week’s addition.
5. My home isn’t as clean, tidy or as organized as I would like.
6. I am finding it hard to schedule in social activities because I am really enjoying my own company (this is a win in disguise).

I am only 1/3rd of my way through this practice, but so far it’s done me so much good. I want to be able to keep this up for much longer than 90 days. Though I do realize that once September comes, and I start teaching again, this wont be so easy. But it will be even more important during the months when I am much busier, so I am determined to find a way to make this work for me.

I am still trying to figure out ways to involve my core values of creativity, curiosity, inclusivity, vulnerability and harmony. I am aware of my increased self growth, self acceptance, and self love. And I am really proud of the work that I have been doing. And I can’t wait to explore these values within this project.

This next week, I am going to add in a soundbath (one of my most favourite self care activities), a networking event (CreativeMornings Vancouver), and an artist date, which will be a solo night out at the movies.

And as for my mental health check in – I feel amazing today!
How are you feeling?

*Image Source – Insightful Counselling and Training on Pinterest