For most, summer is a time of relaxation, a bit of downtime, when we travel, enjoy the sun, the lake, the pool, the ocean, traveling with our families. For me, this summer is one of the busiest times I think I’ve ever had. I’m not complaining. I’m not boasting. It just is what it is with my life right now. I’m sure you can relate to periods of busy-ness in your life that you might have experienced at some time or another.
So how do we find ways to destress and recharge when we have those crazy “seasons”? Here are some things I do for myself. Even if it’s small moments or chunks of time that I find:
1. Lay out. Ya ya, I know it’s not the best thing, and I’m not talking about laying at the pool ALL day. I’m talking 30 minutes of a little soaking up vitamin D. It energizes me. If I stay a bit longer, thats fine. But it’s tranquil and it’s peaceful, and that heat on my skin feels amazing. You don’t need a pool to do it either. Growing up, I didn’t have a pool. All you need is to be outside. Period.
2. A bath at night. I have always been a shower girl, but lately, I’ve been soaking in the tub just for the purpose of mental escape. I add in some aromatherapy and bath salts, turn down the lights, light a candle and I escape. Even if it’s for 10 minutes. It’s the perfect thing to just unwind right before jumping into bed. …. after the bath I hop in the shower! LOL!
3. Find something mindless to watch on TV. I’m not a huge TV person, mostly because I no longer have much time. But I’ve picked out a few shows that entertain me and I find mindless. My brain is ALWAYS working, so for me, something ridiculous is what I need. Like The Batchlorette!
4. Getting to the gym when I can. Yes I need to push myself more, but when I go I feel AMAZING. So it’s making the time to go. But the key for me when I’m there is having a great playlist and letting my music drive me to move and move hard and push myself even harder.
5. Turn off your notifications. Seriously. Like as in, there have been some days that I have barely even looked at my Facebook and barely posted on my Instagram. And you know something? It felt SO good that I didn’t feel this thing sucking me in. I could just be free living my life without telling a STORY about it to the whole world. Technology has been such an asset to our lives in so many ways but at the same time SUCH a bad thing. … we’ll leave that for a WHOLE other post… maybe a SERIES!
Ok.. I lied. It’s really 6 things.
6. Grounding. Wait what? Grounding. It’s like meditation, but it is a way of getting all of your plasma, yes, our matter inside our system, flowing, creating this circuit all throughout your system. By meditation. I’m not the best person to explain it. But finding some quiet times to meditate is the best way I can describe it. You can read more about grounding HERE.
Basically, overall, what you gotta do, is find what works for YOU. What do YOU enjoy? What is it that you can do or step away from that makes you feel for a brief moment like a bit of weight has been lifted from your shoulders? THAT is what you need to do.
So interesting and what irony I experienced earlier this evening. My parents came over to help me prep a few more things for next week’s Atlanta Market Gift show I’ll be headed to for Honestly Margo. And they saw that I have a lot going on. My dad is one of the wisest men I know. He said some HUGELY profound words to me.
What was so moving to me was that he had no idea I was writing this post for YOU… each and every one of you. Because I’m preaching to myself as I’m giving YOU these tidbits of advice. Life is short. We all live these crazy busy lives. At the end of the day, what’s going to matter most to us? Think about it…
Sooooo…. prioritize what you gotta do. If that means some things take a back seat for a bit to take care of number one, then that’s ok. If we don’t take care of ourselves, mind, body and spirit, it won’t take care of us! And find time to recharge yourself. You can use my examples of what I do or find other things that you enjoy and love more. But whatever it is, DO it.
And if this isn’t a time you might be needing this advice, bookmark it for future reference. You’ll thank me later!
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