Caring For Yourself In Busy Seasons

I don't know about you, but life can be crazy. Maybe for you it feels this way more days than not. It's so easy to let our tasks, our to-do's, the demands and needs of our family keep us from really caring for ourselves in all areas of our lives. We have such good intentions of eating healthy, exercising, keeping up a morning and evening routine, practicing mindfulness, but something keeps us from carrying through. Let's explore this a little closer and find a way to nurture & care for ourselves in the ways we want, in the ways we know will give us a better quality of life.

I get it.

This is not an easy task. In my experience working with women just like you, I've noticed one commonality.

They have a very clear picture of what they want as far as the way they care for themselves. They want to commit to a routine that brings them both energy and ease in their day. They want to eat food that nourishes them from the inside, out. They want to feel calm around food, not stressed, not bing-y. They want to have a regular rhythm with exercise that feels natural and easy to follow through with. They want to wake up earlier to spend more intentional time on themselves and their own growth.

But life.

It's so easy to let life just carry us away instead of taking intentional steps towards the place we want to go. It's tempting to say, "that's for that other girl...not me" instead of owning what you want and making it happen.I am by no means saying that you are just making excuses. I know that the way our world and culture are can make it so challenging to actually do what we want to do. But I am also stepping out and saying that you have the amazing opportunity to take charge...and maybe not in the way that you think. 

Here it is...the way to care for yourself in busy seasons is by GIVING YOURSELF GRACE.

 Giving yourself grace allows for permission to not be perfect...to fail. Allowing yourself to "fail" (quotations because I don't believe there is any such thing as failure...only learning from every experience and opportunity) is an opportunity to step out and do hard things. It gives you permission to try something new and permission for it to not work right away but then to decide if it's really something you want or whether it's something you can let go of because it doesn't serve you.

Did you catch that right there... you have permission to decide what works for you and what doesn't.

How empowering, right!?

So, say you decide you want to start waking up an hour earlier to go through a morning routine because you feel like that time of stillness and focus on you will bring you clarity and calm throughout your day. But as you try it out, you realize an hour isn't working...you can't seem to get up out of bed at that time. So, you re-evaluate (because again, there's permission to adjust) and try just 30 minutes earlier, or 15.

We could do the same thing with, say, meal prepping. You decide that meal prepping could be really great for you because it will help you eat more nourishing food throughout the week without stressing about how to actually get it made. So you give it a try and plan on meal prepping on Sunday and making 4 meals and all of your lunches. But, this felt like a lot and was overwhelming all on one day. So you decide to just try prepping lunches for the week. That feels doable and you are able to have delicious and nourishing lunches every day with ease. So, to all my fellow high-achievers and busy women... I want to encourage you to already decide that you are going to give yourself grace for any possible "failure" that comes up and use it as an opportunity to learn from yourself, re-evaluate, and find what works for you. A big part of this process is knowing that we all go through different seasons at different points in our lives. Life is not stagnant... it's fluid, just like our bodies are fluid and always changing. Give yourself permission to identify what kind of season you are in and find ways to support yourself and care for yourself in these different times of your life.

A couple of thoughts on "caring for yourself". We have basic needs that can often fly by the wayside when life gets busy. You and your body deserve to be cared for in all seasons.

Here are some basic ways to care for yourself in the busy seasons:

1. EAT REGULARLY & PLAN FOR HUNGER: One of our most basic needs is for nourishment from food. But what often happens when we get busy is we think about everything else and everyONE else that we forget to care for our own need for food. Think of it like planning for hunger. You are going to get hungry even in busy seasons so being prepared for that hunger can help care for this need you have and even prevent getting to the end of the day and binging on everything in sight (a completely natural reaction to not eating enough during the day). Pack a few non-perishable snacks in your car, in your purse, in your desk drawer so that you always have something.

2. FIND TIME TO SLOW DOWN & BREATHE: We can't pay attention to our body's basic needs (including hunger like we just talked about) without actually slowing down. This can be especially difficult in busy seasons where everything is moving quicker and our minds are everywhere else except on ourselves. Practice body literacy (listening to what your body is telling you) and when you notice your breathing becoming quicker and shorter, pause and take 3 deep belly breaths. This little reset not only feels amazing but also does amazing things for your body by decreasing stress and improving digestion (*extra tip...try to do this every time you sit down to eat!)

3. MOVE YOUR BODY: Movement is another place where, when we're busy, we neglect to care for ourselves. We fill our days with so much that we don't have time to move. Or, we're so exhausted at the end of all of our to-do's that we can't even bring ourselves to think about moving... vegging out on the couch with Netflix sounds so much better. And while rest is important during these seasons (we'll get to that next), our bodies crave movement and find so much release with even just a simple stretching routine. Maybe you include this in a little morning routine and wake up a little earlier for some simple stretching and breathing before you hit the ground running. Or, try right before bed. It doesn't have to be anything crazy...movement is anything from stretching to a full-on HIIT workout...but check in with your body and see what would feel good for you in the moment.

4. REST: Days get longer, we stay up later and wake up earlier, when we are busy. But we need rest to function our best and care for ourselves. Even if your week is crazy and you just can't get to bed any earlier, try deciding on one day out of the week to really rest (sleep in, phone on 'do not disturb', eat out...whatever that looks like for you). These are just a few ways to care for yourself in busy seasons...I know we all have them but your body still deserves to be loved on and cared for.

Hey! If you're looking for support with your relationship with food, your body, and more, check out The Nourish Lab...my online membership community!