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Self-Care....I'm Still Trying to Figure it Out

jodiedavidson79
Jan 9, 20243 min read

As we start the New Year it's always the same thing. Everyone wants to change their lives in huge ways. As a personal trainer and health coach as a I am not any different. Traditionally, this is the busy time of year at the gym, generally busy enough the regular crowd changes their schedule for the next 30 to 60 days. Why this specific amount of time? Because self-care is habit forming and it takes at least 2-3 months to truly form a new habit.


I'm as guilty, if not more so, of starting a new habit and giving up after10 days, I know, I know, I'm a health coach, this should be easy for me. It's just as hard, if not harder for me, I naturally put others needs ahead of my own. I am still trying to figure out how to say no, how to take care of my own self-care. It's hard, but this struggle helps me understand my clients and help guide them along the their journey.


This year I actually made myself a promise, I teach in public schools now and I have the summer off. I'm actually working little to nothing at part-time jobs and focusing on me. I've already started some of this to get into the habit. I now swim at least 300 yards twice a week and walk in the lazy river at the pool after, I ride 1-2 times a week, I have recently started meditating again, and will start Yoga/Pilates here in the next week at home. I'm learning as I get older to add a few things to my routine at once so they're more likely to stick instead of jumping into the deep end and sinking because I'm doing to much (work in progress I still have my days).


My next goal is to work on my diet, when you are busy it is so easy (even as a health coach) to just grab the easiest thing. As I age (ladies in our 40s this one is for you!), I find I'm more sensitive to foods, my memory and organizational skills are struggling some days, losing weight is harder, and I'm just worn out. Running on caffeine and sarcasm is no longer an only option (although still my favorite). So, I have started slowly adjusting my diet, I know from previous history I can't just go all in or I will fail. Failure is ok, it means we are learning, but I am trying my best to be long-term successful this time.


We've discussed physical changes so far, but how about the mental and emotional ones? I talked about starting Yoga, last night I started meditation (always difficult for me) and it was an experience to say the least. I didn't realize until last night how hard it is for my brain to shut down. I've tried meditation before and it was boring at times (I prefer to move), but teaching myself that it's ok to be still was some serious work on my part.


I'm reading more (a big promise I made to myself). I love to read and somewhere in my adult life my brain decided it was not ok to read, it was a "waste of time", it's not and I have followed a book club to give me more ideas such as, fiction books, history, garden/herb, folklore, and self-help/trauma recognition.


Lastly, I have given myself permission to have the summer off, to help coach swim, to garden, to read and write more, and to spend more time on or around my horses. Sometimes self-care is nothing more than doing the things you love instead of the things you have to do. It's saying no to the requests for your time when you can and saying yes to you more!


I've dumped a lot on you in this blog, but every bit of it says the same thing...say yes to you more. Start with small changes and add something new each month, if it doesn't work for you scrap it and try something else. Rediscover you. For years most of us have given everything we have to jobs/careers, family, friends, and whomever else requires our time and attention. Stop and grab that cup of coffee, go to that Yoga or painting class, go do you for a bit, the other stuff will still be there and believe it or not, it can actually wait.





 
 
 

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