Hi Beautiful!

Do you struggle with keeping up with your self-care routine?

I get it, far too often life gets busy, or in the way, and your self-care gets pushed to the side. Perhaps you have loved ones to take care of. Food to cook. Maybe you are now wearing the hat of teacher for your children. Pre-Covid, you were probably racing around from one after school activity to another without much thought of your self-care.

You might have a busy demanding career. Deadlines to keep up with, or hoping for the next big promotion. But, you also have you!

Your home needs cleaning, laundry needs doing, the dishes need washing and someone has to take out the garbage… but you also have you.

biggest neglect of being a caregiver

This is the one of the biggest shortcomings of being a caregiver. You take on the role either by choice or default and it often takes up most or all of your time. Your time is spent thinking and doing for others. And when you have a few free minutes for yourself, you are worn out, exhausted and simply can’t be bothered. Does this sound right?

Do you ever catch yourself saying, “oh, I’ll take a yoga class tomorrow instead”, or, tomorrow I’ll treat myself to a bath…..? I’ll wake up 30 minutes earlier and start meditating or journalling… I just need to finish… You get my point. It’s so easy to find an excuse when you are over worked, burned out, stressed out and have completely forgotten about YOU!

You know you should be moving your body, eating well, staying hydrated and working on your stress levels — but staying consistent is a struggle. Why is that?

After chatting with other caretakers these were the top 3 reasons.

#1. I’m too busy!

And yes you are! Your life is overwhelmed with to-do lists and responsibilities. You most likely are ‘the’ go-to person in your circle of friends and loved ones they rely on most. Do the words people pleaser resonate with you? Is it difficult for you to say “No Thank you” to requests? Are you often left feeling depleted, overextended, pulled in too many directions and pray to just make it through the day?

🖤 This is why you need bite-sized healthy rituals that fit easily into your day and that you look forward to.

show up for you first!

#2. I feel guilty!

Your devotion to your loved ones and responsibilities is outstanding. You love them so much, and take pride in being strong, capable and dedicated.

Imagine having 20 minutes of you time once a week, how about every day. Even better, it’s scheduled in your calendar as “unscheduled time”, meaning you have no commitments during that window. You can go for a walk, read a book, enjoy a quite cup of tea, call a friend, meditate…

🖤 Here is what I know to be true… First hand words of wisdom… You have to take care of yourself before you can truly take care of another. This means you have to show up for you first. You’ve heard the saying, put your oxygen mask on first before your neighbors. This applies to all areas of your wellbeing. When you start nurturing yourself, you feel better. You have more energy, and more love to give to the people and priorities you care about.

#3. Self-care is expensive!

Oh how wonderful it would be to have weekly mani, pedi’s or better yet a massage, but this isn’t realistic. Focus on small, simple and sustainable rituals that don’t cost much, or anything at all.

Self-care isn’t about the cost you spend on something. Self-care is your commitment to carving out time for what brings you the most joy. It can be as simple as a goddess bath, popping on some headphones and listening to a podcast while going for a walk. Self-care is an act of love you give yourself, not how much you spend.

🖤 During the darkest days of my life what brought me the most joy and healing was physical exercise. I wasn’t a member of a fancy gym or yoga studio. I ran, walked or hiked out in nature. Not only was I moving my tush, but I was breathing beautiful fresh air, and I was out of the environment that caused me the most stress.

Do you need a little motivation in creating self-care rituals that stick?

Download my self-love menu. It’s your own beautiful personalized menu of self-care rituals that bring you the most joy. Print it, pop it on your fridge, or screen shot it and save it as your screen saver.

Carve out 5 minutes, and create your own personalized self-care menu so you have instant access to what nourishes you most any time you need it.

Being a caregiver is both rewarding and taxing. Life can be both exhausting or exhilarating. Wouldn’t you rather choose rewarding and exhilarating over taxing and exhausting? And you can. You can be everything you need to be for those you love and for yourself too. You deserve to feel nourished, fulfilled and live an abundant life.

Love, 

Amanda XX