Making me-time
Me-time 101: Self-care in the time of Covid (3 of 11)
Welcome back!
What time of day is your me-time? How often do you experience it? How long ago did you begin habitually taking me-time? How many minutes do you take for your self-care? Has living in a Covid-19 world impacted your me-time in some way?
For many years I had the intent of maintaining a healthy self-care routine. But that is as far as it went. Like many people, my own story is filled with many starts and stops and starts again. But creating a lasting habit seemed illusive. I would wake up thinking “Today I will walk/go to the gym/exercise to a DVD after work today.” And then Life would step in - some meeting would come up or I would be too tired and my intention would fall on its face.
It wasn’t until I decided to get up a little earlier, making me-time the first thing of the day, that I actually was able to maintain a routine long enough to make a habit. Over the years what I do during me-time has changed and evolved, how much time I spend has lengthened and shortened and lengthened, but the good news is, Me-time has become a healthy habit. And, for me, when Covid shut down nearly all services in Hong Kong, I found I spent much more time just for me - walking, reading, writing, baking, and meditating.
About Time
Okay. Let’s deal with the elephant in the room: Time. If we had all the time in the world, we would most certainly take very good care of ourselves, right? Right!
But what if we don’t have all the time in the world? Well, then, consider that with even only one minute, you can practice self-care and begin building or re-building a habit. For example, for the very first minute you awake you can practice belly breathing or simply stretch your body by wiggling your toes, rotating your ankles, wrists and neck, or hugging your knees to your chest. Or before you get out of bed (and certainly before you look at a phone) you can take one minute to practice gratitude by thinking about three things for which you are grateful. Or you can use that minute to say something to yourself as if you are your very best friend who loves you a whole lot and knows exactly what you need to hear. See? Even with one minute you can practice self-care. From there you can build to three minutes, then ten, then twenty, and so on, until you find yourself balanced in mind, body, and spirit.
You can use that minute to say something to yourself as if you are your very best friend who loves you a whole lot and knows exactly what you need to hear.
Perhaps you will find you have specific times of the day that work better than others to build that habit. Even though I never thought of myself as a morning person, I have found the mornings work best for me to carve out time. When I lived in Korea, my friend Jen and I began a routine on Friday mornings. We would wake up extra early to bike to work for 30 minutes and then swim in the pool for another 30 minutes. By the time I began teaching, I had already been at school for 1.5 hours. I was a bit surprised, yet definitely proud of myself, to feel energized and healthy and happy. Plus, I had spent quality time with a friend.
When I lived in Hong Kong, I worked through a self-guided, 12-week program called The Artist’s Way in order to build a new writing habit and unleash my creativity. In it Julia Cameron instructs her readers to get up a half hour earlier than usual to write “morning pages.” When I began the book, I had no idea she was going to say that! But I did it! And it felt great to make a cup of tea, sit out on my balcony, watch the beautiful sunrises and write and write and write before anyone in the apartment stirred.
And for many, many years, I have walked outside in the morning, connecting to nature’s beauty and inspiration. Much of that time I have been walking a dog.
Recently I had the rare privilege of taking a weeklong self-made personal retreat at a resort in Mexico. Each day was filled with time to write, read, exercise, enjoy the nature around me, and de-stress and re-balance. Two mornings I got up early and took my usual swimming gear to the beautiful infinity pool set up with two lap lanes. The sun was rising, I had the pool to myself, I put on my swim cap and stuck in my earplugs and swam for thirty minutes. It felt good to continue with my weekly routine of swimming. But it felt great to be doing it in such beautiful surroundings with the sunrise and the ocean nearby. At one point another swimmer arrived. I paused, smiled and said to him, “Good for us! There are all these people at this resort and we are the only two doing laps this morning!” I felt nourished, happy, and proud. Now that is a great way to start a day.
Benefits
It may seem obvious but it is worth repeating, self-care activities like walking, biking, and swimming benefit the body and the mind. Endorphins released during activity give you a natural feel-good high, inherently combatting stress and anxiety. Activities like being in nature and writing a journal or poetry serve to connect you to something bigger than yourself and feed your soul. Did you know studies on “forest bathing” (ie. walking through the woods) have shown that this activity brings better chemical balance to one’s body?
In general, habitual self-care will bring you a more balanced mind, body, and soul. This in turn not only benefits you but the people around you. A more balanced You means that you can be a more effective partner, parent, son or daughter, worker and co-worker. It means you can handle unexpected stress with more grace. It means you can support others who need you to be their rock. It means a longer, healthier life. It can mean reversal of disease or degeneration. It can be the gateway to knowing your life’s purpose.
Over the following weeks, I will continue sharing the tools from my personal me-time toolbox in greater detail. But for now, take a look at some self-care ideas. Most or all of these ideas can be done for free.
Life presents challenges. Challenges can easily become stressful. Stress can affect the body’s health and balance. You are here and reading this, so self-care matters to you. When you set aside even one minute here and there, you are practicing self-care which in turn can improve a sense of balance in mind, body and soul.
Before you go
In the chart above, I have provided ideas from my own life. Take some time to make your own self-care chart. Print it if you like. What do you do? What do you wish to do? If you don’t already have a habit you are comfortable with, perhaps now is the time to commit. You could post your chart somewhere for you to see each day as a reminder. And be sure to recognize when and how often you take time for yourself and your own life-balance. Remember to thank yourself for taking care of yourself.
Feel free to write a note in the comments. Did you try any of last week’s breathing techniques? What do you like to do with even one minute? How have you benefited from self-care?
Resources
Cameron, Julia. The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity: 25th Anniversary Edition. A Teacher Perigee Book, 2016.
Seheult, Roger, MD. MedCram-Medical Lectures Explained Clearly. “Coronavirus Pandemic Update 56: What is “Forest Bathing” & Can It Boost Immunity Against Viruses?” https://www.MedCram.com. Youtube. April 15, 2020.
Next up: Chill Pills
You can find my other series “Parenting 101 Coupons: A Gift from your Parents” and “Partnering 101: A Deep Dive into Leaving Kindly” in the archives.
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Brenda BraykoWriter. Teacher. Gong Player.
Find more of my writing at GreenBaytoKorea.blogspot.com.
Learn about my business at CelestialSoundGB.com
Thank you for sharing...inspiring me to do more.