If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed and anxious about what’s going on in the world right now, a 30 day plan of intentional self care might just be what you need to help balance out your mental health. Self care is the intentional practice of caring for our physical, mental, and emotional health. Self care isn’t selfish. It’s essential for us to refuel our minds and bodies so that we can carry out our work and responsibilities without burning ourselves out.
This Thriving at Home challenge will help you to get start thinking about balancing your mind, body and spirit in a gentle and doable way. I don’t want to overwhelm you with stuff to buy and more things to do. Even if your time is limited, with a little intention you can still reap the mental and physical benefits of intentional self care and learn the art of thriving at home.
Like most other families, we’ve been living on lockdown for the past three weeks with no end in site. Our world has been turned upside down in some ways, not so much in others. The biggest unexpected change is having my 18 year old son with special needs home all the time. Though I had homeschooled my other three children, I was a little overwhelmed when I tried it with him and because of my struggles with chronic illness, felt it was better that he went to school. He is supposed to graduate in June. Though nothing has been announced yet, the writing is on the wall and now we’re also considering doing his transition at home because of the uncertainty of covid-19.
In an odd way I feel like my entire life has prepared me for this time of extreme challenge. I was a latch-key kid in the 70s and was used to finding my own entertainment (for better or worse) and learned to become very resourceful. After a very misspent youth I found myself in 12 step recovery rooms at age 23 and I’ve been living sober ever since.
The spiritual principles I’ve learned in recovery have served me well throughout my marriage and my challenges as a special needs mom who also lives with chronic illness. I know what it’s like to be housebound, to feel depressed and isolated and downright scared that my body was going to betray me if I went out. Since my situation made it difficult for me to get to meetings, I had to learn how to practice those recovery principles in my day to day life so that I didn’t lose myself in the stress of it all.
About the 31 Days of Thriving at Home Challenge
Once you sign up below, you’ll get daily emails for 30 days with self care, mental health and stress reduction tips that will teach your how to relax more and live more intentionally during these difficult days. I’ll also send fun printables for you to use in planning your day and coloring.
You’ll learn how to relax more and take a more intentional approach to stress reduction. You’ll reap the benefits of improved mental health, reduced stress and a better outlook on life no matter what’s going on around you.
Remember that like any new habit, it will take time and consistency for it to take root and become a lasting part of your life. But if you don’t plan and take action, it will never happen.
Quick disclaimer: I’m not a doctor, mental health professional or even a life coach. I’m just a mom who wants to share her experience, strength and hope with other people who are struggling during this unprecedented time.
What have been some of the obstacles you’ve faced in establishing a good self care routine? I’d love to hear your thoughts below!
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