I know what you’re thinking… “Self care? I’m working 60 hours a week, I have to take my kids to all their activities, I have to get my taxes done, take my mom to her doctor’s appointment, I don’t even have time to eat, let alone take CARE of myself!”
But here’s the deal… just like the old adage about putting on your oxygen mask first on an airplane, the same applies to every day life. If you don’t take care of yourself first, I promise you there will come a day where you won’t be able to get out of bed, let alone take care of anyone else in your world.
How do I know this? Because it’s happened to me more than once. Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you think that when I don’t have clients, I’m laying on my comfy massage bed with my face under the steamer taking a nice little nap. I wish! The truth is I’m doing inventory, booking appointments, ordering products, doing my taxes, making doctor’s appointments for my kids and a myriad of other things that would make your head spin. The ONLY way I’m able to survive my very over scheduled life is to TAKE CARE OF ME!
These days, taking care of me looks like this. Pilates twice a week with the fabulous Jamie Rutt. Yoga twice a week with the amazing Julie Buckner or at her studio InYoga. Eating healthy (for me this meant giving up gluten and sugar), getting enough sleep, and committing to a spa visit (not my own) once a month. It also means committing to my home skin care program: Washing my face twice a day and apply my layers of serums so that I can keep looking younger than the 50 years my body has been on this earth.
I’ve heard from people that they consider getting massages and facials a luxury. “My birthday is in June so I’ll treat myself then.” These are the same people who are getting in car accidents, getting sick all the time, suffering from back and joint pain, and not being able to sleep at night.
I’ve gone through periods in my life where I didn’t take care of myself, and boy, did I suffer. The most recent time was this past six months. I literally took care of everyone in my life except me. As a result, my fibromyalgia symptoms came back, I couldn’t fall asleep at night and worse, I got chronic daily migraine headaches. I even got in a little car accident because my brain was going a million miles a minute and caused $3600 worth of damage to my very patient husband’s car. But the headaches were what finally got my attention.
I knew what it was. I preach self care to my clients every day that I’m in the spa. But I wasn’t taking care of ME. I’m proud to say that after getting back to my own commitment to self care, I’m now headache free, sleeping well, not hitting cars and am so much more productive at work. I’m also a better and more loving wife and mom.
I challenge you to start putting yourself first. One of my favorite quotes is by the Jewish scholar Rabbi Hillel who wrote, “If I am not for myself then who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am I? And if not now, when?”
So call us or book an appointment online today to take care of yourself.
Because if not now, when?
With peace & gratitude,
Wendei
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