2013 Wellness Challenge Weeks 39, 40, 41 & 42
So I took a break. It wasn’t planned or intentional, it just kind of happened. I had a lot going on, including a move, and this time I decided that the best thing I could do was take care of myself. To do that, I needed to step away from the computer for a bit.
This is a big milestone for me – a transformation manifested. As someone who talks about wellness and self-care, it was important that I walked the walk. I had things to take care of on the home front and that meant that the business front had to suffer.
At first, I wasn’t okay with it. I felt guilty for not working and I felt bad for not sending my weekly newsletters. For so long I’ve watched some of my online blogging idols send newsletters on major holidays and never miss a week and I’ve always thought that was a sign of super dedication. To an extent it is, but there’s a twist. Most of my blogging idols have a team – they’re not running their businesses all alone anymore. I never read them when they were all alone. They probably missed a few weeks here and there in the beginning.
Regardless, I’ve gotten over myself. I might not send you a yoga video every week and I might be slow to update the blog when I move 2,000 miles across the country. If anything, I hope you won’t be upset with me. I hope you’ll understand that I’m human too and I need vacations and sick days just like everyone else. I encourage you to make sure you’re taking care of yourself too, especially as we move into the holiday season.
Wellness Challenge Catch Up
Now I’m a bit behind on the 2013 Wellness Challenge, so I’m going to pack a whole month’s worth of wellness ideas into one post. I played with all of these activities over the past month as I moved.
In case you were wondering, Arizona is pretty rad; except for the scorpions, killer bees, javelinas, brown recluses, panthers and mountain lions. Other than that…
Four ways to lighten up and be human
#1: Have fun and play
I’ll be honest (haa, when am I not?), I could have gone back to work last week. Jacob didn’t have to go to work though and so even though the house was mostly put together, the Internet was installed and I didn’t have any excuses, I decided to play instead and enjoy the time I had with Jacob before his grueling schedule started up again. We played golf, went to the zoo, made up games to play with out balance balls we use as desk chairs, sat by the pool, cooked dinner together, explored the Farmer’s markets, read books, painted at an art bar and caught up on all our TV shows. Sometimes, those activities that make you feel like you’re wasting time are necessary to get your mind off the stuff keeping you up at night.
#2: Be spontaneous
Get up and do something different. Something that isn’t planned. Something you wouldn’t normally do. Push yourself, scare yourself, take a risk. I went to a haunted corn maze. I DO NOT enjoy being scared by costumed folk in dark places with scary music. But I went. Spontaneous doesn’t have to be all fancy, formal and expensive either. Spontaneous might be wearing mismatched socks, going to a yoga class, or making something different than the oatmeal you eat every morning for breakfast. Start small and work your way up to the big goals.
#3: Bake
As much of a health nut as I’m thought of, my weakness as many of you know is baked goods. Although I’m not a huge fan of doing the baking (I get so much more pleasure, ironically, out of paying $3.25 for a cupcake), the process of cooking or baking is a reflective, meditative and relaxing one as long as you don’t get too caught up in “doing it right.” With the holidays practically upon us, try your hand at seasonal pumpkin treats, sweet potato pies (never actually had one, just sounds good here), and warm gooey messes. Plus, the oven can lend you some extra heat on a chilly night.
I baked these recently for that spontaneous breakfast switch-up and they were delish:
Pumpkin Muffins from PaleoPlan.com
Ingredients
- 1½ cups almond flour
- 3/4 cup canned pumpkin (or cook and puree pumpkin yourself)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup raw honey (optional)
- 2 tsp almond butter
- 1 Tbs sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Coat muffin tins with coconut oil (or use paper muffin cups and add 1/2 tsp melted coconut oil to batter).
- Mix all ingredients and pour evenly into tins.
- Bake for 25 minutes on the middle rack.
#4: Clean out the closet
Obviously a big move presents a perfect opportunity for cleaning out the closet. More reasons why now is a great time to go through your stuff:
- Donate clothes to your favorite charity for the holiday season
- Find unused items that you can re-gift
- Unearth your ugly sweaters
- Find new material for those scarves you meant to knit
- Make room for all the new clothes and shoes you’ll be receiving soon
- Re-organize the closet with all the season-appropriate wear and clear out the tankinis and bathing suits that won’t be making an appearance again until next May
Cleaning has a therapeutic effect. You get to reminisce and you get the opportunity to let go of old stuff that just no longer needs space in the closet. Clear out the old and make room for the new.
And your brain counts as a closet!
Now we’re all caught up and ready to finish out the last two months of the Wellness Challenge! I hope you’re feeling as refreshed as I am.
Image credit: duncan
