The Summer of Self Care ain't over 'til it's over.
In the immortal words of baseball's Hall of Fame Coach Yogi Berra, "It ain't over 'til it's over."
Summer is winding down. Does that mean that the summer of self care is over? It depends on what you pay attention to.
During the third week of September our season changes. If you live in a northern climate it means more layers and boots instead of sandals. Kids are back at school. Many businesses are ramping up, while some are heading into their off season.
Everything happens in cycles.
This summer I embraced a different cycle. I shifted my energy away from business towards self care. If you've been following the #SummerOfSelfCare on the Free Your Inner Guru™ Podcast or social media, you might have noticed two things:
- I was less active on social media and more active in my body.
- I podcasted more and broadcasted my whereabouts less.
Three months later, by riding my bike whenever I could, I've re-discovered the joy of cycling. I grin from ear to ear when I'm riding. By drinking a green smoothie every day, I've discovered the phenomena of subtraction by addition.
Subtraction by addition
You might be familiar with the phrase "addition by subtraction" whereby removing or stopping a habit creates benefits. Well, the green smoothie was a habit I added and the benefits have included less unhealthy snacking.
In another example of subtraction by addition, while more podcasts were released, fewer emails went out. To take care of myself and the podcast, I temporarily scaled back on the frequency at which these emails arrived in your Inbox and I scaled back how much I shared on social media.
The Self Care Question:
Self care is not a season, or something you have to keep in balance. Self care is a lens in which you perceive and operate in the world. It's a way of being where you regularly ask yourself this key question:
What is the kindest or most compassionate thing I can do for ________ right now?
Fill in the blank - for yourself, for your business, for your relationships, for your financial situation.
The kindest or most compassionate thing is not always the easiest. Sometimes the kindest or most compassionate choice is the hardest or most uncomfortable option. It might take more time, require more energy, or mean putting in a boundary. Now that's uncomfortable!
Sometimes the kindest or most compassionate thing you can do is to buck the trend of conventional thinking. Conventional thought would say, "It's September, time to get serious and back to work. No more of that silly riding your bike everywhere."
But that's not what to do if we are going to free your inner guru, is it? Listen to conventional thoughts? No way.
It ain't over 'til it's over.
Seasons come and go. Powerful conversations are immortal.
The conversations I had with myself and the three brilliant human beings I interviewed for Summer of Self Care on the Free Your Inner Guru Podcast have value regardless of the season.
To that end, here is the Summer of Self Care Playlist - a synopsis of the powerful conversations that accompanied the Summer of Self Care journey.
If you're feeling like you need to take a self care journey of your own for the benefit of your life and your business, the Free Your Inner Guru™ Guidebook is a great place to begin. You can download it for free by clicking here.
Enjoy!
In the true spirit of Free Your Inner Guru, my inspiration for the Summer of Self Care came from within.
At the beginning of summer, I was tired, out of shape and none too pleased with myself after a very difficult day cycling between Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Yes, it was 40° Celsius. Yes, it was humid. But there was no denying it. Hours at the computer writing, coaching, podcasting added up to a result that I didn't like.
The Summer of Self Care was born out of equal parts frustration and necessity. But In this first episode I shared my story and started the now 12 week journey. Little did I know what would unfold...
Intention can turn a simple activity like going for a walk – or stopping to smell lavender – into an act of self-care.
If anyone knows how to take something that is meant to be restorative and turn it into a chore, historically it’s been me!
Intention and a little self awareness makes can change that downward spiral. It’s been fun to shift the rhythm of my routine towards less screen time and more time to tune in to what restores my energy. Listen to this episode to find out a powerful question you can ask yourself to guide you on your self care journey.
Karen Haycox has a mantra – “Take the next right step.”
This interview with Karen Haycox, CEO of Habitat for Humanity NYC is one of the highlights of the Summer of Self Care and one of the all-time most popular episodes on the Free Your Inner Guru™ Podcast. It stayed with me for a long time after recording it.
In this compelling interview, Karen shares how taking the next right step propelled her out of addiction to a new career, a new country and into her current leadership role.
Do you pay attention to serendipity when it shows up in your life?
The Universe seems to want me to share something with you. It wants me to speak about acceptance, enjoyment and enthusiasm.
It really wants me to talk about it, because it keeps hinting at it in the form of accidental discoveries, otherwise known as serendipity. So here it is, the story of how a blast from the past from Eckhart Tolle and Oprah Winfrey has taken my summer of self care to a whole new level.
Catherine Hull believes we all all have the power to heal ourselves and create the life of our dreams.
Catherine is a Self-Care & Empowerment Coach and Energy Healer whose purpose and passion in life is to help people live their lives to their fullest potential. She wants you to know that we are all divine creatures, natural healers and magnificent contributors to our world.
Listen as Catherine shares her journey from living with physical pain to empowering others to heal themselves.
“Life is too short not to live in your truth and not to live in love, and not to live doing whatever makes you feel happy and what makes you feel whole.”
Christina Torres is a blogger, mother and best-selling author of Flipping Awesome: The Art and Science of Perseverance, Self-Love, and Getting Your S#&% Together.
Christina is on a mission to flip the script on painfully perfect womanhood and to empower women to embrace their truth and live out loud.
