Create a life that you don't need a Vacation from (Plus 9 tips from my daily routine!)

Self care. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear those words? For me, the notion of taking mandatory time each day to check in with myself and respond accordingly is always an uphill battle. I know, in my heart of hearts, that that learning to truly care for myself is a process that takes time to cultivate. I think some of that aversion can be attributed to a sense of low self-worth. Learning to love and appreciate myself enough, has been, and still continues to be, the most difficult part of my healing process. I've always had the tendency to burn the candle from both ends, running my energy level on fumes, falling ill at the drop of a hat, and having little to no balance in my life.

When I found Yoga for Scoliosis, something very drastic shifted. I think most of the changes started in my subconscious because I have a feeling that my conscious mind would have tried to sabotage this new path if it was aware of all of the benefits I was reaping. Yes, physically I stopped feeling the chronic pain that was plaguing me day to day, but there was deeper work afoot.

I always joke that when I found this path, I felt as if the universe had slapped me awake. I was learning what it meant to nurture myself in a very deep way. Every time I took class, I was unknowingly depositing more and more energy into my "self-worth" bank account. And each day, that account balance grew and grew until suddenly I realized that much more than my physical pain had begun to shift. The purpose of a yoga practice, in its simplest terms, is the still the fluctuations of the mind. My mind had always been wound up extra tight and was prone to panic attacks, anxiety, and explosive anger. As I began to deepen my practice, my mind finally got a chance to unplug from the chaotic thoughts that consumed me throughout the day, (and often nights as well).

Once I got my first taste of internal freedom, Yoga became something that I couldn't get enough of. I wanted to spend my days, from start to finish, sharing these practices with as many people as possible. As I transitioned from a high-stress restaurant survival job into a full-time teaching schedule, I thought, "Phew, now my stress is gone forever! Teaching Yoga will be like living on a fluffy cloud of peacefulness". Boy, was I wrong.

Being able to create my own schedule came with a whole new set of challenges. Now that I'm doing something that I'm head-over-heels-in-love with it means that I am even more prone to running myself ragged because the passion doesn't have an off switch. It's easy to get thrown out of balance when you spend your days being of service to others. I see this so very often with holistic healers, caregivers, and women of all ages. You get stuck in the give, give, give cycle, and then come home and crash from exhaustion. It's like trying to draw water from an empty well. It's impossible to be of service to others if you're not first taking care of yourself. Over the past year, I've had to learn some pretty difficult lessons about the importance, no, the NECESSITY of self care. After slew of random but debilitating injuries, including a broken foot, I knew something had to change.

Two months of bed rest. That was my prescription if I wanted to avoid foot surgery. The first thing that went through my mind was, "Oh no, what about my back"? I thought that all the hard work I had done on my scoliosis would go straight out the window, and the fear of being in pain again was all consuming. I had gotten used to being able to "yoga" my way out of any aches and pains that came up, but being bed ridden meant that I wouldn't be able to do most of my go-to poses. By the grace of God, I am happy to say, that I did not have an ounce of back pain. That little self-practice bank account that I had been depositing into each day, paid off in all physical respects. The discomfort that I experienced was strictly emotional. My trusty ol' panic attacks started to rear their ugly heads within the first week. I spent my time meditating, journaling, and practicing all of the self care tools that I had learned over the past 5 years. I supported my physical injury with holistic modalities like herbs, vitamins, and essential oils recommended to me by friends and teachers. During that two month period, I felt like I was shedding a lot of emotional baggage that I had been unknowingly carrying around for the past 8 years. It was a difficult but rewarding two months for my spirit.

Before my home yoga practice, it saddens me to think how I would have reacted to an injury like that. I would have most likely become reliant on medication, or rushed the healing process because I didn't know how to honor my body. I wouldn't have had the tools I needed to process all of the emotional baggage that came vomiting up, and I definitely would have been consumed by the anxiety and depression that came with being on bed rest.

These past few months have taught me a lot about honoring my self-care time, and making that time a non-negotiable part of my day. It is during our home practice that we cultivate the skills we will need when life throws us a curve ball like a broken foot, or financial challenges, or a sick relative. It may not feel like the 15 minutes you take in the morning to center your breath is doing much in the moment, but I guarantee you that when you are in the midst of a crisis, you'll be happy that you spent some time each day, cultivating the skills needed to keep you grounded and present.

Here are some of my non-negotiable self-care practices:

1. Wake up, and then go straight to my mat. The moment I open my eyes, I take a few deep breaths, and resist the urge to look at my phone. After going to the bathroom, I immediately head for my yoga mat, which has been set up the night before*. My morning practice can last anywhere from 5 minutes to 90 minutes and is solely based on what my body is asking for that day. Sequencing for your needs is something that I teach students to do in the Home Practice Series, which you can read about here. (There's an online version coming in 2017! Yay!)

2. Meditation and/or Journaling. After my daily practice, I spend some time free writing about whatever comes up! Sometimes this is about certain things that I was processing during my meditation, other times it's a practice I do just to help me get clarity about a challenge I'm experiencing. In any case, writing is a tool that is very closely linked to my self-expression and can be infinitely helpful when it comes to integrating my practice into my daily life.

3. Green Vibrance! My go-to daily supplement chock full of nutrients and probiotics. I do my best to eat clean and green throughout the day, but this drink helps me rest assured that I'm not missing any major nutrients in my diet.

4. No phone/email until after my practice time. This ones a toughy. I leave my phone in another room because that's the only way this actually happens! I bought a separate timer to use so I can actually REST in my poses, instead of worrying how much time I have left to practice.

5. Mandatory Lunch/Dinner breaks between students (yes, I have to physically schedule in time to eat.) I used to squeeze in "students-in-need" wherever I could. Not taking time to nourish myself during the day was a recipe for disaster and illness!

6. A clear end to my work day. This one is a work in progress. In my ideal day, I finish teaching my last student, and my phone/email is off or in Airplane mode by 8:30pm.

7. Wash hands and feet at the end of the day.This has been really helpful in bringing my day to a close. I feel like I'm honoring the hard work that my body has done that day, and I'm physically rinsing off the day before going into my bedroom. I learned this trick from my soul sister Kelly Hilcove who is an expert in the self-care department! She's a registered Hollistic Nurse, who teaches other nurses how to support themselves both on and off the job, how cool is that?

8. Set boundaries with your roommates, partners, or other family member who you live with.This is so important. If you live with other people, there is a 100% chance that they will affect your home-practice time, even if they don't mean to. Setting clear boundaries with you partner or roomies is essential to committing to a practice. Not only will this allow you the peace of mind to block out a portion of your morning, but it might even inspire you to deepen your commitment! My boyfriend has been such an incredible support to my daily practice because he knows how important it is to my well-being. Having a supportive environment can be the missing ingredient to dedicating yourself to your practice. He's even gotten to the point where he encourages me to go and meditate or unplug from my email for a while. It's nice when others are there reminding you to take care of yourself, so that when you are tempted to give up, you've got someone cheering you on in the wings. This support could also come in the form of an accountability buddy who is also trying to dedicate to a daily self-care routine!

9. Schedule a mandatory day off each week. That's right all. A whole day with no phone, email, or work related anythings from sunup to sundown. I write this day in my planner with a big obnoxious purple marker so that I don't even think about scheduling anything for that day. My day off is normally on Sundays, so if I'm teaching a weekend workshop, I'll make sure to take off the following Monday as a make-up for missing my day off. I also try to connect with nature in some way on this day, whether that's heading to the park, or spending it hiking, my day off doesn't feel complete without getting outside!

Self-care has become an essential ingredient to my own healing journey, but it hasn't been easy making that commitment because of the underlying feeling of "not being deserving of self love".

What are some reasons that hold you back from spending time each day honoring your sacred self?

#yogaforscoliosis #yoga #personal #routine #backcare