Well-being.
Sound fun? Does it sound like that thing you know you need to do, maybe even think you want to do, but never really feel like you’ve “taken care of”?
It sounds huge to me. It sounds like hours of luxurious, long bubble baths, hours of yoga & reading, long dinners out with friends or family. It sounds like a massive commitment.
It’s so amorphous. I mean, it’s the kind of thing that most of us don’t seem to know when we have it, only when it's missing or not “enough.”
For me, I focus on & do it until I believe I don’t need it anymore. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been stressed out, gone back to meditating twice a day, start feeling the benefits, only to drop back to once a day. Or reading. I forget how much getting lost in a book, soothes my soul. Until I start to feel over planned or scheduled. Then, I remember that feeling of getting lost in a book.
Obviously, my instinctive answer to this is to plan it out & stick to the plan. Break down a yoga retreat into a few of hours a week; read for 30 mins a day. If we can find ways to routinize these activities, surely we’ll maintain our well-being! Right?
Kind of. I believe there are 2 types of well-being: 1)regular maintenance activities, typically referred to & 2)less regular, less easily scheduled rejuvenating ones. It's important to know what you do daily/weekly to you take care of yourself. If its walking or talking to friends or meditating, do it. Get really clear on what works. & yes…stick to it. Then get clear on what other, more expansive, more rejuvenating activities you love. Schedule them.
Additionally, I recommend identifying what your wellness pattern is. What do I mean? Well, we know you let it go or loosen up on your “regular” well-being maintenance activities. How does that typically go? Does work get busy? Does someone come to visit? And, when do you start to feel you NEED those more soul soothing activities? How often? How do you know you need it? We often think blind scheduling is better than no scheduling, but that’s not always true. If you over schedule, you may do as much harm as under scheduling. It can help to have it on the calendar proactively & push it back if it’s not needed. Sometimes, if it includes family or friends, guilt may prevent us from pushing it back, which only depletes us, instead of filling us up. That's why data is important.
So, as much as you can (& I’m happy to help) identify your pattern. How? Track your wellness & other activities daily. Watch what happens. When do you first feel like giving it up? When do you first skip? Again, this is a judgement free zone. We’re not trying to beat ourselves up. All we want is awareness about what’s happening & maybe why. This way, you’ll know better what to watch out for next time. If you are ready to take this on, download my free wellness tracker here:
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