Look After Yourself!!!

I don’t know if it’s an Irish thing but when the shit hits the fan you will hear people say the same thing over and over again – look after yourself, take care… It’s such a lovely thing to say but sometimes when people say it over and over you find yourself looking in and wondering is it really that obvious that your actually falling apart and everyone can see it! I find myself getting paranoid and defensive when people say it – I jump before they finish the sentence and shout yes yes… I know I’m looking after myself…

I am a huge self-care advocate – I’m all about it and now at 34 I know what works for me!! Self-care is a lot more than popping a face mask on (although very enjoyable), it’s about taking care of and honouring your body, mind and spirit in a way that activates your best self. I’ve built my own self-care toolkit… it’s basically a list of things that I do to move me towards a good place. It’s a list I think everyone should have in their back pocket, its important to know what works for you when you hit a low and what makes you feel good. I’ve got my list written in the back of one of my journals – I highly recommend you write one yourself.

 I’ve decided to share my self-care toolkit in the hope you might get some inspiration for writing your own;

Spend time with your tribe; I’m a family girl so no matter what I try and see my family every week. Myself and Ciaran are both from very big families, we are both second youngest of 7 children, so there is no shortage of visits, occasions, parties and gatherings etc. I’ll be honest sometimes it can be hard to fit it all in! We are so blessed to list our siblings as our best friends. Even if it’s a 5 min phone call with a family member at the end of a workday, or 75 whatsapp voice notes with my sister on the other-side of the world – there is nothing more grounding and when I feel low it really reconnects me to what really matters. Family is everything.

Your tribe isn’t just family its friends too. I won’t lie I’ve fallen down with this side of things the last few months with everything that has been going on and I’ve pushed so many relationships to the side while putting all my focus into other personal issues. But the good news is real friends don’t go anywhere especially when you need to take a rain check for a few months. If, like me, you feel you have lost touch with friends reach out and set up something small like a tea date – there is nothing more refreshing than a chat and a cup of herbal tea with a friend.

Be sure to surround yourself with positive people who build you up. Time is so precious – you don’t know how long you will be here. Share your life with people who support and believe in you. You know the people who are good for you – stay away from negative nellys!! I’m all about the positive pollyannas!! AND DON’T FORGET IT WORKS BOTH WAYS 😉

Journaling; I’ve been journaling since 2008, it’s possibly one of the most simple but profound tools out there for enhancing your well-being on every level – mental physical and spiritual. It doesn’t matter if you’re a good writer! Sometimes the art of just sitting and reflecting and writing goals or reflecting on achievements gets me so excited! One of the most important parts of journaling for me is gratitude… I always end the day with being grateful even if it a really difficult day. On Thursday last when my dog Sam passed away I had written how grateful I was that he lived his best life for 16 years and how happy and loved he was. He went to sleep in my arm’s and he knew how much I loved him. Yes I am sad but my god what an amazing thing to be grateful for! When Ciaran was in hospital, I was grateful everyday for so much – it really makes you think and it’s so nice to read back over too. Journaling is so important to me that I will be dedicating a whole post on it soon.

Reading; You know how important reading is to me, it was my first blog post after all! I recently shared a list of 10 Life Changing Books be sure to have a read if you missed it! There is nothing like grabbing the right book with a cup of your favourite herbal tea and getting lost in wise words. I got some great recommendations of more books from you guys and I am going to be making my way through them so I will do another update before Christmas. Reading is such a wonderful welcomed escape.

Meditation & Yoga – It’s perfect timing to bring this up…. if you’ve not tried mediation before you’re in luck because the 21 Day Meditation Experience with Oprah Winfrey (OBSESSED) and Deepak Chopra started on July 15th and you have 5 days to catch up. You need to try it… I set aside time before bed to do it. Meditation is a fabulous way to still the mind. You will often find me with a pair of headphones in getting my zen on! I am currently doing the 21 Day Experience and in the long run I wish to make meditation part of my daily routine. Life can run away sometimes and it gets dropped!

I’m including yoga in this section because I get the same feeling after yoga as I do mediation. I was never a gym bunny but when I found yoga I fell so deeply in love with it that I actually started my teacher training but stepped back as it wasn’t the right time for me personally – I hope to go back to complete it one day. Going to a yoga class can be daunting alone – just remember every single person started the same – even your teacher. I have a few favourite spots to do Yoga. The Yoga Lounge in Raheny, Dublin have some really wonderful classes try Suzanne and Brian they are my fav! I also love yoga online when I can’t make classes, I even did some in hospital with Ciaran – try Yoga with Adriene on youtube – she does a 30 day yoga challenge!

On my trip goal list this year is a retreat of some sort that combines Meditation, Yoga and good food for some much needed ZEN… I’ll keep you posted on this and I’ll be sure to share when I find the right one. If you have any recommendations please share them in the comments below.

#CornerbyCorner – If you follow me on Instagram you will see this self-care therapy in action. I try and decorate my house #cornerbycorner… some days / weeks it may just be drawer by drawer or one shelf etc but try it… It has helped me so much over the last few months. I remember sleeping on the hospital floor and waking up in a cold sweat with the reality of what was going on and planning cushions for my couch – I was flat out on pinterest for 2 hours looking at colour schemes, patterns etc… it was such a good distraction and my house is looking better for it. I find a room at a time very overwhelming so I like to break it down into very doable sections.

I am currently on the fireplace – if you want to come and join in 🙂 I love seeing you do your corners be sure to share them with them on instagram #CornerByCorner.

Eating well and Juicing – I would describe myself as a good eater, I’m not a healthy eater but I’m not a bad eater. I try and have at least one really well balanced healthy meal a day. I usually get a good breakfast and lunch in and I slip up around dinner! When I am stressed I do struggle to eat anything and I loose weight so when things are good I like to build my reserves. Making healthy food choices makes me feel good. If you follow me on instagram you may have seen me juicing! I get great satisfaction out of getting as many vitamins in a glass as I can – I am not qualified to talk about food but I personally have noticed a huge difference in my health from juicing. I will dedicate a blog post on how I feel with 7 days of juicing – I think I am going to try the celery juice for 7 days before brekkie… I’ll blog for you to see if its worth the hype! Let me know if you have tried it.

I get lots of questions on my juicer. This is the one we invested in, its expensive but I use it every single day. *this is an affilate link

This point will seem so obvious but I also want to say a huge part of eating well is drinking fluids… water is key… no matter what is going on I drink 2 litres of water!!! I’ve had really bad kidney problems, persistent kidney infections and after a stint in hospital I promised my consultant I would drink 2 litres a day and I’ve not had any issues since!! It’s such an important part of self-care, it keeps the body functioning well. If you do anything this week, try and up your intake and notice the difference – DO THIS!

Challenges – Again you have probably seen this on my Instagram. I set myself weekly challenges you can follow me talking about the #7dayblowdry on my stories. I can hear some eye rolls from here!! Stick with me guys I’m on a mission to fix my hair and I’m going to keep talking about it!! I also do things like my #beautypowerhour – where I tan, nails, hair etc all in one hour… I nearly have this down to 55 min. I think I like the challenge aspect because I am competitive. You should try and set yourself a challenge this week – it’s a great way to focus the mind on how to complete the challenge. I will do a more detailed blog post on my #beautypowerhour soon.

Style for the soul – If I could give any advice I would say get a rail for your spare bedroom or if you don’t have a spare room get a section of your wardrobe and plan out your outfits for the week!! You should dress everyday like it’s the best day of your life… like its your runway… dress to impress, even if your in an office, a stay at home mum, doing a stint in hospital. I don’t care if I am going to sit in a hospital waiting room with my husband for 6 hours I am going to wear a dress and put lipstick on. It makes us feel so good about ourselves and don’t stop there…. I always make such an effort to compliment people who have made an effort and done the same – it costs nothing to be kind and you might make someones day. Pay it forward. I’m going to try and do #7dresses7days again – I’ll give plenty of notice – lets all try and do it. Don’t worry I wear the same stuff ALL THE TIME – you need nothing new to do this and it makes you dive back into your wardrobe.

Social Media – I love Instagram, I refer to it as my therapy and people that follow me as therapists. I do invest some time everyday catching up with my instagang and updating what I have been up to etc. It prob sounds silly but this has been HUGE for me over the last few months. Much like my tribe in number 1, I only follow people that inspire, lift up and create positivity on their accounts. I must work on a post and share some fab people that I follow that help me without even realising it. There really are some very fab people online. I’d love to hear who you like to follow in the comments below 🙂

Pet therapy – I couldn’t not include this in this post. I know the passing of Sam has promoted much of this discussion but I had to stress how amazing Sam was over the last 16 years. The mental health benefits of owning a dog or cat have been proven by many scientific studies. Animals help with depression, anxiety and stress. Sam did all of this and more… he was more than a dog. He helped me through some of my darkest times – always there never judging. The power of just a simple walk or a hug with your pet gives the most amazing feeling. They give you pure unconditional love If you are privileged enough to have a fur child be it dog, cat or any living creature you are blessed and already ahead of the pack in terms of self care.

Sam wasn’t well and he waited to show signs of his illness until the week Ciaran was discharged. I know he waited for me, although I was never going to be ready to let him go it would have been exceptionally difficult if it was during an intense hospital stay with CB. We had 6 weeks building up to the dreaded day and I tried aimlessly to prevent the inevitable but Thursday July 11^th he went to sleep in my arms. If you have a pet give them an extra hug from me and my Sam. The only bad part of pet therapy is they don’t live long enough but I can confirm the love does last a lifetime.

These are just some of the things that work for me. Let me know what works for you xox