Synchronicities & how self-care can quick & effective

Last week I had a week of wonderful synchronicities, serendipities & useful reminders about the value of self-care & having the time to slow down & notice them.

If I had been racing through life, I would have missed them they were so subtle & many would just dismiss it as a coincidence. But I know the Universe works in magical & mysterious ways & coincidences are simple synchronicities.

I had been thinking about a friend I hadn’t seen in a while…then I bumped into her!

I had also been thinking about someone I hadn’t heard on the radio for a while…I walked in from the same dog walk that I’d just bumped into my friend to hear the DJ chatting to the exact person!

I couldn’t help but smile that the Universe was giving me a gentle reminder: I’m listening, I’m here!

I responded with a little: thank you, I see you!

I had been starting to think about what was next for my business & I literally picked up my phone to a message from someone wanting a 1-2-1 as a gift & a client who I haven’t worked with in a while re-connecting & by the end of the day we were working together again – bosh!

I marvelled at the simplicity of these synchronicities & how lucky I felt to have the time to notice them.

By mid week, I had a crazy back-to-back day. I taught 2 classes & 2 private 1-2-1 clients, I had 2 appointments, I had friend’s kids from straight after school until gone 8.30pm. Even the dog suffered: she got a quick jaunt round the block!

I was exhausted & sank into a bath to reflect & contemplate at the day.

I knew immediately what I needed: self-care. There hadn’t been a moment to stop, be still & silent, to slow-down…I was doing exactly what I needed & I relished it.

Afterwards I spent around 5 minutes applying my skin-care with facial massage & acupressure. I immediately felt better.

I couldn’t help think how effective & immediate it was. Just a few short minutes investing in myself, less than ½ hour all said & done, & I felt more in control, less frazzled, amazing even!

I advocate self-care & I always say it doesn’t have to be time-consuming, expensive or self-indulgent knowing that I am pretty unapologetic about my self-care. I have been practicing it for a while & it is a crucial part of navigating the menopause & creating a life that I love & I feel like I’m thriving in.

As such I carve out about an hour a day Mon – Fri to practice yoga, meditate & face yoga because it is so important to my wellbeing. Even though I’m not a morning person, I get up at 6.30am to do this before the rest of the house wakes up because it is THAT beneficial & it’s totally worth it.

But I had skipped this on Wednesday, I figured it was full-on enough & contented myself with a short meditation before I got up.  

What struck me was that less than ½ hour that evening was enough to re-set me. I felt so good afterwards I came bounding downstairs telling the kids I felt amazing & that they could have a bath too if they wanted (they were flaked out on the sofa after rugby practice, which we’d also squeezed back-to back whilst I simultaneously streaming a yoga class on zoom!).

And that’s why self-care is such a good practice: it can be a combination of whatever nourishes & nurtures you & makes you feel better. I believe during the menopause it’s vitally important to have a daily self-care practice…and 30 minutes a day is plenty. And you are SO worth 30 minutes a day.

Having such a crazy day on Wednesday I couldn’t help but acknowledge that by running my own business I choose to manage my days so that I rarely have a day like that. I know I can’t accommodate many of those crazy days as a single mum & entrepreneur, not to mention being aware of my HSP tendencies & human design, I know I will burn-out. I also believe I have an obligation to my clients to be well rested, to walking my talk. And I have an obligation to myself too. I am very lucky.

I thought about all those 13 million women out there experiencing peri-menopause & menopause. It is estimated 10% of these women, that’s over a million women will loose their jobs or leave their jobs as a result of struggling with their symptoms. And I knew immediately why: my day had been totally overwhelming.

I knew immediately what to do to care for myself. So many women are dealing with days like mine EVERY day, no wonder it gets SO overwhelming. No wonder those figures are so high. And I bet you they aren’t making themselves enough of a priority in their life. Self-care is even MORE important, especially the busier you are.

But imagine if you were practicing self-care every evening for ½ hour & you’re refreshed & ready to go again the next day & life wasn’t so much of a struggle? Wouldn’t that feel amazing?

This is why I am such an advocate of self-care because I know it works. This is one of the many reasons why my mission is to inspire menopausal & peri-menopausal women to embrace self-care & create their own self-care tool kit because it’s even more important during the menopause.

I’m also passionate about this because I get you… because I am you!

It is also why I am SO delighted to partnering with Harley St at Home. The team have created a fantastic space for women just like you & me (or someone you know!) to build up their own self-care tool kit to navigate the menopause & peri-menopause to create a life in which you are thriving.

Everyday they have a schedule jam-packed with useful, unique, varied content like you see above. If you miss something you can catch up with recordings & replays. And it only costs £19 a month.

I am hosting Yoga for Absolute Beginner’s here every Monday at 7pm. This course is aimed at absolute beginner’s so you don’t need to have done yoga before.

We take things nice & slowly breaking the poses down so you feel confident you know what you’re doing.

We’re also learning the fundamentals of a beginner’s version of sun salutation C’s.

Every week we’ll revisit something we’ve already learned but with some new poses too so that there is a gentle progression.

This course is also perfect if you’ve done yoga before but not for a while or indeed you do yoga regularly but maybe it’s been a more self-led journey & you’d like to revisit the fundamentals with some guidance.

I will also be sharing some of my favourite tools, techniques & practices to help with symptoms of the menopause. They are practices I have used myself, I know they work & I share regularly with my clients.

I couldn’t help but notice that last week, I had also been teaching my clients different tools for helping deal with feelings of overwhelm & of course they say, when you teach you learn for yourself too. It was funny how I had consciously decided to share these specific practices with my clients & of course I had been benefitting from them too.

These little practices, short mantras, or little breath techniques are brilliant tools to have in yourself-care toolkit to pull out of the bag when you need it. One of my clients said they had used a breath technique I them whilst queuing in Pret in London at ½ term with the kids. That’s why I like to incorporate them into my classes as they are part of the all important menopause self-care tool kit!

If you want to know more about Yoga for Absolute Beginner’s head over to www.harleystathome.com

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