Replenishing You Time
/
Taking time out for an early morning home yoga practice.
As I explained in last week’s post, I’m all about replenishing this month. It’s the season of giving, but so often, we give and give and give and we forget or don’t take the time to fill up our own stores. So each week, I’m focusing on ways in which we can work to replenish.
This week, my focus is on replenishing you time. With family gatherings and holiday parties and office parties and everything else that comes with this season, it’s easy to go a week (or several) and realize that the only down time you’ve had, you spent sleeping (by the way, this is a totally legit use of down time, but sleeping at night shouldn’t be the only down time you get!).
On the mat, this could of course look like taking the time to go to a yoga class. Or perhaps, it’s getting a private session, where you can really focus on you and what you need (physically and overall) to get through the business of the holiday season. Or maybe it means doing something more restorative, whether that’s taking a restorative class, or simply going into more grounding, restorative versions of poses in whatever class you’re taking. Or perhaps it’s doing some meditation, either on your own or in a class setting. As a yoga teacher, this may look like making time for your own practice, which as a teacher, can often feel tough to find time for. Or if you find yourself in the studio a large amount of time, maybe it’s finding a private space away from a studio to practice - at home, outside if you’re in a climate that allows it, or somewhere else, to take yourself out of the “workplace” - because even a yoga studio can be a work place if it’s the place you work - and truly be in your own practice.
Off the mat, this can be anything. It can be a favorite hobby, or coffee with a close friend, or vegging out and watching tv, or going for a walk or hike, or playing or listening to music, or basically anything you like to do that doesn’t make you feel obligated to someone or something else. Set aside time to do it. Schedule it in as you would an important appointment (because it IS an important appointment) and then honor it. Also, a few tips on you time:
Make sure that it’s actually for you. It can be super easy to say something like “Spending Saturdays at my kids’ soccer game/dance recital/T-ball practice/etc is for me because I love my kids, and them being happy makes me happy.” And it’s probably 100 percent true that you feel happy when your kids are happy. But if you had your choice of any way to spend time relaxing, would you actually spend it this way? If the answer is yes, and it’s truly a relaxing and replenishing experience for you, then go for it! If not, as wonderful as it might be to be part of this, it’s not replenishing your “you time”.
It doesn’t have to look like bubble baths and scented candles and massages. People relax in all sorts of ways. For some people, it might be working on their car, or cooking, or some other activity that others look at as a chore or task on their to-do list. But as long as you know it’s actually for you, as long as it’s something that feels like it’s restoring you instead of draining you, it doesn’t have to look like the Instagram images of “self-care”.
You don’t have to be isolated for something to be “you time”. For instance, you’re not alone if you’re taking a yoga class, but it’s still replenishing for you. One of my personal favorites is going to a coffee shop by myself and writing. There are others there, things are happening around me, but I’m in my zone with my coffee and my notebook, and it replenishes me.
Replenishing yourself is not selfish, and please don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. First off, by replenishing ourselves, we have more energy for others. If you’re running yourself ragged with barely a second to catch your breath, it’s tougher to fully be there for those in your life. You running yourself into the ground until you crash isn’t helpful to anyone. Secondly, we have every right to look after ourselves. It doesn’t mean we just forget about everyone else. But our health is also important. And taking a little time out for our own well being is completely legit. And while we’re on this topic, your replenishment doesn’t require a bunch of justifications and apologies to everyone. Taking care of your health is not something you need to justify or apologize for, period.
What can you do to replenish your you time over the next couple of weeks. I feel that often, even thinking of ways in which to do this can be tricky for those of us so used to doing for others, so feel free to share your ideas - they might just inspire someone else to do the same!