2024: The Year of Self-Care and Self-Compassion
My family and I were really looking forward to a simple holiday break. No traveling, no big agendas… just the four of us taking some peaceful down time together.
What we didn’t plan on was all of us ending up sick with the flu… Our house became a hospital of sorts, where we each took turns playing doctor and patient. As you can imagine, it took all the energy out of us and kept us from doing all those fun things around our area that we’d hope to do.
I won’t lie, it was easy to feel sorry for ourselves . WHAT A BUMMER, RIGHT? But when I stop and think about it, I'm so grateful for that time. Grateful that we hadn’t planned a big trip somewhere. We had intentionally carved out those couple of weeks to be home together, to connect with one another. And that's exactly what we were doing! Watching movies, making each other tea and soup, and having regular check-ins to see how everyone was feeling. Maybe it sounds strange, but after all was said and done, our holiday break actually felt quite nourishing and full of self-care.
Coming into the new year, I want to hold onto that feeling. I want to remember to take the time and space for self-compassion and self-care. Instead of moving so quickly through things, I want to take steadier strides with more intentionality. Both for myself, for my family, and for YOU - my client.
I want to stay curious alongside you, to creatively build this program to accompany you and help you face your biggest challenges in life and in parenting.
Which is why I’m excited to share some news with you.
In collaboration with Hazel Swayne, I submitted my first conscious parenting proposal for a company here in Portugal! Hazel is an amazing fellow certified conscious parenting and neuroscience coach, and I can't wait for this opportunity to hopefully materialize.
I think it's amazing that companies are becoming more mindful around how challenging it is for their employees to juggle their jobs as well as be full-time parents. When workplaces provide services like this, it opens up a whole world of self-care and self-compassion for people who may not otherwise have access to these types of programs. I’m feeling so honored to even be considered to help in this important role.
And I have to say, it feels like more than a coincidence that I ended the year practicing self-care and self-compassion, and now here these concepts are popping up again as a framework for this corporate program. And so, I’m choosing to pay attention. I’m choosing to show myself more care and compassion in 2024.
I’m remembering what Emily De La Torre from Mindful Madre so well stated,
“Your kids are not the only ones that need compassion, you need it too.”
With that, I invite you to join me in adding more self-care and self-compassion to your new year. Now, keep in mind that self-care doesn’t necessarily mean a lavish spa day or weekend retreat (although I’m not discouraging that!) When I asked some of my clients what “self-care” meant to them, I loved their answers.
They felt that self-care comes when we work to understand what brings us peace, calmness, and freedom. It comes when we take steps towards acting on what is most important to us, and embracing changes in our lives with ease. Self-care comes when we set healthy boundaries that give us the strength to be ourselves. It’s about accepting and welcoming ALL the feelings and comes when we not only acknowledge our past wounds, but also take steps forward to integrating them into our lives.
Maybe that all makes it sound more complicated than it actually is. In short, self-care can be as simple as just checking in with ourselves. We’re so good at checking in on the other people we love. Let’s make an intention to check in on ourselves, too.
I’d love to hear what self-care and compassion looks like for you. Comment below or let me know if you have topics you’d like me to discuss in this space. Let’s keep growing, learning, and branching out together!