3 Self-Care Check-Ins from Local Entrepreneur Kimberly Novosel
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Written by local entrepreneur + owner of VERTICITY indoor cycling studio, Kimberly Novosel. Learn more about Kimberly here.
Self care can go out the window really fast when life gets hectic with work projects, social calendars, new boyfriends or babies, or any kind of change, big or small. We go into survival mode, eating what’s available to us when we can, getting less sleep, bypassing fun, restful, or creative activities, and putting our workouts on the back burner. In this changing season, let’s all take a step back and look at where we can create some space for a little more self-love in our lives.
Here’s a little self-care check in for you.
1. MIND
It’s not always about our physical energy bank. Sometimes our mental energy is the first thing to deplete. How are you caring for your mind: your decision-making ability, your creative energy, the quality of what you’re outputting? My challenge this season is to say NO to more things than I say yes to. Whether it’s meetings, social events, or tasks, I need to protect my yesses by saving my best for what matters most to me right now. No to everything else, guilt-free.
2. SOUL
If you stop and think, I bet it’s been a while since you’ve had a full day off. Even when we’re away from the office or our teammates, we’re constantly checking our email. We’re answering clients’ texts. Or we’re working on side hustles that, as fun as they may be, are still hustles. I challenge you to take a true, full day off. For me, I’ve been reserving my Sundays for solo self-care. Yoga and iced coffee first then maybe a run or a hike, spend some time at home, read, Netflix, usually rosé… It’s basically a day of favorite things. Trust me, you need this.
3. BODY
Last month I traveled for three weeks, and once I was finally home I had about ten days to decompress before I was gone for another week. (Hello from California!) As fun as travel can be, or whatever it is that’s keeping us so busy and out of our best routines, it’s too easy to fall out of the habits we built for taking care of our bodies. What does that entail? Four things if you ask me:
Hydrate! A wine and iced coffee lover, I have to work very hard to get water into my body. Set a timer. Make a challenge of drinking the whole big bottle. Add Everly to make it taste better. Whatever you gotta do, get it down!
Fuel with food. Even if I had the time to cook, I’d use that time for a thousand other things. I hate being in the kitchen dirtying dishes and chopping and usually burning something (like my fingers). I’m so grateful to Eat Well for keeping me well fueled and well fed even on the craziest of days.
Sweat. Every day. A quick run, a 45 minute cycling class (VERTICITY shout out), a hike with a friend. It’s not just about abs or legs or high intensity cardio, it’s about all the wonderful things that the process of sweating does for us – cleansing, healing, activating, strengthening.
Rest. Downtime from the go go go. Recovery time between workouts. Plus, of course, straight up sleep. A few good, full nights of sleep in a row can be a total game changer.
One last thing to think about... When we’re talking about self care, although it doesn’t have to be entirely by yourself to count, there are some truly deep benefits of spending time on your own. It always surprises me when people say they’ve never traveled alone, gone to the movies alone, or had dinner alone at a restaurant. Challenge yourself this month to go on one self-date. Hit up a place you’ve been meaning to try that no one has wanted to go to with you. See a movie you’ll love but your friends won’t. Take a S’well bottle of wine and a book to the park. Buy a concert ticket and go sit alone. It might take a little bit of bravery, but the best things in life do.