Back to Basics

“Ok, so your first assignment is to floss your teeth.”

WHAT?!? I thought to myself. I want to work on eating healthier and control my emotional eating--I don’t want to floss my teeth?!?

I had just started working with a health coach, and this was her first assignment to me. She said that it starts with building a new relationship with your body, and one basic form of self-care that gets overlooked is flossing. I confess I didn’t start flossing and still have a hit-or-miss approach, but her lesson in it starts with the basics has been on my mind lately.

We are living in strange times (to say the least). Many of my clients report a level of exhaustion that borders on hopelessness, and I feel it too. If you are exhausted, overwhelmed, and tired of trying to figure it out today, I offer some quick suggestions. We are going back to basics.

I have suggested some of these to my clients and immediately met with I DON’T HAVE TIME. Oh, I feel you—that is always the response when we are in survival mode. When you are in go-go-go mode, the LAST thing you want to do is slow down. AND exhaustion and survival mode aren’t sustainable.

We have to go back to basics:

Being in the shower when you are in the shower. So often in the shower, we are already thinking about our day, problem-solving, running through the mental to-do list. Challenge yourself to hyper-focus on your senses while you wash your hair. Feel the water as it runs over your head, smell the shampoo, notice the feel of the shampoo in your hands and your scalp.

Do anything slower. Drive slower, eat slower, walk slower.

Take the time to listen to your favorite songs. Dance in the kitchen, sing along in the car, play a game with your kids. They pick a song, you pick a song, and share why you love it.

Stretch throughout the day. Every time you leave the bathroom, touch your toes.

Drink water, lots of it.

Prioritize sleep. Try to go to bed at the same time every night. Create a small ritual around sleep, turn the lights low, have a cup of tea, turn off your phone, and read or journal.

Floss :)

Set a few hours a week where you are not tied to any electronics. Give yourself time just to be.

Pick one of these ideas, just one, and add it to your daily routine. Prioritizing ourselves in small ways is the practice of self-loyalty. Be kind to yourself. You got this.