90 Day Challenge

Self Care Challenge

In October, some of my friends from work started a book club, and we started reading Rachel Hollis's Girl, Wash Your Face. Haven't read it? Go download it for your Kindle right now, or order it on amazon. It will be here in two days. Seriously, it's that good. We agreed to read two chapters per week for book club, but I read a chapter a day and had to stop myself from going on. It's funny, true and offered me exactly the kind of advice I was needing. As we began reading her book we discovered (only one day late) the 90 day challenge. The premise of the 90 day challenge is that we don't have to wait until the new year to make our lives better. Rather than always putting it off until January/Monday/the first of the month/after the holidays/etc., you should start now. Rachel Hollis challenged us (completely impersonally—through the internet) to make five promises to ourselves each day, and keep them. So many of us had never prioritized our own self-care before—not really. And so the idea of making a promise to ourselves was completely foreign—not to mention keeping it! So for the last 90 days of the year (October-December) we made a promise to ourselves to keep five promises everyday.

1. Drink water—half your body weight in ounces each day.
2. Exercise for at least 30 minutes each day.
3. Write down at least 10 things you are grateful for each day-especially the little things.
4. Give up one category of food you know you shouldn't be eating anyway for 30 consecutive days. I gave up eating out out of convenience, meaning date night out was okay if it was planned. Eating out with my family to celebrate my daughter's academic achievement was okay. Driving through fast food on my way home from work or because I didn't feel like packing a lunch—not so much. (And I have been so successful with it and lost weight and feel better. But more on that in a different article.)
5. Get up an hour early and use the extra time for yourself... You guys. This has changed my LIFE. Absolutely. No exaggeration.

What My Hour Looks Like

The first few days that I got up early were a huge struggle. I won't even pretend like they weren't. I fell asleep doing meditation, and again on the couch trying to read. I changed up my routine and went to bed earlier and little by little it became normal to wake up early. Even on weekends by body now wakes up early without prompting.

I developed my morning routine:

First thing I get up and start the Keurig, so it would be ready when I am. I let my dog out to go potty and then put him back in the bedroom with my sleeping partner. Next, I wrap myself in my fuzziest, warmest blanket and head upstairs to what has become my meditation room, where a timer has already turned on a space heater for me so that my 1940s attic room (no insulation or heating) will be warm and ready. I click on my globe shaped Himalayan salt lamp and roll out my yoga mat. Next, I settle into the ugly but very comfortable ottoman to a couch that we no longer have, with my back against the wall. (I'm old and want to sit up so I don't fall asleep, but don't want to be distracted by back pain.) Then I put the meditation app on my phone on. Sometimes I use a guided meditation, sometimes I'm working through a course, often I play nature sounds or calming music and I meditated for between eight and 20 minutes. A soothing bell or singing bowl alerts me that my time is up. By now I'm warm and awake, so I crawl onto my yoga mat and greet the day with sun salutations and whatever stretching my body is asking for. When my body feels awake and ready for the day, I head back downstairs, where I make my coffee with honey and almond milk and snuggle into my couch—with that same fuzzy blanket and a book and I read. I reserve this time of day for reading personal development books. This is self-care, after all. I read about ways to take care of myself and better myself. I sip my coffee as I read, and could stay there all day. Usually its more like 10 minutes, but I'll take what I can get. At 7:00 an alarm goes off that tells me to wake up the house.

Meditation

I chose to do meditation during my morning hour because it helps me prepare myself for the day ahead. As a school teacher the more peace I can start the day with—the better. But also because I signed up for a free incentives program where I could win gift cards if I used the app everyday. I have used meditation apps before, and even attended guided meditations at local yoga studios, but the idea of possibly winning something (as menial as it was) gave me the motivation to follow though everyday.

It wasn't easy at first. I would get distracted. My mind would wander. I would even start overthinking and wind myself up, but I stuck with it. Sometimes for very short sessions, but every single day, and without excuses.

And eventually it started to work. I was able to listen to the voice of the meditation guide for the whole session. Then I was able to hear what she was saying. I was able to follow the direction, feel the light inside of me filling my chest and bursting into the world around me. I hear the universe singing back to me, and trust myself, my body, my soul to know what it needs. I have felt so self-conscious about how I looked or sounded during group meditation before that it prohibited me from actually participating. But on my most recent group experience I let go, because I was completely overwhelmed by the world. I let go of my fears and inhibitions and allowed myself to feel what the universe was telling me. And I bawled. Like a baby, you guys, for almost two hours straight. But I came out the other end feeling gloriously light, free and joyful. I will never look back.