1- MINUTE EVERYDAY SELF CARE (for your greatest longevity)

Today I am celebrating my 49th birthday and longevity has been on my mind lately. For me, living a long life means nothing without having quality in my longevity. My definition of longevity includes these things:

• mobility
• strength (mind and body)
• peace
• connection
• passion-filled
• stamina
• quality

What does overall wellness include?

My commitment to my overall wellness is so much more than working out and eating well (which is, btw, still a top priority to have if you want a life of quality longevity).

Your overall wellness also includes knowing how to speak to yourself, how to set boundaries and stick to them, how to prioritize and let go, how to create everyday opportunities for simple self care practices that are basic and unsexy, and allowing yourself to let others support you.

How to use the schedule you already have for self care

Many people fail to create a sustainable way to take care of themselves due to a lack of scaffolding and strategy. Let me illustrate this with an analogy. When you first begin working out, or getting back into it, you would never want to start with the heaviest dumbbells as you would either be so sore for the next week, or wouldn’t be able to even lift them.

So, when beginning to take care of your other wellness areas (daily self care) that have been neglected you wouldn’t start by scheduling 1 hour everyday to do something for yourself if you haven’t already been doing that.

This is why I coach my Self Care Society members to begin with what they have and find a 1 minute habit/action that can be anchored to something they are already doing. By doing this you increase your chance for long term success. Eventually the habits will become natural and you can increase the time on the ones that best serve you. Self care does not need to be time consuming or overwhelming!

1-Minute Self Care Ideas (for your everyday schedule)

Most people can wrap their brain around 1 minute. The important aspect here is intentional scheduling or anchoring of what you will do and when you will do it. If this step is skipped, 1 minute isn’t going to matter.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

MORNING:

• Take deep breaths for 1 minute before getting out of bed.
• Massage your head for 1 minute in the shower or when washing face.
• Do 10 squats to get your blood moving

LUNCH TIME:

• Walk for 1 minute before sitting down to eat.
• Drink water between eat bite of food.
• Send a text to a friend just to say hi.

EVENING:

• Get rid of 10 emails.
• Choose 3 songs to put on a playlist
• Turn your phone off at dinner

Not quite sure how scheduling 1 minute acts of self care can work for you? Grab my FREE 1-Minute Guide to Everyday Self Care to get started. It includes some free email coaching tips as well!