Hello Beautiful Goddess,
Are you an “all or nothing” girl?
Any of these phrases sound familiar?
“I ate the cookies, so I might as well eat the chips.”
“Today is already ruined.”
“If I don’t exercise first thing in the morning, it’s not going to happen.”
“I am not feeling motivated today, I’ll do it tomorrow.”
“I am having a bad day.”
Many of the women that I coach have a perfectionist attitude towards health. They either do it perfectly, or don’t do it at all. This attitude keeps them paralyzed and helpless. They often feel that their life is out of control and that their health choices are at the whim of that mysterious “motivation”, some days they have it, some days they don’t.
But the truth is that you don’t have to wait for motivation to come and that every moment is a fresh opportunity to make radiant and healthy choices.
The following approach has brought me and many of my clients a sense of empowerment. It is a much more flexible way to look at your day.
Instead of thinking of your day as one unit, devide it into six sections.
Waking up
Morning
Noon
Afternoon
Evening
Bedtime
Make a page for each day’s section.
You can print it.
Write it with colored markers.
Use a pencil.
Draw a picture.
Do it in any way that inspires you and make you happy.
Now, think about practices and rituals you can do at each part of the day.
Write them down.
You can write down big and important things.
But also write down plenty of easy and small steps.
Include:
~Healthy eating
~Joyful movement
~Relaxation
~Caring for your body
~Connecting with people
~Creativity
~Anything that brings your heart joy, makes your cells sing and brings your life sparkle!
You can find ideas and inspirations in CREATING BALANCE, my guide to healthy living, available only until the end of October for free. To get it, please sign up for my awesome weekly newsletter at www.healthnutgirl.com
Here are some examples:
WAKING UP
~Oil pulling, learn about it here
~Morning yoga
~Say “I love you” to myself in the mirror
MORNING
~Make a healthy breakfast
~Take a walk outside
~Listen to my favorite song and dance along
NOON
~Eat greens for lunch
~Take a stretch break
~Close my eyes and take a few long deep breaths
AFTERNOON
~Take a 10 minute nap
~Spend time in nature
~Plan a healthy dinner
EVENING
~Food prep: make dinner, make breakfast and lunch for tomorrow
~Read an inspiring health book or blog
~Have a fun activity with friends or family
BEDTIME
~Have a cup of herbal tea
~Give myself a self massage
~Write in my gratitude journal
read more about the power of the gratitude journal here
Fill up each page, continue to add to it as you think of new things. The idea is NOT to do all the things on your list, but to give you plenty of options to choose from.
Do one thing from each page.
Do a few.
Check them off as you do them
Put a star or a smiley face next to each one you did.
Have fun with it!
Even if you had an unhealthy morning, pick a healthy choice in the afternoon. Even if you had the busiest day, and had no time for yourself, do one thing before bedtime. This way of looking at your day will make each part feel fresh and anew. No more ruined days. No more of the “I might as well” attitude. This is a forgiving and gentle way for us, recovering perfectionists, to embrace an imperfect, glorious, healthy lives.
xoxo
Rachel
