When Self-Care Takes A Back Seat

The past few weeks have been very busy. Between getting both my college-aged child ready for College - making sure financial aid is active, ordering books, and getting a map of the campus - and preparing my youngest for high school, it's been a bit of a whirl wind.

Then there are dentist appointments (something we have neglected for a year), first day of school anxiety, video editing, and a whole slew of other stresses at this time of year. Not to mention some pretty stressful drama going on with Twitch (that will be a separate blog post), things have been hectic and anxiety-inducing.

So it's no wonder that at these times, I will sometimes forget to take care of my own well being. It's been over a week now since I've been able to play a video game. That is one way in which I relieve stress. But I have been just so busy lately that by the time I have free time, I'm exhausted and just want to sit down, watch some TV - which lately, has led me to falling asleep - and just not do a damn thing.

I do still have time about an hour before bed to drink some sleepy time tea and read a book - right now I am finishing up Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility - which gives me the chance to at least relax my mind so that I can try to get a good night's sleep.

Sleep. That is a hit or miss for me, even with my nighttime ritual. If I'm really stressed out, I will toss and turn all night and will be in and out of sleep throughout.

It's no surprise that this past year, I, like many others all over the world, fell out of our routines while stuck inside all day with nothing to really do or we were busy trying to homeschool our kids (I hope I NEVER have to do that again). Speaking for myself here, I stopped hiking or really going outside at all for fear I would catch Covid, that would get to my immunocompromised family members.

I did my yoga at first because that is something that I can do in my own living room but even that, I'm sad to say, fell by the wayside as I started staying up later at night and sleeping until midmorning.

Now we are back to semi-normal? We are out a little more and the kids are back at school, which means I have some more time to myself to write, do yoga, and even go for a walk or hike.

Finding Our Way Back to Self-Care

As we find ourselves slowly getting back to a more structured routine, self-care has been coming to my mind more and more. I went for a short hike the other day (the one day of the week where it wasn't raining nor was it excruciatingly hot). It was so nice to get out there and just hear the birds chirping, the water flowing in the river, and the nice breeze blowing ever so softly through the trees that cause them to make that soothing swoosh sound.

It was wonderful. Now that my youngest is back at school, I am now able to go for walks in the early mornings, do my yoga and have just a more stable morning routine that energizes me for the day.

I still have some more scheduling to figure out as my oldest starts his third semester of college next week (but his first semester actually on campus) and I am transportation for both of my boys but I am feeling pretty good about my self-care now.

I am establishing a routine of including self-care throughout my day to help me stay grounded, have less anxiety (very important), and improve my overall mood. Another thing I like to do is to have a hot cup of calming herbal tea while I write.

Like I'm doing right now.

And listening to Celtic music on YouTube. Sometimes it's nature sounds, sometimes its gaming music but today it's Celtic music. Something to help relax me while I write.

Gaming is self-care for me. So is music, writing, reading, yoga, and hiking. I do a lot of different things to help me stay sane basically, haha!

What's your go-to Self-Care routine? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks so much for reading!