All the feels of Valentine’s Day have come and gone. Did you do something special for your partner? What about your kiddos? I remember my mom always leaving us a special little gift bag on the kitchen table the mornings of these little “Hallmark” holidays!  It was always a fun surprise to open them up! You know what my Mom wasn’t the best at…taking time for herself.  Want to take a stab at where a lot of my struggle happens? You can probably guess correctly, a lot of times the apple doesn’t fall too far from the proverbial tree.

How many of you did something sweet for your partner or your kids?  I’ll bet there are lots of hands raised. We are women. That’s what we do. We take care of others, right? How many of you lovely ladies, with at least the same amount of thought and care, did something sweet for yourselves? My guess is not many. I get it, I do it too. Everyone and everything comes before you, but guess what people? You absolutely cannot pour from an empty cup!

That is why these little moments of calm can be a game changer. You start with a minute, and then you create a self-care snowball of positive momentum. You feel better. You have more to give others because you yourself feel supported and balanced. 

Integration quite literally means incorporating.  How on earth do I add something else to my day? We went over this last week - the answer is simple, but it isn’t always easy, you just do it.  One minute (or one moment of calm) at a time.

You see by slowing down and intentionally treating yourself to a little moment of calm here and there, taking in a purposeful breath, doing a few stretches after lunch, you will be able to get more done.  You will fill that empty cup right back up. 

Sometimes less is more but sometimes more CREATES less.  Less chaos, less overwhelm, less of the stuff you don’t actually need, less of the stuff that isn’t really productive, less of the stuff that is holding you back from being the absolute BEST version of yourself.

When you live your life, or at the very least start practicing living from a place of being filled up (think about that cup), things start to shift. You don’t seem to be as easily frustrated or overwhelmed or whatever it is that you may be feeling.  Taking just a moment to check in with yourself, and truly ask, “what do I need right now?” is such a powerful tool for navigating through this thing we call life with a little more grace. 

This week, we are incorporating a few new poses.  Child’s Pose, Down Dog and Ragdoll have very soothing and grounding qualities to them.  Taking any one of these poses, even if it is only for a few breaths, is enough to create a shift in whatever you may have going on.  You can do these poses on their own or add them in with the breathwork we talked about last week.  Even just asking the question, “what can I do to support myself in this moment?” can start a shift and help pave the way to a better version of yourself".