Self-Care Saturday aka Sabbath

A good friend (looking at you, Sarah) challenged me awhile back (like 2 yrs ago, LOL) to start observing a “Sabbath” every Sunday. She saw what “the grind” was doing to me and recognized my need for simply “white space” or intentional time to slow down, unplug, have no schedule, etc.

Slowing down is like a foreign language to me, but I saw the value in what she was suggesting for me. I also clearly value her opinion because immediately after our conversation, I added “Sabbath” to my Google calendar (maybe Google calendar & Sabbath don’t belong together but don’t touch my Google calendar!). She also sent me some podcasts about the value of “Sabbathing” which I never listened to because ain’t nobody got the time. 🤣

Two years later, I'm slowly trying to start implementing a Sabbath in some way over my weekend. It doesn’t happen every weekend, but when it does, it sure is sweet. I think the Bible intends for the entire day (usually Sunday) to be chill. I’m still a baby Sabbather. I’ve started by just doing a block of time (4-5ish hours every weekend ideally) and it’s been absolutely life-giving!

Here’s what I did on Saturday:

🔹AM quiet time-more on that later.

🔹gym

🔹hot shower

🔹little thought behind food (go-to foods that I know are goal-supportive and require little prep)-watch my IG story on #whatimeatingwednesday if you care about that kinda thing.

🔹comfiest clothes aka my least sexy (sorry, Jeff)

🔹no makeup/wet hair

🔹cuddled with my [out of character] fussy baby during her nap instead of putting her in the crib

🔹Jeff handled the big girls OUTSIDE so I could have quiet (watched Tidying Up w/ Marie Kondo on Netflix—I know I’m way late to the game here, but have you seen it?! It’s changing my life)

🔹 airplane ️ mode on my phone (no checking email, texting, no social media, nothing)

🔹background music or QUIET instead of background podcasts, client messages, etc. while I cleaned the kitchen

🔹half-caff afternoon coffee bc coffee

🔹selfies w/ Hailey

🔹time outside in the sunshine as a family once I felt rested

I completely unplugged during this time and it was so needed. Since life is slowlllyyy starting to get back to somewhat (post-COVID) normal, at least in Charleston, I am intending to really protect this part of my weekend. I was starting to feel it slipping away just a few weekends into 2021 and it was creating underlying stress and anxiety.

If you find yourself reading this post thinking “there was absolutely nothing special about this day”, I get it. There was no massage, no Starbucks coffee, no alone time. But this day did feel like self-care to me. This mindset shift has come largely from what I’m doing for my AM quiet time. Stay tuned. More on that later...