If you are one of our treasured clients, you know that we are a little weird at Girl Power for Good Foundation. On the 850 Elite Volleyball side, we rarely talk about winning. We don’t care if we win or lose, it’s all about improving our fundamental skills. Winning is a by-product of that.
At Girl Power Station, we don’t care aboutnumbers on a scale or “toning up”; we care about your attitude toward your body. When you start to love your body by moving it in a fun and challenging way and feeding it quality nutrition, then fitness is a by-product. What we really care about is empowerment in mind, body and spirit. Why? Because
"Power Girls Make Powerful Choices!"
This next week we are looking at the mental side of fitness, because we deem this the Summer of Self-Care. If you don’t take care of yourself, no one else will do it for you. It’s like the flight attendant drones on about during the safety briefing, “Put your own oxygen mask on first before helping others.” As parents, we think that’s a terrible idea. Surely we must help our children before we help ourselves? Not so much. It’s impossible to help your child survive a crash if you're passed out on the floor from lack of oxygen.
When a circumstance happens in our life that is unexpected, we cannot handle the stress without first fulfilling our baseline needs, like oxygen, love, and moving, feeding and resting our body in a purposeful manner.
That is the best description I have for self-care, and it’s an inalienable right. But only YOU can make it happen.
Self-care is different for everyone. For some it’s reading in the tub. For some it’s walking outside in nature, or playing with their dog, kids, husband. For me, it’s dawdling. I wake up at 5 a.m., just so I can putter around my house thinking about stuff. I NEED that time and space to let my brain make the subtle connections that help me see my world as a safe and sensible place. Without that dawdle time, I get a little anxious, and I begin to see threats around every corner. My childhood was not safe, so my foundational mindset is threat assessment. Without self-care, I cannot move past threat assessment to loving creation.
I believe our innate power lies in our ability to love one another and ourselves. That power is fueled by taking care of ourselves first.
For the next week, think about circumstances and people that make you feel powerful and energized. Turn your attention inward and notice when you feel energized and when you feel drained. Notice who you’re with and what you're doing when these feelings bubble to the surface. Then write them down, or talk them into the Notes app on your phone. This will be your homework for creating a self-care practice. When you have your list, do more of the things that make you feel good and less of the things that make you feel crappy and drained. Saying “No” to draining stuff is just as important as saying “Yes” to energizing stuff. More about that next time. Until then, write your Self-Care plan on the Big Board at GPS, or drop me a line at terri@girlpowerforgood.com and tell me all about it!
