What reasons hold you back from making time for your wellbeing? Find 3 ways to move forward starting today

When it comes to taking time out to look after your wellbeing and mental health – it’s all too easy to push it back until later in the day, to talk yourself out of going to that qigong class or to make excuses to move your wellbeing time to the bottom of your to do list. 

It’s a bit like spinach on your dinner plate, you know it’s good for you but it always gets left until last. Can you relate?

Yet, when you do your wellbeing self practice, you feel the better for it, instantly have a boost in energy and find more clarity of mind. 

So, what are the ways you can shift this self sabotaging pattern and step forward into growth? 

Here are 3 ways you can reframe your relationship with your personal wellbeing and self care starting today: 

1. Take a look at your personal values and evaluate how important your mental health and wellbeing is to you 

If you see looking after your wellbeing and doing your self practice as being time consuming, unworthwhile and negotiable, it won’t get done. Period. 

If you see it as a necessity for you to feel at your best, a vital ingredient to you boosting your performance and for you to maintain a clearer headspace free from overthinking- it becomes a no brainer. 

An interesting exercise is to make a list for yourself of your top 10 highest values and see where looking your self-care and wellbeing fits in to the picture. If its not in your top 5, it may be time to stop and reflect. 

2. Make an agreement with yourself on how often you can start to invest in your wellbeing practice and set a clear goal 

In the beginning this might be as simple as committing to attend one class per week on a regular day and time. If you already have an established qigong or meditation practice, you can increase the frequency of how often you practice – perhaps to 3 times per week if you’ve been around for a while.  It shouldn’t feel like too much of a stretch and should be achievable and measurable. 

If you are a wellbeing veteran, with many years under your belt and you are really dedicated to making the time for your self care; then aspire to practice everyday or even twice a day. Developing a healthy striving is an important virtue in helping to refine and deepen in your practice and study. 

3. Have a practice buddy and help keep each other accountable to your wellbeing goals 

Your wellbeing practice doesn’t have to feel like a weight, like your becoming a monk and be taken too seriously – its ok to have fun with it too! 

Having a practice buddy can help you in committing to your goals, checking in with each other’s progress and to build some community around your practice so that it doesn’t feel isolating or too solitary. It can help to see how you are both are progressing, to share insights & tips and to  grow together in your practice. 

It can also provide a sense of support for you in your journey, can help you both keep focused on what it is you want to achieve and to have someone to share self realisations and milestones with. You can do your practice together and integrate it into your routine. 

If you do not currently have a wellbeing self-practice yet, get in touch with me to register your interest and apply now for my upcoming trainings.