How Are You Caring for Your Heart?
I’ve been in one of the most stressful seasons of my life. It’s been challenging and often, isolating. Yet, knowing how demanding my current schedule is, has nudged me to say yes to dates with my girlfriends: a magical forest walk at sunset, an afternoon Sunday swim in a cool lake and soulful time journaling together by the river. I’m prioritizing these heart-to-heart connections and looking forward to laughing, crying, connecting, hugging and leaving these respites feeling nourished, nurtured and deeply seen and heard.
Emotional self-care (ex: heartfelt communication with friends who let us show up “warts and all,” asking for support from a minister/therapist/coach and journaling for self-reflection) is the key to resiliency, managing stress, broadening our perspective and it has an enormous impact on our overall well-being.
Did you know that women release oxytocin, the cuddle hormone, when they connect deeply with other women and have conversations that matter? (Join us this fall Oct. 16-18 for my rest-centered, embodied spirituality retreat at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. I love the creative, authentic, like-hearted women that attend my retreats!)
The care and feeding of our hearts is just as important as physical self-care and it’s essential to feeling whole and alive. But so often we forget this or push aside time with friends in order to stay slaves to our to-do lists.
What are you doing on a daily basis to nurture your inner world and emotional well-being? Numerous studies report one of the biggest factors that affect our quality of life as we age—especially for women—is how deep and consistent our social interactions are with our friend circle (read more about the importance of connection).
Alternately, when we’re disconnected from ourselves and others, this can lead to depression, anxiety and worse.
We need each other fully and completely: hearts, minds, bodies and souls. Not just through rapid fire texts, emojis or Instagram likes. This week, I challenge you to find ways to connect more deeply and authentically. Try picking up the phone to call a friend you haven’t spoken to in months, setting up a small girl’s night out or (gasp!) dropping by a friend’s home unexpectedly just for a hug and to say hi. Your heart will thank you for it.
YOUR HOMEWORK: One of my favorite exercises for emotional self-care is my Quickie Journaling Exercise (from my balanced living book Nurturing the Soul of Your Family: 10 Ways to Find Peace & Harmony in Everyday Life). Take five minutes to answer these three simple questions in a journal/notebook. Place your hand over the center of your chest while reflecting on each question. How do I feel? What do I need (at this moment and life stage)? What do I want (what is my heart’s greatest desire)? Try answering these questions every morning for one week. And, then share them with a friend. Often, in just a few minutes, you’re able to shift into a greater sense of wholeness and calm.
A CALL TO ACTION: Every Tuesday for more than 20 years, I’ve been blogging about how to come into balance through the art and science of self-care. Grab your favorite beverage, curl up in a chair and peruse my popular past posts. And, share my blog with someone you care about. The self-care pebbles we place in the pond today, create ripples for generations to come.
Warmly,
A nourishing pause with my sister and a dear friend while guiding a private self-care retreat for a nonprofit organization, earlier this year.
PRIORITZE YOUR SELF-CARE STARTING TODAY. HERE ARE FOUR OPPORTUNITIES:
- *NEW* Oct. 16-18 ~ Awaken Your Wild Soul: Reclaim Your Purpose, Power & Inner Wisdom ~ A Women’s Self-Renewal Retreat. Join me at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in the Berkshire Mountains of MA during peak leaf color for the ultimate fall deep self-care retreat. Learn more/register here.
- Can’t join me in-person? Download your self-guided retreat today! Ready to prioritize your self-care, relax your body and enjoy empowering mentoring from Renee 24/7 from the comfort of your home, car or office? Our highly popular self-paced online retreats are only $59. Download & enjoy today. Learn more.
- Are you feeling called to facilitate women’s groups/retreats? Check out Secrets to Facilitating Life-Changing Women’s Groups/Retreats ~ an online, self-paced training & mentoring course. Only $195. Learn more/enroll here.
- Live in the Southeast or near North Carolina? Join me in the NC Blue Ridge Mountains for a Wild Souls Adventure: authentic movement classes, community song circles, full moon hikes, meditation/resiliency workshops, women’s circles & more or have me design a custom experience/ritual for your team/friends: learn more. Join us for our next public Wild Souls Authentic Movement classes Aug. 2 and Aug. 16th in Brevard, NC outside of Asheville; learn more here.
Subscribe here to Live Inside Out, a weekly blog written by transformational coach/author/speaker and self-care evangelist Renée Peterson Trudeau. Passionate about helping men and women live more intentionally and find balance through the art/science of self-care, Renee has been facilitating high-impact, interactive workshops for Fortune 500 companies, national nonprofits/conferences and organizations/teams worldwide for 25 years. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Fast Company, Good Housekeeping, US News & World Report, AARP, Spirituality & Health and more. She and her team have certified more than 450 facilitators in 10 countries around the globe to lead self-renewal groups/retreats based on her pioneering self-care curriculum. She’s the author of several books on life balance including the award-winning The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal: How to Reclaim, Rejuvenate and Re-Balance Your Life. Renee and her husband live in Western North Carolina and they have one son in New York City. Her latest venture is Wild Souls Nature Adventures. More on Renee here.
