First - I made it a WHOLE WEEK! I have completed 7 days straight of 30 minutes a day "detoxing". Yahhh!

On to week 2! I pause to say that I do not feel this is a habit yet, though. I could easily fall off, as was evident of yesterday.

I pulled it together today! I committed to my 30 minutes early in the day. I had a set plan in my head as I pulled out of my driveway this morning. I stuck to it!

I have been craving the sauna. I suppose we all do that -- get stuck (addicted) to one "thing" for awhile, then eventually move away from it and into another. Food, hobbies, exercise routines, TV shows... I can see how it's a pattern of human nature. Currently, sauna seems to be my go to.

Today, I listened to my body and I went with it. I purposely didn't take my phone with me! Since yesterday, all I did was squander time and use it as a distraction. 

Instead, I used the time to meditate. I had been wanting to do that as well, so it was a double win meditating in the sauna! Funny, even in relaxation I feel proud about being productive. Sheesh! 

I had a great sauna meditation. I felt like I really got to connect and let go at the same time. I was pondering some ideas, and I felt like I received some clarity. Clarity always comes in the spaces of silence. It's not coincidence. It was a nice reminder that the answers are often right there... we just have to tune in and be quiet enough to hear them.

Happy wellness Wednesday, and welcome to week 2! 

Day 7 felt like a huge mess! I really struggled with the 30 minutes, and felt very mindless the entire time. I was really disconnected from the whole experience.... which is something I only realized at the END of it. It was such a mess, that I never even took the time to blog about it. Plus, I completely forgot to do a video! Clearly, this is not yet a habit or I would have remembered!

I had "off" yesterday (as any small business owner knows, that is code for 'do a ton of other stuff'). I ended up in the office, somewhat with the intention that I would get in my 30 minutes. I planned to do it immediately upon arriving. We open at noon on Tuesdays, and I had about an hour of quiet before things got rolling.

But, things were rolling when I arrived. The phone rang soon after I came in. And, again, as a small business owner, when people call, you answer! So, I got caught up in one thing, leading to another, and so forth and so on. You've all been there. 

I finally decided to "get in" the 30 minutes of self care very late in the afternoon. I felt rushed. I had a lot on my mind. I chose the bio mat. It's an "easy" choice. My biggest mistake? I took in my phone. I planned to listening to music. But, I didn't. 

I ended up chatting back and forth on text, answering messages, emails, etc. All of which is unnecessary and can wait 30 minutes. After my session was all done, I was on autopilot to the next thing. But, then I paused... and realized THIS is exactly WHY I really need 30 minutes each day! Because I need to be present, engaged, mindful. I wasn't that at all yesterday.

It was an interesting lesson. Seeing how I quickly dismissed the time I set aside for myself to preoccupied thoughts. I easily distracted myself and focused on everything but myself. 

I'm glad I had this experience. It made me reign it in and realize how often I spend time not being present, even if that was my intention to begin with! This isn't a "go through the motions" challenge. Otherwise, it just becomes another "thing" I need to do. 

30 minutes is not a tremendous amount of time to unplug. No one needs me that urgently in most cases. It can all wait while I just take a couple of minutes to center myself.

Welcome to Monday. #motivationmonday #iamnotafanofmonday :)

Back at work, and I'm making my way around the services to try throughout the 21 days. Today, I choose ionic foot bath. This is a cool service because, unlike others, you can SEE the results. The water begins clear, and as you detox, the toxins are pulled through the pores of your feet, turning the water various colors.

I decided on foot bath today since I hadn't done one in a couple of weeks. I just completed round 2 of 3 rounds of heavy duty meds. As you may realize, medicine really taxes your liver. It's the liver's job to filter all the junk out of our bodies. I did a foot bath exactly two weeks ago, after round 1. So, I felt I should be consistent and do it today as well. 

Today, my water was orange (joints/muscles) and brown (liver). Not surprising. But, I was so happy to see that I didn't end up with tons of other stuff, too! Which means my clean out is working!! Two weeks ago, my foot bath was FULL of thick, gross stuff, covered in lymph bubbles, and flecks of white (candida). Today, just dark water. Success! 

Tomorrow rounds out my first week of this challenge. It's going fast!

Sunday. The day of rest. Or, if you have a 1 year old, the day of not rest. 

The day proved challenging to find the 30 minutes to myself. I had to actually wait until my son took his 3pm nap. Even then, as silly as it sounds, I had to remember the challenge. I plopped on the couch at 3pm, exhausted and sooo ready to just zone out with the TV. But, as I picked up the remote, my mind said, "Oh right.. I'm supposed to take 30 minutes to do self care."

But what? I decided to download a quick app to my phone, headed outside into the sunshine, grabbed my hammock from the garage, and got to "work!" 

I am so glad I did the meditation outside. At first, I thought I wouldn't be able to focus. But, eventually, I was even able to block out the dog's moving around and my husband's chainsaw. I fell into the meditation, and eventually right to sleep!

I ended up napping for about 20 minutes beyond the meditation. I woke up not quite sure where I was, or how long I had been passed out, but I felt refreshed! 

Meditation is one of those things you sure can do anywhere. Guided helps keeps your mind on track and clear of all the other "noise" in your head. I enjoy both, but glad I choose the app to help get me into the right head space. 

Happy weekend!! I have to say that I thought the weekend would be really challenging to get in my 30 minutes of self care. Today, I had to get up earlier than I would on a typical Saturday (although still not as early as a normal workday). But, it felt SO HARD - so silly. 

In any case, I set my alarm, and came into work and did my 30 minutes before my first client. I had to do my video afterwards because I pushed my time to close to my next appointment, but that's okay! I did it!

I found myself craving the sauna again. I didn't sweat nearly as much as I had the other day, but I still was pretty darn gross (which feels so good)!

Two observations now that I'm 4 days in to this experiment: I seem to wake up grumpy a lot! Other's probably know this more than I tend to recognize it (lol). But the 30 minutes in the morning really has started a good trend of reflecting on how I FEEL. Clearly, how I feel impact my mood, and therefore impacts the rest of my day. So, recognizing my grumpiness, I was able to dig deeper on that, decided it didn't serve me, and let it go. 

In doing so, (these are my observations about my observations :), I also remembered that, I, 1: Should set an intention each and every day for my day. What is my purpose that day? What do I want to accomplish and why? Aimlessness doesn't get you anywhere at all. Energy flows where Focus goes. Also, 2: That the last 5 minutes before you fall asleep are critical in how your next day unfolds. Fall asleep anxious and stressed, you'll wake up that way. You deeply manifest in your sleep. So, I need to make an effort to remember that they last 5 minutes count! I want to create something amazing in that 5 minutes and let my dreams bring it to life!

My other observation: For the first time in starting this, I feel excited for tomorrow's session! Since I won't be coming into work, I will need to be creative in what I want to do at home to get in my 30 minutes. 

Have a great day!

I did it! Celebrating the small successes. Today, I did 30 minutes of the biomat. 

I didn't plan on doing the biomat today. I wanted to do the sauna again... but... my plan doesn't always seem to go as planned. In fact, 2 out of 3 days it has not gone as planned. No wonder why it is so easy to give up and decide to scrap the whole idea of self care. It's truly amazing how much other people's "stuff" gets in our way!

Today, entirely my choosing - I came in a bit later than I planned. But my 20 minute "delay" equaled no sauna time. That one decision had an immediate domino effect on my plans. 

I still got my workout in, but I had planned to do my 30 minutes right after that. If I wait for too long in the day (again), I feel overrun by other "stuff." But, 30 minutes after my workout didn't work out (haha see what I did there?) 

I had a meeting, and a client, then the pod room (where the shower is) would be occupied but by the time it was open again I had more back to back clients scheduled. I had to rearrange. So, I did the bio mat. 

I love the bio mat. It's super relaxing. I felt very anxious and irritated this morning. Work, business decisions, just noise in my head that I was giving power to with an emotional response. I didn't sleep well last night, allowing it to creep in and bother me. It made it hard to even quiet my mind to do 30 minutes.

Really glad I found the time this morning though. I came out of the biomat session just feeling much more grounded and calm. I wasn't so fired up emotionally, and I can move forward with my day without preoccupying my thoughts! 

And SORRY my video looks to be in complete darkness and turned sideways! Haha.

Day 2 of my 21 day "detox" started off with a change of plans. I had decided I wanted to do 30 minutes in the sauna today. I came into work, did a few things, turned on the sauna to heat. I had literally JUST gotten in the sauna, when I got a calendar alert about a meeting being moved up an hour. CRAP. I feel so annoyed. But, I needed to take the call, so I got out of the sauna. 

Once the meeting was over, I planned on doing the sauna. But, obviously, I would need a shower. We only have one shower (in the float room), and it was pre-booked, giving me just about 15 minutes to shower after the sauna. 

All of these obstacles! Annoying! Truthfully, had I not being doing this "challenge," it was enough to convince me to give up on the whole idea until later in the day... which would have turned into the whole day of not getting around to it.

Instead, I just went for it. I could hurry. 15 minutes in the shower isn't impossible. I could do it! And I did! 

I'm so glad I did the sauna today. I was GROSS. I've done the sauna plenty of times, and have come out hardly sweating (my lymph system is messed up sometimes). But not today! I was drenched as if I had jumped in a pool. I could wring out my shirt!

Also, I've been having tightness along the top of my back. Prime spot for liver to detox. While in the sauna, I could feel those muscles begin to loosen up, and I was able to crack my neck and back a few times. Much better! 

Since I was so pressed for time, I did my video sans shower. :)  It's only day 2, and already confronted with WHY self care can be hard to stick to.

Kicking off my 21 day detox with a massage. I haven't really given this whole thing much thought. The idea came to me yesterday, and in true fashion to my character, I just decided to do it today. This is pretty "me"; I tend to dive into things once I make a decision. 

So, why massage? Because I had one scheduled today. That's it. It was a convenient choice. Bet other days won't seem so "easy"! 

How do I feel today: Well, I feel tight. That's pretty typical. My shoulder has been hurting for several weeks, and I really have needed to take the time to have someone work on it. 

I've decided to begin a 21 day "detox." I put detox in quotes because it's not a true detox in the sense that I'm taking some crazy supplements or putting my  body under extreme circumstances, expecting to achieve unrealistic results. 

What I've decided to do is take 30 minutes a day and focus on self care. In a sense, detoxing from the world around me. Granted, owning a wellness center, I know I have a lot of resources at my finger tips, but sadly it doesn't seem to make it any easier to fit self care into my schedule. I still find the struggle to be real. 

It makes me realize that its not necessarily a convenience thing.  It's a scheduling thing. It's a recognition that I'm important enough to do something for myself every single day. It's a purposeful intention to get the "me" time in.

Seems silly to think that the most difficult part of a self-reflection, relaxation challenge is getting myself to DO it consistently! But, I suspect I'm the biggest obstacle in my own way.

I plan on counting any 30 minutes I spend outside of my "normal" routine as qualifying. (Therefore, it excludes exercise.) Check back in to see if I'm sticking to it!