Self-Care: Is that draining you or recharging you?

SummerBody Image, Body Positivity, Self-Love

I recently made the difficult decision to archive the public Facebook group that I created almost 3 years ago. This decision was one of the hardest I’ve had to make since I started coaching several years ago.

We (myself and the members) had invested so much time and labor into creating this magical space full of incredible people and having to say goodbye has left a hole in my heart. It was like building a dream house and then having to move across the world to never step foot in it again.

Making this decision was not easy. Decisiveness doesn’t come easy to me (except with food while being pregnant) and I had so many doubts about making this choice.

Ultimately, I had to come back to the question that I often use to evaluate my life: Is this recharging me or is this draining me?

This is the question I use to assess self-care, my needs and what things I need to reduce or add in order to reclaim energy.

Our resources are limited and if we are spending too much time doing things that drain us, then we’re going to feel burnt out, exhausted and unfulfilled.

This pregnancy has made my resources more limited. I’m spending more time googling, “why is my IT band killing me + pregnant” and “white noise machine vs shusher.” I’m spending more time napping and slowing down. I’m spending more time proof-reading my work because apparently baby brain has removed the part of my brain that knows how to write.

While I LOVED coming into the group and seeing the support, celebrations and camaraderie, social media is draining. I never get off Facebook and think, “I’m recharged now.”

I had to evaluate where I was spending my time to ensure that my energy was going into the things that are the biggest priority for me – coaching, the podcast, writing and of course, living a life that’s aligned with my values.

Taking stock of where we are recharging and where we are being drained is essential to surviving in this world where we’ve been taught that we should do it all and be it all.

There is no emotional salvation in being superwoman.

We need to strike a balance between things that drain us and recharge us so that we’re not operating in low power mode (no one likes low power mode).

This pregnancy has taught me so much about surrendering and letting go. It’s been the best thing for the part of my brain that still wants to do it all. It has helped me to prioritize self-care instead of letting it fall by the wayside until I burnout.

And while this decision hurts, I remind myself that sometimes the greatest acts of self-love and self-care are the hardest.

This was certainly one of them.