I had a full day on Monday and was giving serious thought to canceling going to my workout class that morning.

I’m glad I didn’t.

I’ve been taking this Essentrics class for about six months. It fits the “flexibility” category, which is one of the five areas of strength I like to do every week.

Jill is a great teacher because she performs the class with complete awareness of how our bodies function and move. We explore ways to increase range in our shoulders, hips, and even down to our toes, which you may notice we don’t move very much.

Taking time for myself is something I struggle with. It’s easy for me to focus on work, responding to a client’s email, or working on writing (and rewriting) a new ebook.

Stopping and considering how I would feel skipping this class was the key.

I realized immediately that the good feelings I have in my body and the sense of accomplishment from completing the workout would get my week off to a great start.

I also recognized that taking a break from work would stop my overthinking and provide a fresh perspective when I came back to my desk.  

If I didn’t remember how good I felt after class, I probably would have blown it off and stayed home to work on “whatever.”

Self-care is more than good to have. It is a have-to-have. When Sheila wrote her book, StillPoint: A Selfcare Playbook, with her colleague Christine Gatreaux, I suggested that self-care is on a continuum with selfishness at one end and selflessness at the other. Self-care is the balance point.

And, what is so interesting about it, is that we are great at helping others take care of themselves, but somehow we forget about taking care of ourselves.

I’ve already got the rest of my workouts in my schedule for this week. I hope you do too.

Richard

© Richard Citrin 2023