TLC During a Dry Month
A cat café? A museum, a vintage bookstore, a kitchen wares shop, live music, kick-boxing, getting your hands in some clay or some dirt….getting your toes in some sand or soft grass….where will you take yourself on a self-care date?
I posted tips on how to manage, survive and get the most out of a 30-day Alcohol Free experiment. You can read my suggestions here but the one I stress heavily is to engage in supreme self-care. A client asked what exactly I meant by that. Good question!
First and foremost, I’m saying this should be a month of kindness and care from yourself to yourself. Not penitence but instead pampering.
So does that mean lots of chocolate cake and retail therapy? Well, it could include that and the answer is going to vary quite a bit from person to person depending on your natural habits of how you treat yourself. But I don’t think that’s exactly what I intended as self-care.
I think it DOES mean to love and “parent” yourself. You can think of it the way you would nurture a beloved child. Eat delicious nutritious food that is satisfying and gives you energy (actually sitting down for it!) Give yourself the best chances for good restful sleep. Get outside to walk or run. Do things that bring joy. We probably all have things that we know we love, but for all kinds of reasons, we haven’t done them in a while. Is that painting, photography, gardening, dancing, speaking Italian, playing guitar, or riding a bike? A colleague told me that her happy place is roaming a book store. So this month, do that thing. Even if just for 20 minutes. Or take one step, like researching or making an appointment or reservation to do that thing. Again, this should be something that really brings you joy, not something you think you should do.
Is it hard for you sometimes to spend money on yourself? If you were drinking regularly, consider the amount of money spent on alcohol and allow yourself to buy yourself a present…some beautiful tea, a bath product, a journal, a spa treatment. I took myself to a “tea bar,” struck up conversations with strangers, indulged in a luscious sweet, and bought myself a tin of matcha to enjoy as part of a new morning ritual. I went to a swing dance exercise class that challenged me and made me laugh. I went with two non-drinking friends to a bar and relished focusing my budget, taste buds and attention on the delicious dishes we shared and the clear-headed conversation.
Now, that right there is plenty enough to think about in terms of self-care for your first 30 days. Make it a pleasure.
And beyond the 30 days:
Once you identify those things that bring you joy, or that calm or nourish you, put it into your schedule. In a recent article in the NY Times, the senior health editor for Self magazine talked about her self-care routine being exactly that…a routine. It's hard, and I'm working on this with little steps.
A break from alcohol is all about interrupting old habits and establishing some new ones, so putting in place a new self-care routine works wonders.