Building the foundation for health and happiness
Dearest friends,
Well, that was some gap since my last blog post (please see my apology above). There were some real reasons for my absence. It was a combination of being burnt out, knowing that something had to give if I wanted to stay healthy and not run myself, my sanity, and my adrenals into the ground. There was also me feeling inundated by email after email with not one, but 87 recipes for this weekend and 142 DIY skin care products and how best to parent and feed and not over-parent and not feed my kids. I follow some great blogs but I just felt that not only is there a ton of information and misinformation already out there, but it’s always around, relentlessly getting recycled. I needed a break and I wondered if you did, too.
When you subscribed to my blog, I promised I wouldn’t flood your inbox and part of that promise meant that if I didn’t have something valuable to bring you, then I wouldn’t bring it. It may not be a wise social-media strategy, but I am more than the sum of my social media pages.
During my hiatus, I came to the conclusion that even NOT writing on my blog still meant running myself into the ground. I’m grateful for being in graduate school for many reasons, but one is for teaching me, FINALLY, the value of slowing down and getting real sleep. I've gotten quite used to operating on minimal sleep between pregnancies, long nights with newborns, infants, toddlers...that it was actually hard to tell when I went over the edge. It started with a bad cold that didn't completely go away (like they usually do). It kept coming back and getting worse and more complicated.
I decided to finally take care of myself because "they" are right, you can't take care of anyone else if you don't take care of yourself first. I did the obvious things that have been shouted at me, lectured at me, begged of me. I made time for the things that nourish me; really spending time with my family especially playing, more yoga, more meditation, cooking/baking something new, reading for fun (this is what I read...and when I say “read”, I mean “listened to”. In my defense, Brené Brown is so engaging that listening to her was remarkably healing because it was both illuminating and hilarious). The results were just a little mind-blowing. I feel good, I mean SO good, which of course leaks into every moment of my day and night, i.e. I'M SLEEPING! And, to my surprise, it turns out that taking this time for myself didn’t mean taking time away from all the other things that need to get done. Somehow, and this is paradoxical, I had more time. Trippy, isn’t it?!
So, I’m back (albeit with new boundaries and expectations). And I’m so happy about that. I’d been working on some new and fresh designs for cool t-shirts and great bags and now have a shop on my site. I’m also slowly getting a Facebook group page going (follow this link and be part of that awesome tribe, too). Yes, there’s more, but I’ll stop here for now. I’ll leave you with these amazing Marathon Date Bars that will fuel you whether you’re running an actual marathon (my husband just did and these were for him) or just getting through your marathon-like day. But please remember, slow down when you need to. The world will still be there and so will your to-do list. Take these bars with you, though ;)
Finally, please share this newsletter with anyone who you think might benefit from the lofty aspirations of living our best and happiest life.
For now, friends, remember that our health and wellness is not confined to just food or just fitness or just any one thing. It is a result of the sum of our lives; who we choose to spend it with, how much we laugh with our whole heart, the deep connection we feel to each other and the Earth that nourishes us. It’s a whole-hearted journey, this one to health and wellness, and I’m glad we’re on it together.
In good health, Nathalie