As spring arrives, I find that clients usually start talking to me about how they want to “up their self-care” but do it within the reality of their lives. Spring can be a really busy season for people – spring sports, Scouts, and music lessons. Fitting in self-care can be tricky. And there can be a lot of guilt around taking time out to care for ourselves (yes, this is still a thing for most of us!). ​ Whether you are a busy parent or professional, your time is precious, you have people to take care of, and you want to be healthy.

The people I work with in coaching and psychotherapy are looking for self-care that goes beyond getting our nails done. They are talking about SOUL care.

SOUL care is when you create a life that you love (on most days of the week).

SOUL care is doing anything that helps you to live aligned with what really matters to you.

SOUL care is self-love AND love for others.

SOUL care is caring for your mind, body, energy, relationships, and spirit.

Over the years of helping people “up their self (SOUL) care,” I’ve noticed that to make any shifts, there are three foundational steps to upping our SOUL care.

Three Foundational Steps to Upping Your SOUL Care:

1. Schedule it. My busiest professional clients who tell me they have “no time,” I share with them that if you don’t schedule the “important but not urgent” stuff of your life – like self-care – it won’t happen. I challenge them by saying, “In three months, I will ask you about your self-care and I guarantee the things you scheduled are the things you’ve done. And the things you haven’t scheduled, you will not have done.”

2. Eliminate the distractions that waste your precious time. I’m on a social media sabbatical until mid-May. I needed to cut it out. I made an honest audit of my life and I realized I was on it way too much. Enough. I cannot emphasize to you enough how liberating and clarifying it has been (and I’m not even one month in!).  Get honest with how you spend your time.  Every single time I do this honest audit with a client, we find that there IS fact time.  If there isn’t – they create it.  They take their life back and make choices about where they invest their most precious commodity.

3. Develop a new (and healthier) relationship to guilt. My clients who come to me and tell me that they are full of guilt and it paralyzes them, I say, “Don’t even try and get rid of it! That robs you of so much precious energy! Instead, learn to better relate to guilt!” Learn to treat guilt as a “given.” It’s in the water, especially as a parent and a professional. Don’t try to get rid of guilt – learn to include it (I know, radical) as a part of your experience and relate to it with healthy boundaries.

Whether your SOUL care is going on a hike, getting to that yoga class, taking out your bike for spin, or just sitting on your deck and watching the sunset as the weather gets warmer, these three steps can help you get on that trail, get on those yoga pants, jump onto the bike, or take a breather outside. They can help you make the little shifts that add up to big care for your SOUL.

As for me this spring, I am already gearing up for the next ski season (seven months away!). I’ve created a plan for exercises I can do to build up the muscles that ached this past winter while going down the slopes! I’m committing to at least one hike outside a week. And I have adventures planned to be with friends and family. All this nourishes not only my body and mind, but my SOUL as well – and the soul of my family. I’m not going for perfection — I’m going for fun and focused on a life I love.

I’d love to help you, too.  If this is up your alley and you want to up your self-care but want the support and keen attention of an integrative coach who is going to look at your personal + professional life as well as your “whole person” well-being, I’d love to talk to you.  Grab a free consult.  Let’s talk.