“I’m okay, you’re okay…”

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Shared by Breanne Smedley

“I’m okay, you’re okay…”

Another volleyball season is in the books. Like every season, the past four months have been jam-packed with practices, meetings, planning, film, matches, and tournaments…and little time (more like energy) for anything else.

Now that the dust has settled a bit, I get to focus on another one of my passions- building the Mindfluent Leadership movement with Kristina!

It’s usually after the season ends that I like to focus on what I call “Post-Season Self Care.” I schedule a few fun appointments and get out of town for the weekend with Brett. Typically the more stressful the season, the more appointments needed. This year, it was a body scrub, massage, facial, and haircut…if that gives you any indication. Then, we went off the grid and headed to the beach. It was glorious!

However, when I got back to work Monday, it wasn’t like all my worries had been scrubbed and massaged away. I still had students to teach, emails to reply to, meetings to attend, and a negative interaction that I had with a student before I left was still lingering in my mind.

Self-care. I am finding out that it’s more than bubble baths, massages, and manicures. Darn.

 

I’ve realized that true self care starts with our mind and our awareness of how we “show up” every day. Mindfluent Leaders are mindfully evolving in their ability to be in the flow of the present moment, regulate their emotions, and face every situation with optimism and gratitude.

 

I recently started following Lindsey Wilson with Positive Performance Training. In one of her mini trainings I listened to today, she talked about how one of the main aspects of improving team culture is the mindset of each individual on the team. It’s the idea that “if you’re not taking care of, or feeling great about yourself, it’s nearly impossible to contribute to a positive team culture.”

 

I have found this to be true not only on teams, but in the workplace, and daily life. If I am not taking care of my mental state, if I’m tearing myself down, and not staying actively present in the moment, I may be subconsciously tearing others down with me.

Negativity ensues, jealousy abounds, and I miss opportunities to connect and see the needs of others while I’m focused on myself.

Conversely, my individual mindset needs to be healthy in order to build a healthy community of people around me. 

I’m okay, you’re okay.

How do we engage in the type of self-care that will benefit our mental health? Apart from the obvious (getting enough sleep, exercising, eating nourishing foods), here’s what I’ve been trying:

Mindfulness and meditation. Even just 3 minutes of focused attention a day to key in on the breath and become present at the moment

Practice gratitude. Daily.

Find the good. In moments of adversity, stop and identify the one thing that is going right.

Mindfully arrive. Instead of rushing from one thing to the next, take three breaths before transitioning to the next “thing.” How do I want to show up as a leader, teacher, wife, friend in this next interaction?

I’m also not throwing out the occasional massage idea just yet! 😉

 

#MindfullyEvolving

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