The Four R’s of Self-Care for a Refreshing Weekend
Or is that 5 R’s? 🤗
Every weekend, I find it so important to create a practice that helps us feel like a new person going into the next week.
So keep the Sunday Scaries away with this straightforward 4 R’s technique that combines holistic self-care with intentional energy management.
Let’s get to it!
The 4 R’s:
Release
Relax
Restore
Renew
Release:
This is such an important step and should ideally be done first. Take a few deep breaths and settle in to your body.
Now ask yourself, what do I need to release from this week so I can #1- enjoy myself this weekend and #2- go into next week with a refreshed outlook on things?
For example - you could release a conversation you had with your boss, or a small mistake you made in a presentation, or a boundary you didn’t set, or a day you didn’t nourish your body properly. Whatever you have been dwelling on that has been energetically attached to you that you know is not serving you.
After you have named what you wish to release, next ask yourself: What did I learn from this experience? What kind of meaning and purpose can I find from this experience? What have I learned about myself? What can I do differently next time?
Choose not to hold onto an energy that keeps you small, choose to learn and move on, choose to empower yourself.
Relax:
This is something that you are intentionally doing to relax. This is not something that you are doing to numb out or to not feel your feelings, or to disassociate from yourself.
It’s something that really helps you relax.
Something that you are intentionally doing that can calm your nervous system.
I could give you a ton of examples, but I’m sure you know what helps you to relax! (For instance, cooking helps me relax, but I know that’s not everyone’s jam.)
Restore:
This is something that fills up your soul, fills your cup, fills your energy levels back up, however you want to put it.
These are things such as reading a book, taking a bath, spending times with friends or family, going for a walk or hike, going shopping or to dinner and a movie, going to brunch and the beach. Something fun that you love to do that fills your energy and restores your soul.
This step should be a majority of your weekend, because it’s so so important to restore your soul, which restores your energy, which makes it so there is more to give of yourself going into the next week!
Renew:
Your space energetically affects you. When you have a cluttered home, chances are, you may experience higher anxiety levels, difficulty sleeping, and lack of focus, making you less productive.
So, it’s important to make sure your space is energetically making you happy, feeling safe, and renewed.
I’m a big fan of a 10 Second Tidy (anyone else watch The Big Comfy Couch growing up??) But as we get older, it’s more of a 5-10 minute tidy. I try to do one before I go to sleep every night (not just on the weekend), but there are days my priorities change, and my energy levels are different week to week (thanks menstrual cycle), so I’m definitely not perfect.
And, this isn’t just for our physical space. What about our digital space? To create a better mental space through your digital world, try closing all your tabs, clearing your inbox, deleting any apps you don’t need over the weekend before you leave on Friday.
So there you have it! The 4 R’s!
Just try one R this weekend, and see how that goes for you!
Then the next weekend, you can build up to two, then three, then all four!
I just know these 4 R’s will make you feel refreshed and you can start your new week with so much more motivation!
Wishing you a Happy weekend every weekend, y’all!
Want to dive deeper into Holistic Self-Care?
Check out my go at your own pace online course all about Self-Care. You will learn self-care practices for your mind, body, and soul. These practices will help you when stress creeps in, the overwhelm is taking over and you feel like burnout is just around the corner.
The course is 9 videos and is only 60 minutes long in total!! So you can build up life long wellness practices in the same amount of time you can watch a show! Pretty awesome, right?