You hear all of the time that life is all about the ability to balance and effectively manage your time.  Whether it is the balance between home, school, and work or friends and significant other, or all of the above, balancing is hard.  Especially when you have a lot going on like a chronic illness.  For me, I have been struggling to balance home, work, husband, friends, and health.  What do you usually end up sacrificing to make it all work?

I know that in my daily life, I end up putting myself on the back burner to ensure that everything else keeps moving smoothly.  I try to prioritize my relationship with my husband above all else.  We work opposite schedules since his is forever changing and he can sometimes spend a few days of the week away from home.  This makes things difficult when also trying to schedule doctor’s appointments, work engagements, time with other family members, and the like.  I think at some point or another, we are all guilty of putting ourselves last.  It’s not good!! I make promises to myself to unplug, or be more mindful when I get home from work, but it is hard to hold myself accountable. That is why a week ago I decided to embark on a journey that I have not gone on before.

A detox of the body, mind, and soul.  This is ran by an amazing woman, Allie, also known as The Journey Junkie.  She set this detox up so that it aligns with the Spring Equinox, so I am currently going through all of the feels.  The detox runs 21 days, and includes a daily yoga video, daily meditation, and also a daily worksheet to go along with the theme of the day.  There is also a weekly food plan that is plant-based (YAY!) and easily manipulated to be friendly to those that are GF.  To say that I have learned a lot about myself in these past 7 days is an understatement.  This detox is allowing me to release a lot of trauma that I did not know I was still holding on to, and has allowed me to truly root down and give myself some much needed “me time.” So that is also why I have been MIA since my last blog post.  Sorry! I had to do me for a little bit, and will continue to do me for the next two weeks.

Getting wrapped up in my routine of going to work, going home, taking my Epsom salt bath, eating dinner, and going to bed at 8pm (YES.  I go to bed REALLY early) was really starting to depress the crap out of me.  Now, I get to go home and look forward to my yoga, meditation, worksheets, and really focusing on my relationship.  My husband is a rock star and has dealt with everything that has been thrown at us with such grace, and he deserves nothing but the best.  Which means I have to do some self-work to be the best version of myself. No shame in my game. I totally admit that I need a lot of work.  Being diagnosed with a chronic illness and experiencing random symptoms at any point in time really screws you up mentally.  I am constantly living in a state of “what if” scenarios. What if my legs give out while I’m walking over to help a student with a task?  What if I get that crazy heart hurting chest ripping open sensation while in the middle of a lecture?  What if my eyes go out on me while driving home?  Have any of these scenarios actually happened like I play them out in my head? No. Usually, my body has a good notion of when to mess with me, and usually it’s in the privacy of my own home.  But are others that lucky? Not at all.  I am happy that I found this detox when I did.  It is exactly what my body, mind, and soul needs at this point in my life.

My question for you is: what will you do to take care of yourself this week?