The Monday Scaries and Weekend/Daily Self Care
It’s Monday morning. For many it’s the start to the work week, and an end to the weekend.
So how are you feeling this morning? Refreshed and renewed? Tired and foggy? Regretting weekend decisions or feeling filled to the brim with a full heart and a re-nourished soul? Maybe a mix of both?
When living for the weekend, it can feel like a drastic difference come Monday morning. Fitting as much as we possibly can into 72 hours often leaves little room for restoration and the true idea of self-care.
Time off from work will always bring more flexibility, more time to socialize, get out of the weekly routine, more options for “fun things”. What’s not to love?
Socializing with friends at a bar or eating fun foods because you have more time to enjoy doesn’t have to be met with Monday morning restrictions or shaming.
At the same time, using the weekends as your release from the week, can lead to coping that takes days to recover from. My lovely friend Mer wrote a lovely article talking about the integration of self-care into everyday life. The ability to say “No” and set up boundaries as a way to take care of ourselves cultivates a daily life that doesn’t require a break.
The more we make decisions for ourselves from a place of nourishment, the less likely we will be to need a “day off” from our day off.
This isn’t a perfect process. There are no boxes to check or gold stars. This is about getting to know yourself and your limits. This is about letting yourself enjoy life even if it means not always in “moderation” but to gain self awareness in understanding what you need on the other side of that.
When decisions are met with guilt or shame, your body loses trust. It starts to believe that you lack the ability to self regulate, self care.
The fun foods you may have more of an opportunity to eat on the weekends are allowed to be fun and embraced WITHOUT needing punishment come Monday.
When we begin to ask ourselves “what would be nourishing right now?” and act from that place of contemplation, we are better able to set and explore what healthy boundaries look like for ourselves.
That little act of making a conscious decision, can be the long term difference between understanding what you need and the reactive feelings of shame come Monday.
Let me be clear, Monday mornings never need to contain guilt or shame, especially when it comes to food, that is the lie societies tells us. But when I say long term difference, I mean this will take time to figure out. It may take months or years to begin to learn your boundaries around MANY different areas. Those boundaries of caring for ourselves may involve certain people, movement, social gatherings, saying YES and over booking, food, alcohol, spending money, traveling, restriction, sleep, family obligations, alone time..the list goes on.
We are allowed to begin to trust ourselves. allowed to start listening to our bodies when they say enough is enough. We are intelligent beings with intelligent bodies that are constantly trying to tell us things. It’s ok to not want to always listen, but by at least making the conscious decision to curiously ask a question, we are learning to acknowledge that there might be something worth listening to there.
When Monday comes and those negative feelings start to creep in, it’s a perfect opportunity to bring in that self-care practice and be gentle and compassionate with ourselves. We are all doing the best we can, it isn’t always a straight and narrow path. 💜💜
Monday affirmations:
I am safe, I am cared for, I am breath in a body.
I deserve to find joy, I deserve to find forgiveness, I deserve to be loved, give love, see love.
I am enough.
- A Life Nourished
For more information about A Life Nourished, one-on-one coaching, media, and the non-diet approach, head HERE.
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