Make time for your fitness

Sean has elderly parents who need care and attention to help maintain the quality of their lives. He helps to taxi them to doctors’ appointments and checks in regularly alongside working full time and organising his own family life.

Noel has a full-time job, two kids to ferry around, and a wife to spend time with if they have some spare time.

Joanne is an accountant who works long hours which sometimes means evenings and weekends. She likes to spend as much time as possible with her young family and sometimes feels like this time gets squeezed.

We all have different pulls on our time that require plenty of effort and energy, I’m sure you can see something of yourself in one of the above examples. We all have time we just decide what is most important to us and take it.

The airlines have it right when it comes to self-care. When the plane hits turbulence, masks deploy. You put your own mask on before helping others. Do it any other way and you won’t be able to help those around you.

Likewise, putting your health and fitness—your engine—on the back burner will leave you sputtering. At some point you’ll be quite literally gasping for air.

When was the last time you took time to evaluate your self-care practices?

What does your exercise routine look like? Did you quit the gym you joined last New Year’s Day?

Block a specific time in your schedule, just like a doctor’s appointment. Get back on board. It’s not too late.

Do you have a solid exercise schedule? What does your recovery look like? After all, the gains we see from the gym come when we rest. Schedule a massage, yoga class or some quiet time. Block it off, make it an appointment with yourself.

What does your diet look like? Does it need a little cleaning up? Mix a healthy meal in as much as you can. Start with one and layer things on from there. Need some guidance? We can help.

It’s so easy to brush off self-care, especially during the holiday season. Our houses are full, parties are abundant, stress is high. But now, more than ever, it’s important to embrace self-care. Increasing physical activity, decreasing mental stress and being intentional with healthy eating is vital to supporting mental and physical health, staving off illness and recuperating faster if we fall ill.

Pull out your planner. Make an appointment with yourself (we have neary 30 classes each week to choose from).

Be better at life by being better to yourself first.