❄️How do I spend my alone time in the winter… ❄️
Before you say anything - we know. “It’s almost spring” “Winter is almost over” - we know. But here in Midwest Nebraska we have what’s called False Spring. Where we THINK we’re out of the winter woods and pull out our flip flops… just to have snow hit us HARD. For example one week we were hitting record LOWS and the next record HIGHS before it levels off in the 50s for a week or so.
For us - this is often MUCH harder on our minds than the dark days of a wintery January! Why? Because that glimpse of spring gives us so much hope and then we are sent back inside! For Emmalee this is when the winter blue hit the hardest. So what do we do to help battle that and deal with alone time?
First - Emmalee may not seem like it but she is an introvert, so alone time is a really good things for her, but more importantly - specific, loosely structured, semi alone time is critical for her. Being stuck inside, alone, and “cut off” is bad. There’s a difference, and probably a post about that for a future time. 😜
When you have alone time, knowing what’s actually needed for you and your body is the key to making the most of the time. Structurally there is a need to sit and seriously - Just. Be. Still. But digging in and making sure that you are following the seasons given to us and taking care of you. We are not a fan per say of the term “self-care”, not that it’s not important 🐇🐇but so often people use this as a time to ignore others and only focus on themselves. Again, sometimes this is needed but not to the extreme that we’ve been seeing, and especially in the WAY we’ve been seeing it. 🐇🐇 so for the sake of here - Live Naturally BE - when we use the term self-care, it’s about meeting needs specifically to yourself. Clear as mud?
When it comes down to Winter Self-Care you have to think about the environment and prepare for it. We do detox baths all year round, but they are easier to “recover” from in the winter (at least for Em), but you have to be prepared for them all the time. For us this involves making sure we have all the things needed before we even start the bath (Em takes snacks, double or triple drinks, book - reading device, baby monitor, computer / phone - entertainment) and then setting the bath up for a completely relaxing time (bath ingredients, specific iTOVi scanned oils, dry hand towel close, diffuser going). We have researched and recommend at least 30 min and in the winter time that means 30 min with the hottest water we can stand and our jets on, then we relax for a while in the water (Ben uses this time to catch up with people and read the news, Em typically reads or brainstorms ideas), and then setting yourself up for maximum benefits after (towel close, lotion all over, clothes / robe near). Another thing that Em makes sure she does is one thing especially helpful for physical health each day that’s outside of the norm, such as Gua Sha, ice roller, facemask, electrolysis, eye masks, at home face steamer…. You get the idea 😜 Another “self-care” to make sure you are doing - watching how much time you are mindlessly scrolling… enough said….
Em is an avid reader and tends to go in spurts of what she likes to read but especially in the winter, she makes time to read… and in the name of complete transparency sometimes it’s more of a chore to get her to STOP and do other things 😜 but this something that she LOVES and alone time is filled with new worlds, and things to further educate herself (she’s on Goodreads if you want to see what she’s reading 😜) but the key with this is to find something that you enjoy and dig into it. By the way… what are YOU reading? She’s always adding books to her TBR list. Podcasts and YouTube are another couple of things we both love and make sure we are listening to them as often as possible (would you guys want to know what we listen to??), and using them to grow ourselves.
One of the last things - having fun. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut and realize that you haven’t don't really much of anything fun lately… Em has started doing a Popcorn movie nights with Soph each week, and that has helped bond them as well as give them something fun to look forward to together. Soph really doesn’t watch much of the movie but popcorn. Popcorn has quickly become a favorite thing for her ❤️❤️ we’ve needed to limit this to one night a week, or honestly Soph might not each much of anything else 😜
To do a quick recap…our alone time (especially in the winter) consists of good quality self-care, good quality continuing education, and good quality fun - with good food!! This isn’t of course an all inclusive list, but it is the top items that have helped us battle the winter blues.
If you need more help or are struggling in the moment - please reach out and contact us. We would be honored to talk with you, or if you or someone you know if struggling with suicidal thoughts - you are not alone. We would love to be a kind ear to listen or you can text the National Suicide Hotline at 988. You are NOT alone, the world is NOT better off without you. You are loved.
