Self-Care Sunday: Tending to My Future Self

a road through sunlit woods, text overlaid: self care sunday: tending to my future self. A guest post by Mara Glatzel gracequantock.com

Every Sunday morning I strip the beds. I wash the sheets in hot water. I comb through the fridge, getting rid of anything that is past its time. I open up my planner and write down everything that I want and need to do in the week ahead.

I ready myself for what’s to come.

I take a shower slowly. I shave my legs. I remember to put on moisturizer. I do all of the things that I often forfeit on days when I am running to get somewhere, while simultaneously trying to get my daughter dressed and out the door. I look at myself in the mirror. I pluck my eyebrows.

I tend to myself in this moment so that, no matter what the week entails, I will have this foundation to rely on.

I file the papers away. I pay the bills. I return the emails. I make sure that everything is accounted for.

This Sunday practice is essential to the quality of the week the lies before me. With a baby under the age of one and a business that relies on my inner strength and mental clarity, taking the time to settle in and ground myself before Monday morning means that I am well tended to more often than not.

It means that I will have clean underwear and a basic understanding of what my priorities are for the week ahead. It also means that I will be able to look up and out to see something coming that might require my attention and plan it in, before it feels like an emergency.

When I became a mother people told me that I would no longer have time for my self-care practices. They warned me about just how quickly everything gets pushed out of the way to make space for teething and congested noses.

In some ways, this has proven true. In the last nine months I have experienced more demands on my time and energy than ever before in my life. But these demands haven’t eliminated my need for self-care.

Instead, my needs have grown with the size of my family, clarified by the deep knowing that the structural integrity of my mind and body is fundamental to my ability to show up daily for everything that I believe in. I need myself more than ever. I need my own care more than ever.

This is how it is with self-care. The more that I require of myself and the more that I expand my vision for what is possible for my life, the more tending I need. My care must grow with my responsibilities if I am going to enjoy the continued capacity for living the way that I want to.

And so I return here each Sunday. To the sheets and grocery list and scrubbing my body.

To the practice of taking care of my future self, today.

By Mara Glatzel

Mara glatzel, hands out holding a rock

Mara Glatzel, MSW is an intuitive guide and energy healer who guides women in identifying, honoring, and advocating for their needs.

She is also the creator of the wildly popular course The Deep Exhale about carving out space in your life for rest and restoration. 

At the core of her work is the desire to live a well-intentioned life, which means… more joy, grit, and vibrant imperfection to spare.

Hang out with Mara on instagram, Facebook, or sign-up to receive weekly missives filled to the brim with the absolute best of what she’s got – unfiltered vulnerability and heart-opening encouragement.