Take Care of You
Apparently, today I’m in a bit of a PSA mood. In addition to asking you to get out and vote, I wanted to urge you to take care of you. I firmly believe that you need to take care of yourself in order to better take care of others (think oxygen mask airline instructions) and I felt compelled to post this PSA because: a) I’ve been fielding a lot of questions these days about self-care (mostly informally, but also more formally via a recent fit mom profile over at Momtrends); and b) this past weekend I had the lovely opportunity to host a yoga event that was infused with personal and global mindfulness; the deliriously happy looks on the attendees faces made it clear that self-care was not happening enough.
Similar to when I hosted my Method party, fair trade beverage company Steaz approached me about hosting a creative event in Boston. I actually wasn’t familiar with their products at that juncture, but I loved their fair trade philosophy so I sampled their iced teas. I dug them, agreed to host, and decided on a yoga event, which would allow me to host women for some much needed self-care time while also sharing the general concept of fair trade.
And the event was so, so lovely! As an eco-gal, it was great to have the opportunity to introduce folks to a company that cares about fair trade, and as a mom committed to fitness, it was wonderful to see a collection of busy moms take a couple of hours out of their day for self-care and socializing. I hosted the event at Isis Maternity, which was a perfect location given that Isis is all about helping moms take care of themselves. Here are a few photos from the event:
Yummy drinks (and food, unfortunately not pictured!), kindly funded by Steaz.
Steaz also provided yoga mats for me to give away to three lucky winners (Liz, Michelle of Foodie Mommy, and Liz of Goddess in Progress). Strangely enough, the yoga mats were perfectly color coordinated with my tablecloths and the tissue in my gift bags. Loved that!
With Kristin Brandt of Manic Mommies and Kristin's adorable daughter Sophie. That's also Sophie and Kristin pictured in the first image above, rocking downward dog. Isn't it lovely that Kristin is teaching Sophie about the importance of self-care at such a young age?
Everyone rocking downward dog (including the beautifully pregnant Sandy of Momisodes and Sharon of Cool Dog Productions; second row, center).
Much needed restoration after yoga instructor Sharon of Baptiste Power Yoga kicked all of our rumps.
In addition to the lovely Nicola, Sharla, Liz, Liesbeth, blog friends in attendance included Paige of Mudroom Boston, Sarah of The Carcinista, Roxanna of Miguelina, Charlene of 3 T Communications, and Kami of The Fence.
So whether it's 10 minutes of push-ups, 20 minutes of shredding, 30+ minutes of running or yoga, or some other type of random fitness challenge, I hope you'll consider taking something up to take care of you.
Comments
What an amazing event. Fun! BTW -- I love Steaz. Tastes great.
Posted by: Jennifer James | January 19, 2010 4:39 PM | Reply to this comment
This looks wonderful Christine. Love the drinks, the companie's philosophy & mommy time!
Posted by: Jennifer (Savor) | January 19, 2010 4:43 PM | Reply to this comment
I must have gotten this mental memo for 2010. After becoming a Mommy 11 years ago, now with kids 11, 8 and 3, "me" time has been nonexistent. Save for the step aerobics I intermittently snuck in in my living room during nap time - doesn't really count in my book!
But just in the past two weeks, I started a skincare regime, read an entire book! and have started a boot camp to jumpstart my workout life again in earnest. And let me tell, I feel fabulous! Sore, but like me again. And I totally forgot how that feels.
Posted by: Pumpkin Petunia | January 19, 2010 7:01 PM | Reply to this comment
Amen, girl! Christine you are so right - we often forget to take care of ourselves (myself, included). Looks like it was a fab time on Saturday and I'm so glad so many moms were able to take time for themselves! Thanks for putting that together and also for the blog post today!
And ditto on the election post - I took my daughter & explained the entire process and what a privilege it is to be able to live in this country & to be able to vote. She's 8 now (! - already?!) so she was really at the perfect age to listen & learn about this.
Next, I'm making a date for myself at mini-luxe! Thanks for the rec!
Posted by: Rach | January 19, 2010 8:52 PM | Reply to this comment
You're right. Self-care is definitely not happening enough here these days.
Thank you so much for hosting this wonderful event! I had a wonderful time learning about Steaz and their philosophy, and the yoga class really hit the spot.
Posted by: Momisodes | January 20, 2010 10:39 PM | Reply to this comment
I see this a lot with my clients that are mothers. I understand the feeling of wanting to put other's needs first. I can only imagine how it feels when it's your own child and/or husband.
When a parent realizes how everyone benefits from taking time for yourself to exercise, I see an empowerment grow in them.
I also, love when my clients bring their children in while they work out. It's a wonderful thing to see young girls looking in amazement at how strong mommy is!
Posted by: Daniela Bitto | January 26, 2011 8:46 AM | Reply to this comment