Yawn. A big, toothy, dragon yawn.

To nap or not to nap.

Welcome to the 6th day of my 30-day story challenge!

Yawn. I tried to suppress it. And yet…. yawn. YAWN. Mouth wide open, deep breath in, eyes watering. So many things to do. And yet there was another yawn. The last couple of nights were not terribly restful. I had a lot more hot flashes than normal, and last night there was one period of about an hour where I couldn’t go back to sleep. Because I had slept poorly the prior night I had some coffee in the afternoon, so I had stayed up a good hour past my normal bedtime. All that adds up to… YAWN.

So instead of starting right in on this very newsletter, I decided to honor my body’s needs. I nudged Zeke and Goose a bit to the side and curled up under the covers. Of course, both orange kitties decided that I was there to pet them. I turned on “Sienna’s Nap Story” in the Calm app, put one hand on each cat, and went to blissful sleep for about 20 minutes. I woke up with Goose curled around my hand, purring. Zeke had wandered off. I felt much better, refreshed and ready to keep going.

My body needed that short break. I needed it. And now here I am, writing this newsletter just a little bit later than I intended. I even got to add “nap” to my Flow Club goal list and check it off to see the confetti fill the screen.

How often do we ignore our own needs? How often do we “push through” despite knowing that a few minutes of self-care add up to big mental health benefits? Now that I’m in my 50s I embrace naps - they bring me joy and peace. And my kitties are happy I spent time with them - bonus! Self-care isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.

What self-care will you give yourself today? How will you use your dragon serenity to nurture and tend to your needs?

Vote for what I’ll call the circle of support I and my clients build so we can BE DO HAVE it our way. Dragon Council? Dragon Circle? Thunder of Dragons? Cauldron of Dragons? Board of Dragon Directors?

Hey - do me a favor. Forward this newsletter to a friend and ask them to subscribe.

Newsletter Archive

Cindy

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