Don't Wait!



I was speaking to a woman over the weekend who is a home health care provider. She was looking tired as usual, so I shared how I’ve incorporated a few, basic yoga poses into my exercise regime and how much more energy I have. Trust me, the positions are so basic, they shouldn’t even be considered yoga, and I know I’m not doing them 100% correctly, but it works! 

Before you let your mind run away with you, I don’t chant or mediate to other gods while I do my simple yoga; I’m stretching and focusing on my breathing, which allows more oxygen into my lungs and delivers more energy. Anyway, the woman mentioned she couldn’t wait until she retired, so she could take care of herself. Before I knew it, I laughed out loud, and couldn’t stop. I asked her if she knew how funny her statement sounded and said, “You have to wait until you retire before you take care of yourself? You might be dead, or too old and stiff to stretch!” 

Why do we (women), spend our entire life taking care of others without pouring into ourselves? I’ve said it a thousand times…before we can take care of others, we have to first take care of ourselves, or we’re left tired and easily agitated. It doesn’t take much to love on ourselves every morning - stretch, drink water, take vitamins, meditate and pray, look in the mirror and encourage ourselves. Can I be real? Even dogs know to stretch when they wake up, and believe it or not, there is a yoga pose called the dog stretch. Let’s face it. 

A woman is called to serve; yet we have to be sweetly selfish enough to take care of our temples first, and not wait until it’s too late