Therapy Session Reflections #4 – Unpacking Week 32, Self-care – Cooking, Gardening, And Walking

In session 32, we spent a lot of time discussing the plague. That included the unrest that is happening in this country and around the world. Going into this session, I was very anxious, losing sleep and all around unsettled. Honestly, I was happy that I had a session scheduled because I was having a tough time with all of the things that were unfolding.

When I started therapy in my initial sessions, self-care was one of the first things I worked on increasing. That’s because I was very guilty of not focusing on myself enough. I’d become substantially better at focusing on and embracing self-care much more. Then Covid-19 happened, and it changed a few things, for a minute.

I have been working from home since 2014, but I always had the option of going out wherever I wanted. As an introvert, voluntarily basking in my own company is not a sacrifice at all. However, this was an entirely different situation. That’s because it wasn’t a voluntary thing. So the plague could have unraveled my self-care practice. Guess what? It didn’t.

My therapist asked me what I was doing in the form of self-care. At the time, I wasn’t really thinking about some of the things I’d been doing. That’s probably because my week proceeding therapy was very disjointed and off-center.

Feeling a LOT of anxiety and being quite unsettled was due to being inside for so long with minimal outside interaction. Additionally, the uprising and seeing so much hate unleashed in this world against my community has been heart-wrenching.

A few things I’ve been doing that I consider self-care:

I’ve been gardening, and it’s been so enjoyable. I’d forgotten how much I loved growing my own vegetables. I am growing outside in containers, inside with self-water window sill planters and an area designated for plants with grow lights. The grow lights will allow me to grow vegetables all year around.

Right now, I have cucumbers, carrots, mixed peppers, lettuce, and tomatoes growing outside in grow bags. I have two kinds of lettuce growing in window sill planters and tomatoes growing under grow lights.

All of my outside vegetables are growing well. I am looking forward to seeing veggies bloom pretty soon and I will be using those fresh organic vegetables in my dishes very shortly

I’ve been cooking! I mean real-deal cooking from scratch. Once the plague hit, it became very difficult to find all of the prepackage crap that I tended to eat a lot. So I was forced to cook my dishes. At first, I was like WTH, but I shortly started to LOVE cooking.

At one time, I would NOT cook if I was the only person eating. As a part of my self-care routine before the plague, I’d moved away from this a bit. However, I was still eating a lot of easy to prepare prepackaged meals.

My inability to get my regular foods delivered, I started using another delivery service. I signed up for Imperfect Foods, which is a subscription-based food delivery food company. I love this service because I get a list of foods to choose from every week. There are lots of fresh and organic produce. There are also a selections of foods that are not recognizable brands but organic, come from sustainable sources, free-range, hormone, and antibiotic-free.

So, every week I just order a bunch of stuff, having no idea of what I am going to cook with those ingredients but knowing that whatever I cook will be delicious.

I just had a box delivered with organic pizza crusts, parmesan, fresh mozzarella, and romano cheeses. A previous box included tomato sauce, tomato paste, and crushed tomatoes. So guess what I’ll be making? Bingo, Pizza!

I just started walking. It’s something that I’ve needed to do for quite a while. I have been talking to a friend who has motivated me to walk more because they are about it. Talking with them was just the nudge that I needed. I work at my computer all day, so it has always been imperative that I get up and move more. It is more important than ever to get out and get some fresh air, and it has been so helpful to me.

Some of the other self-care things I’m doing:
🔸Making music playlists
🔸Meditating
🔸Bubble baths
🔸Reading
🔸Blogging
🔸Journaling
🔸Texting, talking and Zooming

These things have been great to help me keep up my self-care routine. I never realized how important self-care was until I started going to therapy. It really gives your life purpose, because as women, we can get so caught up into being superwomen, working, living, and taking care of everyone besides ourselves.

So, if you are not actively partaking in self-care, you should indulge. It is more important than ever.

I would love to know your thoughts on putting therapy session lessons to work in everyday situations. How are you taking what you’ve learned in therapy and applying them to your life in real-time? Reach out, let’s chat on FB, IG, and Twitter. Until then, Happy Healing and Happy Unpacking.

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