Starting Over and Getting My Spark Back 🌿✨:Late June-July
Hi everyone. I hope you’re all doing well. You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been very active. Well, I’ve decided that I really needed to take a step back from everything, including my business and personal life, and really figure out what I really want. I’ve been burnt out for a while, and my nervous system has been very unregulated. I’m finally in the right mindset where I feel safe to give myself a proper break, and really dive in for the healing process. My physical health has been getting significantly better, and I feel like I can accomplish more physical tasks. Right now, I’m working on my mental health and getting back into my spiritual practice. Slowly returning to my routine and hobbies have been very helpful for that.
I want to make a little series out of this. It’ll be a monthly check-in, where I talk about what’s been helping me to balance my physical, mental, and spiritual health. Feel free to follow along. Here’s what I’ve been doing in late June-July:
1) Journaling
In the past, I used to keep a journal here and there. I did find it very helpful to write all of my thoughts down and process my feelings, but I couldn’t keep the habit up for long. I slowly got back into it after taking my break, and now I feel like I can do it more often. I got inspired by journal ecosystems, and decided to create my own. So far I have my daily planner, media journal, commonplace journal, sketchbook, and more. I’ll make a more detailed post about my ecosystem later. Not only am I keeping up the habit of journaling, but I’m also making the experience more enjoyable and creative.
2) Stretching
Since my physical health is getting better, I’ve been getting back into my exercise routine. I started doing some simple stretches to get my body use to moving around more. This always feels good to do, both physically and mentally, and I’m glad I can do it more frequently again.
3) Plant Propagating
I recently learned how to propagate my pothos plant. It was getting too big in my room, so I decided to trim back the vine and saved the leaves. I have a lot of leaves propagating now, and I’m thinking about giving some of them away after I pot them in some soil. It’s been a fun new hobby/skill I discovered for myself.
4) Resting/Listening to My Body
One of the best things I learned during my break is to know when it’s time to rest. In the past, I would push myself to get a lot of work done without giving myself breaks in between. I only rested when the work was done, and it wasn’t enough rest at all. Now, I’m making sure I take proper breaks between work, especially if I’m feeling off. I’m also going to bed at an early time every night.
5) Getting Back into Gardening
Because of my physical health, it’s been hard to get back into my garden. I use to be able to go outside almost everyday to weed the garden, plant seeds/seedlings, water my plants, and harvest the garden. Now, I’ve only been able to harvest some of the perennials and biennials, and use them for product making and personal use. Sometimes I just walk around, just to be in the presence of nature. I missed it a lot, and I’m glad I can slowly get back into it.
6) Cleaning and Cleansing My Space
Every week, I started to do Sunday resets, and I make sure to clean and cleanse my space. It gives me a lot of peace of mind to make sure everything is organized, and the energy in my home, especially my bedroom, feels balanced.
7) Making Personal Herbal Creations
I’ve been so busy making products for my business, that I haven’t had the chance to make anything for myself and my family. Recently, one of my cousins asked me to make her a tea, and it was something I never made before but wanted to try for her. It was fun to make something like that, and it didn’t have to be a part of the business. I use to make a lot of home remedies for personal use, before even starting Ashanti’s Garden. Now, I’ve been trying to do it more often. It also inspired me to add onto my herbal studies. I’m currently learning more and more about Traditional Chinese Medicine.
8) Making Homemade Meals and Drinks
I love to cook, and I just got back into cooking my own meals. I’ve been getting creative with different food and drinks. I even created a Spring Cafe theme on my art instagram @thewolfandthefaerie back in the springtime, and I’m hoping to make a Summer Cafe theme next.
That’s it for now. Thank you for reading if you made it to the end. What’s something you like to do to get your spark back? I have the comments on for this post, so feel free to share your thoughts on this subject. I’m hoping to have another post like this for the end of August, so stay tuned for that. In the meantime, I’m going to try and post more frequently here. I’ll see you next time, and I hope you have a great day/night.
With lots of love,
Ashanti
