30 Days of Self-Care
30 Days of Self-Care
30 Days of Self-Care
Vanae Tran
http://vanae.com
Day 1
Reading a good book before going to bed
I am an Empowerment &
Dating Coach empowering
professionals since 2007.
I started with a passion: to
bring more self-awareness
and meaning to professionals
through the medium of fresh,
motivating videos.
My background:
Certified Integral Coach.
Earning M.S. in Counseling
(Marrige Family Therapy)
B.A. in Communication, Psychology.
As a coach and entrepreneur with a crazy busy life, I challenged
myself to a concentrated 30 days of self-care, to be healthy to my
mind, body and soul. I would post my daily self-care on my Facebook to share with friendsI wondered..after 30 days...Would I feel
different? Would my life change? Would it be worth it?
Heres my journey and what I learned. I wish you much self-love and
self-care when you embark on your own 30-day Self Care Challenge
(especially with your friends!)
Connect me
http://vanae.com
Lately, with my busy schedule, the only books I read are textbooks
from my masters program. But I miss reading books for fun. My friends
know that I typically only read non-fiction, educational books on
dating, relationships, spirituality, sex and personal development. So
motivated by my friend, Noah, I got in some Vanae-time by reading
30 minutes before going to sleep. This is Day#1.
http://vanae.com
Day 3
Day 2
Eating my lunch at the park
Instead of eating my lunch in my office or at home, I decided to take
a nice walk to have lunch. I found a really nice spot at the park.
Surrounded by eucalptus trees, I enjoyed my sushi lunch at the park.
Fresh air and fresh eucalptus. Being in nature helped me appreciate
life and feel very thankful for being alive.
http://vanae.com
Since 2007, I have been helping clients and friends about their life
challenges, confidence and dating life.
So part of self-care is to allow myself to receive support as much as
I give. I decided to have regular therapy sessions. I had my first therapy session in a while and I was so excited to be a client for once. It
felt so nurturing and good to be supported! Therapy and coaching is
badass!
http://vanae.com
Day 4
Day 5
No Sex
I made a conscious decision to not have sex for these 30 days. I will
refrain from sex and going on any dates. I disabled my dating profiles.
I did this so that I can fully focus on my own fulfillment. I didnt want to
fill a void with another person. I want to fill up my entirety with healthy
love. This month is 30 days of Vanaes self-love.
OUT OF THE
DARKNESS
http://vanae.com
http://vanae.com
Day 7
Mini-pamper: Manicure & eyebrows
Its nice to have someone take care of my and beautify myself. My
Vietnamese waxer said, Now, you dont look like gorilla anymore.
Day 6
Afternoon naps
To allow myself to take an afternoon nap.
To be ok with doing less and understand that its doing more for me.
Oh, how a busy-body like me, really had a tough time allowing myself
to take a nap because of feeing guilty of wasting time but once I
got to experience this self-care. I was pretty addicted.
http://vanae.com
http://vanae.com
Seeing my facebook
postings, my cousin
in Vietnam wanted
to join in the 30-day
self care and 3 of
my friends were
inspired as well.
vulnerable was
helping others with
their own self-care.
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Day 8
Speaking Up
I had a friend who would flaked all the time and contacted me when
he needed a favor. In the past, I would ignore my uncomfortability
with it. But since it was my self-care month, I decided to put my feelings as a priority and communicated how I felt. Though its awkward
at first, it felt great to express my feelings and to speak up.
http://vanae.com
http://vanae.com
Day 9
Day 10
I am a recovering night owl. But I was recognizing the effects of staying up late. Usually by 10am every day, I would feel exhausted. My
best friend, Dana, helped me realize that I needed to challenge myself and sleep by 11pm to get a full nights rest. I get up early enough
to make my green smoothies and power through the day.
After 2 months of sleeping at 11pm, guess what? It worked! I woke up
feeling refreshed and now going to bed early is a piece of cake, now
that my body is used to it.
http://vanae.com
http://vanae.com
Day 11
Day 12
Having yummy, veggie breakfast with my lovely sis (who just fly into
town from SF). Eating less meat, more veggies and healthy grains,
makes me feel damn good!
http://vanae.com
http://vanae.com
Day 13
Day 14
http://vanae.com
Day 15
Day 16
For those teeth-grinders out there, youll know what Im talking about.
So every night, I grind my teeth like crazy! I wake up with a super sore
jaw. The easy solution? A mouth-guard.
And guess what? I had one made at the dentist 6 months ago and
never picked it up. I have been putting it off! So I said Enough time
has passed by, lazy ass. You need to do this for yourself and pick up
that damn mouth-guard now. And so I did. And now, my jaw & teeth
couldnt be any happier.
Sometimes, its just the little things. Especially, the little things we
procrastinate on!
http://vanae.com
http://vanae.com
Day 17
Getting out of the house & working
at local coffee-shop
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http://vanae.com
http://vanae.com
Day 18
Day 19
I realized that after living in my cute vintage apartment for half a year
now, I have yet to use the bathtub for a nice soaking! So I decided to
stay in, draw a hot bath and pour in some walffle-fragrance bubble
bath. It was so relaxing and pampering!
In the past, I would pick up my acoustic guitar and fiddle around with
it. Learn a song here and there, but since I got caught up with my new
schedule, I simply forgot about my guitar. There it sat...in the corner.
But today was different. Music soothes my soul. So I picked up my guitar again and learned a pretty song I really like As I much as I ever
could by City & Colours. Its a beautiful song. Made me very happy.
http://vanae.com
http://vanae.com
Day 21
Not caring about what the scale said
Day 20
Enjoying the sunshine
Living in San Diego, youd be surprised how much
time I spend indoors. So I went to the harbour and
spent some time in the sun. Theres something about
the smell of the ocean, the view of nautica and feeling of sunshine on my skin that brings me HAPPINESS!
http://vanae.com
Lucky for me, I have a wonderful sister to leaves amazing notes for
me. This note reminds me that You are perfect the weight you are.
Today, I allowed myself to not care about what my weight is and care
more about my health.
http://vanae.com
Day 23
Be a kid again
Day 22
Green smoothies galore!
Ive never been a huge breakfast fan, because Im always running
out the door at 7AM. But Ive been developing the habit of making a
green smoothie to drink as my breakfast. An almost-daily ritual. Gives
me great energy and I feel dang good about starting my days off
right! My green smoothies consist of: kale, spinach, mango and berries.
http://vanae.com
Day 24
Day 25
Forgiving Myself
I have what some people call cold hands, warm heart. Well, when it
comes to cold fall days, the only thing that really helps is a nice, warm
mason jar of good ol tea to hold and sip! Warms the body and spirit.
http://vanae.com
Day 26
Day 27
Morning meditation
At the beautiful park in my city, it hosts great free music events. I went
with my friend to enjoy great organ opera music in the park. Surrounded my neighbors and people of my community, it was a nice music
break from what I normally listen to.
http://vanae.com
http://vanae.com
Day 28
Day 29
As a person on-the-go, often times, its a lot faster and convinient for
me to just grab delicious fried Mexican food down the street. But I
challenged myself and whipped myself up a fresh arugula salad with
lemon dressing. This was inspired by my best friend, Dana, who is a
Nutrition & Wellness Coach.
Enjoying a Vietnamese lunch by myself at the restaurant. I typically get
things packed to-go and eat it at home while I work. But I never liked
that they used styrofoam to-go. So slowing down, being eco-friendly
and enjoying good ol comfort food.
http://vanae.com
http://vanae.com
Day 30
Emptied my mental container
Conclusion
I move really fast. I pull triggers. I create. I make things happen. But sometimes Im moving at such a speed, I forget to
enjoy the little things and the purpose behind doing these
things.
As a coach, therapist, entrepreneur If Im a container for
others, what space do I clear for myself?
From this, I learned that in order to have the capacity for others and myself, I had to empty out my container each day.
Then fill the bottom layer with my self-care as a cushion for
everything my clients want me to hold.
http://vanae.com
At the end of this 30 day Self-Care Project, I felt more balanced than ever. I felt an incredible happiness and clarity
from within. My friends were pointing out to me how grounded I was. I felt more connected to myself than ever. I was
able to recognize the strength in me, the positivity and those
little things I would do that counts of self-care but didnt recognize before. Most importantly, I beat the bullshit excuse of
not having time for myself. And it felt great to prove myself
wrong.
What would your 30 days of Self-Care look like? I invite you
and your friends in embark on your own 30 days!
http://vanae.com