WIN THE DAY: 20-Minute Vacations

Just the other day, I received an email from a woman exhausted from her training. She expressed that she viewed many of the IFBB Pro athletes to be “superwomen,” as we appear to manage our sport, life, careers, dieting, family, relationships, etc. with incredible ease. I had to laugh, because in that moment, I was not feeling so “super.” Thanks to a little sleep deprivation, work deadlines, two-a-days and a calorie deficit – I was struggling myself. The truth is that everyone, from time-to-time, feels worn down and less than her absolute best. Life is demanding and we have scarce resources (time and energy) to invest. In those moments, you may become grumpy, negative, sad, angry, victimized, delirious, irrational, etc. You may even just give up on your goals, dive into the peanut butter jar and swear off cardio. However, after a little rest, you miraculously start feeling like a superwoman again and you want to kick yourself for allowing a tough day to get the best of you. Don’t worry. We’ve all been there.

Perhaps one of the most important things I have learned in my fitness journey is how to cope. Now I can survive and even thrive on these challenging days to ensure that I’m keeping perspective, staying on top of my commitments and honoring my goals. The best, although unrealistic, solution is to take a few days vacation from life responsibilities, training, dieting or whatever your source of stress. While this may be possible a few times a year, it’s not usually feasible. Thus, over the last four years, I have experimented with many different strategies to help rejuvenate my mind and body efficiently. I call these my “20-Minute Vacations.” Here are a few:

The Power Nap: After a twenty-minute nap, I feel surprisingly more energetic and ready to conquer life, which is funny, as I used to associate napping with laziness. Since I work in a home office, I can hit the couch or bed for some quick shut-eye. However, when I worked outside of the home, I kept a small pillow in my office and would occasionally put my head on my desk during the lunch hour. While my body usually wakes up on its own in twenty minutes, I always set an alarm, just in case. For me, if a nap exceeds 20 – 25 minutes, I tend to feel worse. From time to time, I may take in a little caffeine before my nap so I can wake up with an extra energy boost.

Yoga Breathing / Meditation: Most of us tend to breath very shallow, which is not ideal for health, vitality and stress reduction. Taking a break to partake in deep breathing (or yoga breathing) can do wonders for inspiring more energy and quelling negative emotions. See this link for my blog on how to do a yoga breath . You can also choose to meditate on a particular phrase or do positive envisioning exercises while deep breathing to add to this “vacation.”

Walking in the Sunshine (preferably, with my pups): I know, I know…when you are exhausted, the last thing you want to do is move, right? Well, I’ve found that a casual walk in the sunshine reenergizes me. While there is plenty of scientific evidence regarding how Vitamin D (which is obtained from sun exposure) improves your energy, mood and metabolism, I have found that the change of scenery alone promotes a feeling of wellness, optimism and peace that mimics how one feels when she is on a REAL vacation.

Inspirational Reading: I always have a pile of books or blogs archived that I can read to help me “get away” for a few minutes and refuel my mind. My rule of thumb here is to avoid anything negative or heavy that may weigh me down (i.e., the news, gossip) rather than lift me up.

Stretch: We all say it is important, and yet most of us rarely do it consistently. In addition to reducing muscle tension, a good stretch improves circulation, which helps increase your energy. Try stretching in the sunshine and incorporating yoga breathing for a Maximum Impact 20-Minute Vacation.

There will be plenty of exhausting and/or stressful days in a lifetime. The goal is to learn how to move through those days gracefully, so that your goals, outlook and relationships are not negatively impacted. Choose to accept a tough day for what it is, a small obstacle for your goals and life, and fight through those days with relentless optimism, as tomorrow (or the next day) will most certainly be better.

Share Your Wisdom: I would love to hear your ideas for other 20-Minute Vacations. Share them on Facebook on my page or the Muscle & Fitness Hers page. I can’t wait to hear from you!

Until next week, WIN THE DAY!

Your sister in fitness,

Jaime Baird
IFBB Pro
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