It's official. You guys are awesome. I threw out a whole big batch of negativity yesterday and you sent back more encouragement, support, and laughter than this whiny gal really deserved. Here are a few of my favorites...
"Time for baby #2?" - from my cousin Wendy. I laughed so hard I almost snorted.
This ecard from my friend, Rachael:
And this lovely little stress-releasing routine from Helen, which I did this morning and really liked. It's a little out there, but I desperately need to make sure I'm carving out a little time for myself every day - even if it's just 5 minutes - and the routine was a great excuse to do just that.
Doing that routine actually reminded me that I have a whole library of self-hypnosis and relaxation routines on my iPod from my daily hypnobirthing practice that I should really revisit. My absolute favorite was this one called The Handkerchief... You visualize a large scarf and put everything that's stressing you out into the scarf. When I was in the final weeks of my pregnancy I loaded that bad boy up with everything from the pain in my lower back, to the tumbleweeds of dog hair on my floors, to crazy politicians. You then visualize tying up the scarf and hanging it on a wall. Everything that was causing you stress is now neatly tucked away and off your mind. It sounds kooky but it really worked for me. I can think of a whole mess of things I'll be putting in that scarf before bed tonight! If you're having your own bad week, I recommend trying it out... Here's a link to listen to or download the exercise. It's provided for pregnant women but would work for anyone looking to ease their mind a bit. Plus the woman who guides you through it is British and that's always fun.
Thanks again to everyone who reached out to me yesterday. You made me feel a million times better. :-)