Bring Your Vacation Home and Thrive
What if you could truly bring your vacation home and thrive?
Think about it for a moment—what’s your dream vacation destination?
Hold that thought and we’ll come back to it in a minute.
As a Yoga Health Coach, one of the most frequent frustrations I hear is that successful women often struggle to find time for themselves. The absence of daily self-care quickly leads to feelings of burnout and overwhelm, not to mention weight gain and health issues.
It’s common for busy women to think, “If only I could get away for a week somewhere with no distractions, away from the chaos. If only I could go to a tropical beach and sip fruity cocktails all day, then I would regain my strength and be ready to take on the world again.”
Unfortunately, the reality is that we can’t always get away to recharge. And even if we do, returning to our daily lives usually means picking right back up where we left off—with the responsibilities, the chaos, and the burnout.
So I’d like to suggest to you, rather than rushing and stressing to plan a few days of relaxation, bring that exotic vacation destination home to you.
Doesn’t it sound more appealing to feel rejuvenated and empowered to manage your daily responsibilities and goals—every day—than to work yourself to the bone all year for a week or two of vacation?
Take Short and More Frequent Breaks
It goes against some of the buzz we hear about, but research has shown that taking longer vacations (say for three or four weeks) really doesn’t improve our well being in the long term any more than two-week vacations. In fact, the research shows that taking shorter, more frequent breaks is the most therapeutic.
As a seasoned traveler who has had the good fortune of some epic journeys, I will not remove extended travel from my life or propose that you do either.
What I would like to invite you to do is to open to the possibility that you can get the benefits of a vacation without leaving home and without having to spend your whole life.
It can actually take some practice to bring your vacation home because most of us find distractions at home that keep us working rather than fully relaxing.
Learn to Nurture Yourself at Home
As women, we often tend to put others before ourselves, and then we wonder why we are exhausted and mentally drained.
In today’s culture, you can outsource just about everything, from housekeeping to bookkeeping—but you cannot outsource your own well-being.
You alone are responsible for your health, and if it suffers, everything else in your life follows suit.
But if you take the time and effort to nurture yourself with an at-home retreat, you can regain ownership of your energetic health. In a couple of days, you can establish a foundation to make self-care a priority in your life.
Rather than outsourcing, I’d like you to “in-source” your well-being by going inward to the source of your own power. Think of nurturing yourself at home as a necessary replenishment for your soul. It’s your key to thriving on a daily basis.
Create Your Passport to Thrive
Not only can you practice nurturing yourself with rest and relaxation while you’re still at home, you can bring the vacation mindset home and give yourself what I call a passport to thrive!
It’s similar to using your passport to cross over a border. In this case, you can either choose to live in the land of exhaustion or you can use your passport to thrive.
Here’s how to bring your vacation home…
DESTINATION THRIVE: Let’s go back to your ideal vacation destination. Where’s the one place you dream about visiting, the place you’ve always wanted to go? For example, let’s say Bali is number one on your vacation bucket list. When you bring your vacation home, draw as much of the Balinese culture into your present as you can. That includes food, books, and music.
PERMISSION TO CROSS THE BORDER: Give yourself a taste of your dream vacation now. Don’t put it off. Schedule it on your calendar and treat it like a trip that can’t easily be rebooked.
DAYDREAM ABOUT YOUR RETREAT: Did you know that science has shown that your anticipation and daydreaming before a vacation can actually make you happier? Enjoy the process of picking out a book to read and planning a spa treatment (you can even do this at home if you want to).
WHO IS YOUR TRAVEL COMPANION: Will you take anyone with you for all or part of the journey? Or do you need to notify family members of this time when you plan to be alone so that you can return refreshed and more present for them?
THRIVE!: Actually let yourself unwind, relax, and enjoy this special time devoted to your health and happiness. The best way to make sure you follow through is to enlist an accountability partner who will support your decision to bring your vacation home and thrive.
When you do make it to your dream destination one day you’ll enjoy it even more because of the time you spent at home building your capacity to thrive and begin to immerse yourself in the culture of your dream destination.
Bring your vacation home by giving yourself a passport to thrive.
Giving yourself a passport to thrive will only work if you allow yourself to use it!
After all, if your dream is to take an exotic vacation, you’ll need a passport to get there. The same goes for thriving—the first step is to give yourself permission and cross the border.
Once you get in the habit of taking frequent 2 to 3-day breaks just for yourself, you’ll realize that you are better equipped to handle your own life and take care of others as well.
Make use of your passport to thrive and take purposeful steps to nurture yourself and your well-being. What are you waiting for? Bring your vacation home and thrive!
Photo credit: Kayla Snell