Your busy routines can use a little self care Sunday to heal your body, nourish your soul and get you ready for a productive week!

Self-care Sundays are oh so needed and oh so underutilized.

We spend the entire week dragging ourselves on, from meeting to the office to class to obligation. Then we spend our weekends fulfilling other check-marks… This birthday dinner, that errand… Other things that just add to our never-ending to-do list.

I want you to think about how you spent your weekend. Does it fulfill you? Or just leave you feeling more exhausted?

Many of the weekend things we do for fun like Sunday brunches or night’s out, actually just leave us feeling depleted (both energetically and financially.) Our Sunday Fundays actually turn out to become Sunday Scaries. We enter the week feeling more exhausted than ever and are just playing catch-up until the next weekend. That’s no way to live our lives.

But Sundays should give you the 

Sundays should be sacred. Rejuvenating. Healing. Empowering.

So let’s talk about how you use Sundays to give you that (green) juice you need to start Mondays with a bang. You can use your Sundays to nourish your exhausted body and mind to fuel you for the coming week. Here are my best tips to help you rejuvenate.

 

6 Self Care Sunday Ideas To Rejuvenate & Heal:

 

1. Sleeping is sacred

We’re always like “Omg I love sleep, I could sleep forever.” Then the weekend comes and we’ve overcommitted ourselves to even get any in. Sleeping is sacred. It’s while you sleep that all the hard-work you put at the gym actually happens. Sleeping rejuvenates our skins, relaxes our adrenals and allows our body to digest nutrients. Without sleep, we become walking zombies with coffee in hand and concealer on our skin to cover our dark circles.

Sleep is more important than food, exercise and all other things. You won’t be able to operate without sleep. Your body can survive without exercise, though it may not be happy. You can survive without food for a few weeks too. But you can’t go more than a few days without sleep. It is the number one most important criteria for human function.. And one of the least appreciated.What that means: Don’t set the alarm for a 6am Soul Cycle class if you went to sleep at 1am. The best thing you can do for your body is allow yourself to sleep.

 

2. Wake Up Slowly

Don’t rush out the door trying to head to the Farmer’s Market before it closes that you have no time to even drink a cup of tea.Wake up slowly, luxuriously, patiently. Give your body and senses the time to arise.Though our bodies are up, it takes our minds a little time to catch up. Instead, gently stretch your body on the floor with some deep-twists and hip-openers and make yourself a nice hot cup of ginger tea to awaken your digestive fire.If that seems impossible to do before getting to all the things you have planned, then just sleep and wake-up earlier. You can always find the time. Is what you were up doing the night before really worth it?

3. Make a mask you can eat

Only put on your face what you would put in your mouth. Everything we put on our skin is immediately absorbed into our bloodstream, so there is really no difference. In fact, what you put on your skin is even more important because there are no barriers between your skin and your bloodstream like our digestive system has.I recommend making my DIY Brightening Turmeric Yogurt and Honey mask that balances skin tone, gets rid of dark spots, clears up acne, reduces fine lines, and hydrates skin.. All at the same time. Get the recipe here.

 

4. Move like you love yourself

Many of us have our gym routines but self-care Sunday is not about forcing yourself to do a workout that makes you exhausted just thinking about it. Instead, do a workout that makes you feel excited!For those following me on Instagram @eatfeelfresh, you may see that on Sundays I go to Dance Hall Classes. Dance Hall is a type of music and dance from Jamaica and the Caribbean. It’s high energy, booty-shaking and totally sassy. I love the way it makes me feel and don’t even realize that I’m absolutely dripping with sweat by the end.

Here is a little video tutorial on how to do the Dance Hall “Wine” so you can get started at home! Almost every town has some sort of dance class and even if not, there are so many amazing resources online.If dance isn’t your thing, try something else that gets your heart pumpin’ (in a good way!) Maybe a new yoga class, a hike outside, a bike around your neighborhood, a walk in nature, volleyball with friends, a dip in the pool.. The possibilities are endless! I also suggest meetup.com for ideas of fitness classes, hiking groups and other activities with people near you. You can even start your own!

 

5. Write it out

Writing is an extremely therapeutic way of realizing how you even feel! We all have thoughts in our head that seem to always be running. But true power lies in the ability of organizing that tornado in our minds into a tunnel in right direction.It is estimated that we waste 80% of our daily thoughts on reoccurring or unhelpful thoughts.80%! That’s basically everything. The best way to clear out the craziness in your head is to write it out. You don’t need to have a direction.

Just start writing out how you feel. Let it form it’s own direction.When I start writing, I consider it like a painting and let my thoughts move it until it forms itself. It starts with an idea. For example, I thought “Today is self-care Sunday.” Then I just started brainstorming what that means. Then I started writing out ways to practice it. Then it sort of turned into this list. And now you are reading it! It doesn’t have to be thought-out in any way and no one even has to read it. Sometimes I start off with one idea and it completely turns into another and that’s totally okay!

Just let your mind run its course and become the observer of how you feel, without any judgment. Let it flow, using your body as a vessel. Once you have everything written out, you’ll notice that suddenly your mind is much more peaceful. There is nothing left to think and deliberate about and you can focus into just being present. Ahhh. Doesn’t that feel good?

 

6. Eat something delicious

That doesn’t mean french toast on french toast that you’re going to regret an hour day week later. Self-care Sundays is not about putting your digestive system in overload, filling your body up with toxins or eating enough calories to last you for the next week.It’s about mindfully eating something that you truly enjoy.This can finally be the day you try out that new recipe you saw on Instagram but never have the time for. It can be your once a week treat getting something that you thoroughly enjoy—that doesn’t make you feel bloated after. Whatever it is, make it sacred. Enjoy your Sunday meal the same way you would enjoy a massage. Let it linger and overtake your senses.

Food is meant to be enjoyed—from the process of cooking it to its consumption and even the way you feel after. This is all part of the food’s experience.

A meal that you didn’t partake in making, enjoyed for a few moments then felt sick is not truly an enjoyable experience.
Food that you put love into, that you bought the ingredients from the local Farmer’s Market yourself, that you cut with your own hands and know every ingredient that went into it.. Now that is sacred.

Use each meal as form of self-healing, not as self-harming.

My favorite self-care Sunday meal- acai protein bowl with coconut butter, homemade almond milk, hemp seeds, sprouted granola and blueberries

 

What Self-Care Sunday rituals do you have? I would love to know. Comment below!

Lots of love and self-care vibes,