A Conference Board poll taken in 2006 indicated that 40% of Americans had no plans to take any summer vacation.  This was the worst showing in the poll’s 28 years.  Are you among those who choose no vacation?

Taking a vacation of at least a few days, preferably a week or more, enables you to unhook completely.  You can slide into a relaxed rhythm enabling you to thoroughly recharge.

Return to a vacation place that’s comfortably familiar, or go someplace new. Travel to somewhere exotic or simply stay home to complete tasks you’ve been meaning to get to or visit sites in your area you’ve wanted to explore.

The essential thing is to remove yourself entirely from your normal routine. Give yourself enough time to really experience the benefit of distance from your normal life.  You’ll return relaxed and refreshed, better able to handle your daily challenges.  You’ll gain perspective that will help you to deal with the problems you face in your daily life.  You’ll make your good life better.

Jennifer dramatically transformed her life by implementing several of these self-care suggestions.  The relaxation that came with taking brief breaks throughout the day brought down her blood pressure and actually helped her accomplish more at work.  She looked and felt better than she had in years once she joined the weekly yoga class she’d been thinking about. Most of all, Jennifer and her husband enjoy the boost in marital satisfaction their weekly date nights provide and their Hawaii vacation was the trip of a lifetime.

Going to a movie, a concert or a special exhibit at a local museum or gallery provides an enjoyable break from your regular routine.

10. Socialize at least once a week.

This could be getting together with friends or establishing a weekly date-night with your spouse or partner.

Regular physical activity – running or biking – helps keep you in shape while producing endorphins, those neurotransmitters which provide a natural high.  Engaging in team sports such as volleyball or softball adds the advantage of social interaction to the benefit of exercise as a stress management tool.

Create a practice of regularly engaging in activities that nourish you.

7. Express your creativity

Engage in such hobbies as quilting or playing a musical instrument.  Sign up for a painting or ceramics class.

When good things happen to you during the day, sharing them with someone close to you enhances your satisfaction.  When bad things occur, another’s concern and support make you feel better.  When you spend time in meaningful communication with your partner you strengthen the relationship and benefit yourself.

If you are not in a committed relationship, get together with friends regularly, whether in person, on the phone or through email.  You can enjoy the same benefits of concerned interaction when you share your life with people you care about who care about you.

If you already have a meditation practice, implement it briefly at intervals throughout the day. If meditation is new to you, simply sit quietly with your feet flat on the floor and your arms uncrossed.  Focus on your breathing.  When thoughts arise, as they inevitably will, just let them go and return your focus to your breathing.  It takes only a few minutes of meditation to feel calm and refreshed.

It only takes a few minutes of walking to refresh yourself.  Try walking around the building or, better yet, go outside to walk and get some fresh air.  Creative inspiration often comes while you walk or you may discover solutions to the problems you face.

Raise your hands high above your head and then bend over as if to touch your toes.  Do a couple of side-bends to each side.  Rotate your waist.  If you need privacy to do this, head to the handicapped stall in the rest-room.  This is a great way to regroup!

Jennifer loves her job.  But when work demands threatened to wreck her marriage and her health she came to me for coaching.

Ambitious and hard working, she prided herself on arriving at work early, leaving late and working through lunch.   Her husband had enough when a get-away weekend had to be cancelled for the second time due to a last minute crisis at work. The stress of her job was taking a toll on her health, too.   Jennifer’s doctor suggested she go on blood pressure medication, which she wanted to avoid if possible.

People like Jennifer are high achievers.  They get things done.  When busy becomes busier, however, life balance can suffer.  As pressure builds up to accomplish ever more it becomes harder and harder to find time for self-care.  Something has to give or burnout will result.

Does this sound familiar to you?  If so, to avoid physical or relationship problems add some re-creation to your life on a daily, weekly and yearly basis.  Positive life balance provides stress management as few other things can.

To create appropriate life balance you need to give yourself small breaks a few times a day, create larger re-creation times each week, and make sure to take a vacation at least once a year to thoroughly recharge your life.

Here’s the paradox:  the more you need to create healthy life balance, the harder it is to do.  This means you have to make self-care a top priority.

Block out time in your schedule to make sure you give yourself re-creation breaks, as you would with any top priority activity.  Vigorously defend against threats to your self-care when they come up, as they inevitably will.  When you commit to regular self-care, you’ll feel better, your relationships will improve and you’ll work more productively.

Check back in as we will be going through different ways you can commit to self-care!

5.    Maintenance:

Most people enter the Action stage filled with enthusiasm and excitement.  There is a sense of euphoria as they begin to see positive change and experience the benefits that this brings.

It is much more of a challenge to maintain that change.  As you move further from the negative experiences created by the old behavior, it becomes easier to minimize their costs.  Temptations arise which can be difficult to resist.

Maintenance is the long haul during which old habits are being replaced by new ones.  Lapses are common during the Maintenance phase.  It may be necessary to return to Planning or even to Contemplation to remedy these lapses.

Some people who lapse in the Maintenance stage get so discouraged that they return to Precontemplation.  Don’t let this happen to you!

When you understand that change rarely proceeds in a straight line, you can recognize a lapse as a normal part of the change process and get quickly back on track.

6.    Termination (Transformation):

Once the new habits have replaced the old, maladaptive behaviors you can consider yourself in what Prochaska labels the Termination phase.  I prefer the term Transformation.

In Transformation, the desired change has been accomplished.  With the new behaviors established, you are no longer the same person.  You couldn’t imagine going back to the old behavior patterns. You have achieved your goal.

Understanding the process of change will help you achieve your goals and make your good life better!  If you would like to learn more about the six stages of change, I heartily recommend Prochaska’s book, Changing for Good.

Jeannette Samanen, Ph.D.
Jeannette’s professional development began with graduate school at the University of Oregon.  Her first post-doctoral position was at the Boston University School of Medicine where, as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology), where she specialized in stress management and behavioral medicine.  Jeannette has had over 30 years of experience as a life coach and psychologist and derives great pleasure from helping clients transform their lives for the better.