Open Letter to All Hardworking Moms

I sent this email out to all my women friends when I can home from my latest retreat. It was the result of processing all that I had experienced. The feeling was so warm and profound that I just had to share it with those that mean a great to me because the message is absolutely essential in these modern times. I got to thinking that there are others I would like to share this message with, those friends and family I've lost touch with or don't know how to reach via email. In the larger scheme of things, I thought that this message is something that should just be put out there for someone to find just because they need to. I post this with the hope that this message finds their way to those who need it most. If you read this and think of someone, please pass it on.

The original message reads as follows:

Since every single one of you I have sent this to has been important in my life at one time or another, I have decided to send to you the essence of the work of the latest retreat I undertook this past weekend. I went to Kripalu and met with one incredible facilitator (Jennifer Louden, see her work at www.jenniferlouden.com) and 19 other women. The ages ranged from 20 something to 70 something and every age in between. Women came from NYC, farms in PA, the suburbs of Boston, the quiet of NH and even far off places in Ohio, New Mexico and Seattle. Everyone had their sad stories: breast cancer, thyroid cancer, widowhood, children with severe special needs, aging parents, unhappy marriages, difficult coworkers, partners or children, unfulfilling jobs and profound feelings of lost and aloneness. Everyone also had wonderfully joyful stories to tell: people they love, things they created and things they were passionate about doing. To a person, no matter what the age or the circumstance, the answers to the questions presented were all the same. They are incredibly simple but equally difficult to apply to our frenzied, overworked, overstressed lives. Print these out and soak them in. They will speak to you and move you and inspire you. They are given to you with sincere love and a wish for you to have a happier more authentic life.

Minimum Requirements for Self Care

Rest

Time Alone

Slowing Down

Eating Well

Exercise

Listing to Own Needs v. Others Needs

Creativity

Less Judgment Both Inward and Outward

Showing Kindness to Others as Well as to Myself

Spending Time in the Fresh Air and Sunshine

Strong, Loving, Meaningful Connections with Other People

Setting and Sticking to Boundaries Without Guilt

Claiming and Owning My Autonomy

YOU CANNOT BE OF ANY USE TO YOURSELF, YOUR DEFENDANTS OR YOUR EMPLOYER IF YOU DO NOT TAKE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO GENUINELY CARE FOR YOURSELF.

Excuses Be Gone!

It is selfish to put myself first

Everyone else’s needs are more pressing and important than my own

I am last on the priority list

I am not worthy of self care

I'm afraid of what I will find out about myself

It is easier to give in or give up than to care for myself

I am too damn tired

Its too damn hard

Questions to Ask When I feel Stuck, Stressed or Overwhelmed:

The Comfort I’m Hungriest For Is:

When I Let Myself Want What I Want, I Want:

I Feel Most Joyful and Alive When I:

I Feel Most Connected to Myself When:

I Get Out of Whack When I Don’t:

What My Heart Desires Is:

"Nothing makes a woman more beautiful than the belief that she is beautiful." Sophia Loren

Believe you are beautiful today.