Friday’s Free Refill: Indulge

Something simple can be such an indulgent pleasure.

This past Monday the kids went back to school after a week off with snow days.

Monday was all about me. For six hours. The length of a school day.

After a yoga class, my long time college friend and I did the unspeakable, right in the middle of the day. A sunny day. So broad daylight was an understatement.

We went to a movie.

So decadent.

So self indulgent.

That night I lingered longer at the dinner table with my kids, held them closer at bed time and didn’t lose my temper.

What can you do in broad daylight for yourself while your kids are at school that will make you smile long into the evening and hold your children tighter?

2012 Mini-Retreat

Happy New Year All! This Fall’s Mama Needs A Refill mini-retreats were such a hit…we are doing it again, but trying a new day, since many expressed interest but were busy on Tuesdays. New Year’s Resolutions don’t have to have a negative spin…take a few moments the First Friday of February to put YOU first and reflect on where you want your year to go!

 

Mama Needs A Refill

Restorative Retreats For Women

 

Self-care is about nurturing yourself on all levels –

 physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually –

 so you can live, love and parent optimally.

-Renee Peterson Trudeau

 

Mama Needs A Refill is offering two min-retreats this winter.

Come get away to a mini-retreat.  These Sack Lunch Retreats are designed to replenish,

rejuvenate and refill your empty cup in the amount of time you could clean one room in your house.

Empty Cup = Bitchy Mama.

J.G. McGlothern

Friday 02/03/12: New Year, New You

Friday 03/02/12: Meditation and Silence

All retreats: 10:30-2:30 pm

West Seattle

Bring your own sack lunch, journal and pen. $40 per person or $70 for both. Includes retreat facilitation, Goddess card reading, quiet time, coffee and tea.

 

Greetings, I am your retreat leader, Jenny McGlothern, mother, wedding officiant, writer, experienced group leader. I began holding retreat for moms when I noticed how empty our cups were and how we put ourselves on the back burner with all of our nurturing. All women are in the nurturing role, taking care of others, but do we take care of ourselves?

Get away from your responsibilities in a relaxed environment and in just four hours discover your own unique ways of refilling your cup through sharing, laughter, silence, journaling and creativity.

For more information and to reserve your spot:

info@mamaneedsarefill.com

www.mamaneedsarefill.com

Friday’s Free Refill: Intention

Your intentions can manifest intowishes come true, with out needing fairy dust.

Yesterday on the playground, waiting for the after school bell to ring, I began chatting with a mom I see regularly. We wait for our kids in the same spot on the playground. We both took the opportunity to catch our breath before the bell.  In our exchanges of “how are you” we discovered a shared feeling. We both  had been going since the first bell in the morning that signaled the start of school. In those six hours between bells we try to cram it all in, get it all done.

She pointedly asked me, How do we do it? How do we get that time to consciously sit and be still without cramming everything in and accomplishing tasks?

I smiled. Here was my chance to do something  I have been intending to do.  I have been wanting to stop everything at 3 PM and sit with a book and a cup of tea, drink it while it is still hot, catch my breath before getting kids, settle into stillness, read a book.  All for a simple 20minutes, before I walk to school to get the kiddos.

Gina, I said, We consciously do this with having accountability partners. We set our intention, share it with each other, then check in with the other.

Smiling big, her eyes lit up. Yes, her eyes told me, Let’s do this.

The bell rang, we had to stop our conversation and greet children. I’m inspired, she told me as she walked away still smiling.

Me too. Now I had to do what I have been intending to do. Turn it off, sit with me, for twenty minutes.

When do we start?, I asked.

I’m starting tomorrow, she beamed.

Perfect. Me too. Oh, how I love the power of peer pressure. Tomorrow, Friday, we can check in at pick up.

It was set. So not only have I committed verbally to another person, I have written it down.  They say the chances of following through with something more than doubles when you do those things. Speak it, write it down and let someone else in on it at the same time.

It is morning, I haven’t even had my morning tea, and I am already anticipating the afternoon and  hearing about Gina’s “twenty minutes” of conscious” her” time before picking up kids and I am thrilled I get to read Jane Eyre for my twenty minutes. I am thinking about Earl Grey with honey.

These intentions don’t have to be unfulfilled dreams or far off wishes . They can manifest right before our eyes with a little effort, an accountability partner and a lot of letting go.