Since we’ve arrived in Lanzarote, we’ve implemented a schedule which includes two family days a week. The remaining 5 days are split fairly between him and me.
We each take one whole day (9am-5pm) to ourselves, the other 3 days are split between morning and afternoon ‘working hours’.
Today is my first whole day for myself. I took the car and drove to Costa Teguise which is a bigger beach town. I wanted to explore the island some more by myself. I parked the car a bit outside of town to take a walk in by the volcanic coast line.
There walked on the ‘Passeo Maritimo’ and I really enjoyed it.
It’s interesting to me to spend time to myself. I realize how much time and attention goes to the boys when I take them with me. I always thought that I can enjoy things like walking with them too, if I didn’t have the time to take walks by myself.
But right now I am really embracing this alone time to experience the feeling of ‘being myself’. I understand now how when being with my boys I am totally in my mother role. Of course this role is part of me too, but right now I am able to get to know myself in a different way than I ever have before. It’s the true and only me, not the role of a wife, a mother, a friend, a child, a sister, …
It feels like I am melting into the mold that I have been waiting for to arrive in. Part of it is embracing to follow my calling to serve others. I feel like I am cracked open and am wandering this world with so much more curiosity and openness to meet people, to understand them and their struggles, to connect with their needs and support them to really get to a fulfillment that they dream of.
It’s like I am seeing this world with different eyes, maybe it is like some kind of rebirth after a period of time that I spend caring solely for my children and doing the inner work to know what I really want and who I am.
I am surfacing in a beautiful world that I so grateful for to be in. I am spreading my wings to fly and touch others on my way of exploration.
I am inspired by others, but am at the same time able to inspire others to fly with me. I am thinking of clients that have been so grateful to work with me, that have changed their mindsets and are on their ways to living a different life.
I am thinking of my husband who was crazy enough to plant the seed of us going on this trip around the world with me and our children.
He supports this need of mine, this exploration to my true self, even though it sometimes is hard to let me fly. I appreciate this a lot and love him for all his support and love he has for me.
The appreciation and gratefulness to being able to live the way we are living now, sparks a lot of love in me. I love being myself so much more than I ever have. I love my family. I love my children. I love husband. I feel a lot of love for the beautiful women I have coached in the past 10 months. Every single one is unique and so powerful in her own way. Just yesterday I talked to a woman who I have so much sympathy for. It’s crazy how people go through tough times and rise up again and can’t appreciate themselves for what they have accomplished. Instead so many of us have such bad talk about ourselves going on in our heads! We belittle ourselves, we tell ourselves that we are far from perfect and then wonder where the motivation has gone to do things that would be good for us.
I totally understand, I have been there and am so glad that I know how to get out when I am get into a funk mode. It’s crucial to know ourselves and how we tick, what we need to function right and what we need to feel good.
I can share a little bit what I try to integrate in my days to feel great. I love to open the door in the mornings to smell the salty ocean air. It wakes up my senses and rushes my head with this giant appreciation of being able to travel and rent an Airbnb right on the ocean.
I like to work out in the mornings and get my body moving and if it’s only 10min of an abs workout and some stretching. My circulation gets moving and I feel the muscles in my body. I love muscles J I love longer workouts when I break a sweat too. I feel like my body needs to get rid of toxins that otherwise would cloud my mind and senses.
I like to smell and feel the natural soap products on my skin and hair in the shower.
For breakfast, I make sure that I eat healthy, vitamin rich food or smoothies. All this is my ‘morning routine’ which sets me up for a great day ahead.
During the day, I make sure that I go outside. Fresh air is like a life saver for me in so many ways. This year is geared to spending most of our time outside. We want to visit places where it’s warm and living happens mostly outside.
I feel like it grounds me to connect to mother nature and this connects me deeply to myself.
I enjoy walks by the ocean.
I would love to be able to go paddle boarding and swimming in the ocean. But I have to say that the Atlantic is quite cold. We’ll see how I feel later this week when the weather is supposed to get a bit warmer.
When I feel grounded and connected with myself, I enjoy time with my family so much more. I can be in the moment with them and really be there for whatever they want to do with me. I don’t feel like I am searching for something else. Everything else is in place and I can focus on their needs.
Spending a balanced day like this makes it so much easier to connect to my husband in the evening when the boys are in bed.
I realize that in the past my normality was that ‘my cup’ was empty at the end of the day and I thought that to be ok and normal since it was the end of the day. Now I enjoy when I don’t only empty my cup all day, but take the time to refill it, so I can go to bed still energetic, fulfilled, happy and open for more closeness than I would have allowed in the past.
I will walk to a vegan friendly restaurant now to enjoy a nice lunch by myself, before I will walk back to the car, go grocery shopping and drive back to my three men.
I don’t think I will make it all the way to 5pm without them today 😉
I miss them and I am very happy to have the opportunity to be away from them, but even more so I love the freedom to still see my boys and my hubby whenever I feel like it <3
With much love and gratitude,
aNNika <3
PS: And there will be a whole different post someday about how important healthy organic foods are for me J
If you like to connect and share your routines to feel the best you, or if you like to be supported in finding out who you are…please book a connecting session with me here: