Yes, You Need to Breathe and Grow (Part 2)

The Vintage Nest Blog | Yes, You Need to Breathe and Grow (Part 2) | Last time, we delved into how taking a break and recharging your batteries is essential to your personal growth and why we should make it a priority at least once a year. Almost everyone wants to make the effort, but few know how to really do it. So here are the first recommendations for you to commit carving out your time for recharging:

• Talk to your spouse or partner about why you feel you need a break. You can choose to take a vacation together or separately.  If you have children, ask for the assistance of your parents, relatives, and friends to take care of them. You may even suggest to your friends that you take turns watching over each other’s kids so that each of you can go on a retreat or a getaway.
• If you and your significant other are planning to do it together, it’s important to still carve out a period of time for each one of you to spend independently. One of the keys to renewal and personal growth is quiet introspection, and it is best done alone.
• If you are employed or self-employed, make sure to avail yourself of vacation leaves.  Allot a day or two purely for relaxation and revitalization away from home. A different environment, preferably with scenic views, is the ideal setting for these pursuits.

Assuming you’ve already scheduled your vacation, the next step is to figure out how to make the most of that break. As equally essential as the trip itself is the planning that goes into it, here are a few tips to help you as you pack for your time away.

• Pick somewhere relaxing to hang out in and unwind. Whether you’re staying close to home or venturing far away, it should be a place conducive to rejuvenation and reflection.
• Avoid bringing anything that might serve as a diversion. If you must bring a mobile phone, try to turn off notifications or distractions that will spur you to check your inbox or surf the internet.
• Don’t forget to bring a journal or recorder to keep track of your thoughts and aspirations as they form.
• Bring along a religious book or self-help guide if you’d like to utilize them as meditation or prayer aids, especially if faith or philosophy is significant to you.

And finally, here are some prescriptions to apply so that you can focus on contemplating once you’ve arrived at the location of your vacation: 

• Reflect on both the joys and disappointments that you are experiencing in your life. Use them to analyze what situations or even self-issues that need to be addressed.
• Celebrate successes and the milestones you’ve reached.
• Make strategies and action goals to deal with the problems that are making you unhappy.

Watch your life improve by leaps and bounds as you cultivate self-growth by regularly taking a breather.  After all, breathing is essential to make us truly alive.