Today is Therapeutic Thursday!

It's Jess McBez here and I want to talk about such a positive change in my mental, physical and emotional well-being these past few weeks with just some small adaptations to my life.

I experienced my Type A Aortic Dissection almost 4 1/2 years ago and healing and recovery has been slow. I attempted to go back to teaching half time (I was a Grade 2/3 Teacher) but it did not work out.

As a Teacher I know that structure and a daily schedule is so important for keeping the children on task and in routine. However, I lacked such routine in my own home life as I continue to rest and heal.

So, last week, when my own two children returned to school and a routine, I decided that I too needed to get on track with a schedule! And boy oh boy! Why didn't I do it sooner? I am such a planner and doing this new schedule has been a game changer! I focus on myself after I get the kids off to school

and do my meditation and yoga (even for 20 minutes). I then make a list for the day of what needs to get done around the house and also plan for a lot of little rests in between. The photo below is of my own Daily Motivational Journal that I self-published in 2022 to help me stay on track, but I got out of the habit of using it! Until last week!

What I have learned with my new routine is that it is so important to not think you have to be busy all of the time. As Aortic Disease survivors, rest is so important!

This article, Health Benefits of Having a Routine from Northwestern Medicine, discusses many reasons why it is so important to have a routine to keep our health in check. We know that our health is often our number one focus, so give the article a look!

Do you have a daily routine or schedule and do you find that it helps keep your mental, physical and emotional health in check? Because I sure do and wish I had thought about this sooner!