Happy Monday, ,

It feels like day 1,506 of quarantine and there's no clear end in sight. Since day 1, my social media feed has been filled with posts encouraging me to stay super busy and posts encouraging me to do nothing but rest. If you're navigating work from home and/or homeschooling your kids, you know this messaging can be confusing and exhausting. 

There is no need to start a riot over who's right and who's wrong about how we should be spending our time. The reality is: you need to be productive and you need rest. And for the record, rest can be productive.

This is also not the time to be hard on yourself. Instead of using this time to stress over working too much or too little, I encourage you to take a step back and tune into what YOU need to make it through the next few weeks. 

If you need help prioritizing what to focus on, here's a little inspiration that's working for me:

Fitness: It is important to incorporate some form of physical activity in order to feel good, manage emotions, and take care of your body. Go for walk, modify workouts when needed, do yoga, write goals and place them where you can see them. If you take time off, that's okay! Whatever you do, don't wait to feel good in order to take action, take action in order to feel good. 

Mental Health: Give your mind the break it deserves. If you are consuming a lot of screen time, you may feel extra burnt out just by the level of consumption. As you schedule time for meetings and Netflix, also make time to just let your mind be at ease. Limit the news (unless its something new and pressing), minimize distractions, and develop a meditation practice. 

Eating: It's easy to feel overwhelmed by social media posts telling you what to eat and what to avoid, however, it's not sustainable. I've been reading The F*ck It Diet to keep things in perspective. This resource is great for understanding the physical, emotional, and mental aspects of your relationship with food. 

Rest: Take as many breaks as you need and set compassionate boundaries. We want to believe we can operate exactly how we did two months ago, but it's just not realistic and that's okay. Schedule time for naps, unplug when you can, and just be. 

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, and I understand not everyone has the luxury to do everything mentioned. At the very least, give yourself the same compassion you give to others, decide what productivity means to you, and don't give up on yourself. 

I want to hear from you, . Feel free to reply to this email when you can. I hope you have a fulfilling Monday.

Kiera  

Co-Founder, City Fit Girls

P.S Thanks to you, we beat our $500 fundraising goal for Einstein Hospital by 360%!! We can't thank you enough for helping healthcare workers in Philadelphia.