Self-Care, Sleep, & Spotify

Nightshift & GOOD Self-Care are almost antonyms.

I tell people I know (& don't know for that matter) to be healthy yet I rarely get sufficient sleep in a normal week. I pull all-nighters on my first shift and sometimes only let myself sleep four hours after my last shift.  Nurses are notorious for awful health habits: over-eating, smoking, holding our bladders for 12 + hrs (guilty), binge drinking, etc.  

Unless you live under a rock, you probably can guess that we turn to these habits to cope with the weightiness and stress of our jobs.  I know, I know.  A lot of other people who aren't nurses cope this way too and they, too, have stressful jobs. There is just something extremely heavy about having someone's (very sick) life in your hands.  Also there is EVERYTHING stressful about having someone spit, hit, curse in your face but that is another story for another post. 

Needless to say,  I make sure to make time for self-care on my time off.  Making this time is a big reason why I rarely pick up extra shifts.  I need me time to be sane at work and with friends.  One of the very obvious things I do to take care of myself is CROSSFIT !  I like to squeeze in 4:30 pm class RIGHT before I go into work even though it means less sleep and little bit of a crazy rush to get to the hospital on time.  It is significant how much more energy I have at work if I have done the WOD that day. 

On my random nights off in-between shifts I usually stick to my nightshift sleep schedule with the exception of going to bed around 3-4 am verses 8:30 am.  These nights are all about catching up on life.  I grocery shop, meal prep, do laundry, clean, watch netflix, read, and RELAX (Thank goodness my roomie Hilary can sleep through anything)

My friend, Mollie, recently ask me if I had any tricks for going to bed.  I have certain nights when I WANT to go to bed at the normal time of a person but lay sleepless until 3 or 4 am.  There are also times when I am trying to take a nap before work during the day and it just doesn't work.  She told me about epsom salts. I've heard of people soaking in a tub of epsom salts to relieve soreness but there is no way I am taking a bath in our creepy bath tub.  Mollie referred me to this this website to make an epsom salts and water concoction to spray on your body to help with relaxation and sleep.  

Last week I bought some LAVENDER (oh my goodness this smells amazing) epsom salts and since I didn't have a spray bottle at the time,  I decided to make my own hot water foot soaking bath. 

It was GLORIOUS.  I can get pretty distracted by my phone and computer when I am sitting still.  I struggle spending time with God, just me and Him. Oh how too often I skip out of sweet time in his word and breeze through prayer. I think I am going to make my epsom salt foot bath time from here on out, my quality time with the Lord. 


Another way I de-stress is listening to music. Thank goodness for Spotify premium because on any given day at my apartment I am blasting tunes through my phone wherever I walk. Some of my favorite artists to listen to as I relax are : Sleepingatlast, Jon Foreman, Jose Gonzalez, Sufjan Stevens, Explosions in the Sky, and Bon Iver to just name a few. 

Ryan O'Neal is the man behind Sleeping At Last. He is from Chicago (AYO!) and writes the most beautiful lyrics not to mention his gorgeous music to accompany.  His piano and symphony tracks melt my heart. Fun fact is that his music is played on multiple ABC primetime shows (Dancing with the Stars, Chicago Fire, Grey's Anatomy...) If you take a good listen you will hear a lot of spiritual undertones.  

Ok time for less blogging and more of my self-care night off. Goodnight world.