Do You Need A Spring Break?

Spring break can provide memories of sandy beaches or snowy slopes. These memories may be from family vacations, college trips or even casual time with friends. Some memories are recent while others may be a little more distant. Yet, they all tend to have a feeling of relaxation attached to them.

Yet, there are also ideas and thoughts of spring break that can be stressful - especially for busy professional women. It generally falls to you to plan time away from work, get everyone’s schedules coordinated when traveling with family and friends and ensure that it all works with the school calendar. It can start to feel like you need your very own personal spring break.

But what if taking a trip to a private island or a pampering spa aren’t part of your plans?

There are some quick and easy ways to find moments of relaxation, rejuvenation and balance in the midst of your busy life. These work any time of year, honestly, but you can use them to create your very own spring break starting today.

• Get an upbeat or laidback CD and listen to 15 minutes of it without interruption. Don’t settle for listening to it just as you are driving to work, to your next appointment or on the way to your kid’s sports practice. Anyone, yes, this means you, can find 15 minutes for a break. Pick a CD that reminds you of a spring break full of relaxation (whether real or just dreamed of). That may be one of fast-paced beach music with a Jamaican flare or one of gentle ocean sounds that make you remember rocking in a hammock under a palm tree.
• Buy yourself flowers. Spring is the season for flowers. As much as a dozen roses on Valentine’s Day is nice, seeing the first buds of spring brings a refreshing and renewing outlook that is hard to beat. Buy a springtime bouquet of daffodils, tulips, and other colorful spring flowers that breathe fresh air into your house or your office. Better yet, get some for both places!
• Change up your diet. Winter is filled with comfort foods that warm us from the inside out. Spring is a great time to change up what you are eating and start to “lighten up” whether you want to lose weight or not. Green is the color of spring – and so are yellows, reds, blues, purples. Find a way to bring these spring colors into your daily diet and renew yourself internally. The new, colorful and even lighter foods will get you ready for action just as those winter foods helped you stay comfy and warm in the winter.

Looking at these three simple ideas, what are you going to do this week? Is it downloading that beach CD onto your iPod? Maybe it’s taking a new look at the blueberries, strawberries and carrots on your trip to the grocery store. Could it be walking through the farmer’s market and picking out the perfect bouquet? Or maybe it’s all three!

One of the best parts of this version of spring break is that these are things you can do each week and each month to renew yourself and refresh your outlook without having to get on a plane. I’d love to hear how this works for you – and what other ideas you may have!