Happy Monday! Welcome to all the new folks, and thank you to everyone who helped me surpass 100 subscribers! As always, if you’re new and want to check out my previous issues, you can do so here.

Earlier this month, I got to be a special guest on the podcast F*ck Wellness, hosted by my friend Mallory (and Lara + Makena) where we dove into self care. Our conversation started with my definition of self care. I won’t explain it all right now (give the episode a listen, if you’d like to hear it!), but essentially it includes viewing our care needs as four categories: physical, mental, social, and spiritual.

For the folks who have already listened to the podcast episode, most of the questions I’ve received have been around spirituality and why I find it so crucial. So that’s what I’m going to try to explain today.

When I talk about needing to care for your spiritual self, I don’t have a tight definition of spirituality. To me, anything that feeds or heals your soul, your deepest self, is spiritual. For some folks that can be nature, religion, breath, or energy. It’s vague for a reason, because it’s arguably the most personal of the four care quadrants I outlined earlier.

For me, I care for myself spiritually through church, gospel music, meditation, and nature walks. The weeks I’m able to participate in these four things are the weeks where I feel the most satisfied and peaceful, even if my other care quadrants are depleted.

But even if the four things I just listed sound terrible to you, that doesn’t mean there aren’t similarities in your own life that can relate to how you practice spirituality. Whether it’s just finding community or honoring something bigger than ourselves, I hope you’ll find a practice to help care for your spiritual self.

Talk soon,

Emily

The Recipe Breakdown

Lemon: A depleted spiritual quadrant. When you just need something to heal or feed the soul.

Ingredient #1: A weekly refill. When I say refill, I am referring to the cup metaphor, so making an effort to refill your cup at the top of the week. For me, I do that by attending my church’s 6:00pm young adult mass on Sundays. From the music to the homily, I always leave the service feeling rejuvenated and at peace, which helps me lead into the rest of my week. I encourage you to find a ritual, preferably at the beginning of the week, that will refill your cup and help you start the week in the right mindset.

Ingredient #2: A sense of greater belonging. Of course, for me, this is religious — I feel a greater sense of belonging with the universe, especially at mass. But I also feel this when I’m in my community, whether at mass or walking through my neighborhood. Being surrounded by people who I recognize and who recognize me both at church and in my neighborhood really refills my sense of belonging. Where do you feel at home, or when do you feel like an active member of a community? That’s probably where or how you’re connecting to that greater belonging.

Ingredient #3: A daily reminder of the refill. Remember how I just invited you to find a weekly refill ritual? This ingredient goes hand in hand with that. I am able to drag out the peace I feel from mass by listening to gospel music and working on a devotional book every day. I definitely notice the weeks I don’t do this. For a non-church related example, this could be checking in on the same tree in your neighborhood every day, or taking a few minutes each morning to focus on your breath or meditation practice.

Want to talk about your own lemons, ingredients, or lemonade recipes? Feel free to reply to this email!

🍋 Lemon Zest 🍋

The Little Things that help make my days a little brighter 💕

🎵 Another plug for the podcast! I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions after you listen — just reply to this email!

📝 To be super clear, I do not believe you need to buy certain planners or products to practice self care. But, I love the layout of this self care planner from Erin Condren and am excited to see how it works for me.

🌼 If you’re a digital planner or mood board person, try out The Landing for immaculate vibes.

🧘 I absolutely love Joyn’s super accessible workouts. Almost every class includes options for a seated or standing practice, as well as modifications for literally every move.

💭 I’m a big screenshot hoarder, and this article helped me feel a little less bad about it.

🍦 Majorly craving this no-churn strawberry ice cream. If I make it this week, I’ll report back!

☕ If you’d like to support my work and Making Lemonade, consider buying me a coffee or sending a few dollars my way via Venmo: @emmyfromminny! ☕