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"I&amp;#039;ve been taking yoga lately. While stretching out my tired body, I&amp;#039;m attempting to stretch my brain and look at life from a more flexible viewpoint. I have my good days and my bad days - both with the exercise as well as my attitude. Today, though, while I was sitting with my feet over my head in what can only be described as a satanic pretzel handstand, I glanced at the mirror. What stared back at me was a 40 year old woman. And while I can&amp;#039;t say sweat, smeared mascara and a black head the size of a dime was poster girl hot, there was a new essence I hadn&amp;#039;t seen in a long time. You say body odor, I say power. Yup, that girl in the mirror with the green eyes wasn&amp;#039;t being passive. She wasn&amp;#039;t being a pleaser and she wasn&amp;#039;t crying or moaning. She was, instead, commanding, strong and brave. With those kinds of words describing my reflection, I couldn&amp;#039;t help but think that the Andrea who walked out of that studio might as well live out those adjectives. And so, here are the five things I&amp;#039;m doing for myself this month to honor my value as a woman. As much as my husband loves me, these are things he can&amp;#039;t do. So, in the effort of some awesome self-care, here&amp;#039;s my plan:  1. Get a haircut! It&amp;#039;s been 9 months. In that amount of time I grew two babies that cost me a hell of a lot more than the $14 Super Cuts &amp;quot;do&amp;quot; I&amp;#039;m going to get. Hopefully I&amp;#039;ll feel less tired when the experience is over and won&amp;#039;t need an epidural. Though I&amp;#039;ll miss the flowers. Feel free to send some! 2. Get back into walking: Less computer time, more outdoor time. Good for the body, good for the soul. Cheaper than seven days of yoga. 3. Stay off the red wine: The past year I&amp;#039;ve been drinking more than I&amp;#039;d like. I wouldn&amp;#039;t call myself a lush, but 2 glasses here, 2 glasses there... it makes me tired and groggy. I don&amp;#039;t need it. Instead, I&amp;#039;m sticking to water for a while to give my system a chance to refresh itself. So far I&amp;#039;m peeing less and saving money on groceries. It&amp;#039;s not as fun, but my body thanks me. 4. Clean out my desk: Sometimes I&amp;#039;m the last on the list when it comes to remembering appointments or calling friends. Why? Because I have no system at all. I type blogs while bills, kids CDs, party invites and coupons litter my keyboard. If I don&amp;#039;t create space to honor the Andrea who wants to write that book and get in shape, who will? 5. Eat better: I eat okay, but not awesome. I won&amp;#039;t give up the coffee, but I can add more veggies and vitamins.   In taking better care of me, it&amp;#039;s only going to have a ripple effect on my husband and my children. Just tonight, for example, Rex cleared out the dishes and cleaned the kitchen while I put the rug rats to bed. Why? Because my positive mojo is rubbing off - that&amp;#039;s why! (Yeah, I really believe that esoteric crap. I&amp;#039;m nuts, but I embrace that.) So, ladies and gents - what are some nice things you&amp;#039;re going to do for yourself? Need more tips for self-care? Check out one of my favorite bloggers, Kate Hanley (aka: MsMindbody) who is a guru in the self-care field! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/relationships/a3232/5-self-care-tips-from-a-reform/>