20 years ago, I never could have imagined I would celebrate women on such a personal level as I do today. Now 20 years later, as we begin our month-long celebration of Women’s History Month, I begin by celebrating the most significant woman I’ve ever known, my mother. This is her birthday month and I am celebrating it by acknowledging the incredible example she was and still is in my life.

Since her passing, I’ve come to regard birthdays highly by encouraging others to extend their birthday to birthday month and on to birthday year as I have my own. I celebrate my birthday throughout the year with both spontaneous and planned out treats and activities that constantly remind me of how precious each moment is that we can draw a breath. Meditation is the activity I now do every day that reminds me of the sacredness of each time I inhale and exhale.

In 2020 I celebrated my birthday by planning a year’s worth of travel, events, and activities intended to remind me that each morning I awake, I have the gift of “another day to get it right”, as a dear female friend often reminds me. Thank you Billie for the reminder.

Unfortunately, COVID put an end to the seven weeks of travel plans that boiled down to two at the start of the year. A few months after the initial announcement that New York City was on lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus, I wasn’t sure I’d live to reach the end of that year. So I went to my favorite bakery in upper Manhattan and bought myself a chocolate birthday cake. I celebrated with the few neighbors I felt safe enough to visit. While they enjoyed slices of my cake, I ate the majority of it on my own. Yum!

Having grown up in a very religious family, I took to expanding my spiritual life which has grown beyond what I recall as the child of a Deacon in the church, a mother who sat on the church board, Sunday school classes, and Church summer camps in Texas. Now I occasionally facilitate Open Bible Study at my local church, attend a meditation class each week with acquaintances from around the world, and have recently begun a weekly meditation class with a small group I suspect will grow over time.

These have been nurturing experiences for me that I place in the category of restorative self-care. Over the past 20 years, my life has drastically changed. Back then I was ramping up my involvement in the female-dominated world of figure skating – following my Olympic coaching accomplishment – I launched MovesMaster® educational services devoted to seminars and instruction in the field of ice skating; drawing on the arts, sports, and performance. Now 20 years later, I am back to writing my book under that enterprise as I refresh the skating world’s connection to leadership.

In my role as a leadership consultant and coach, I draw on many modalities including arts, sports, and performance in my coaching of executives. Each discipline in and of itself plays up the need for restorative self-care, something that I devote much time and energy honing. Fortunately, the cryogenics aspect of being in an ice rink for 40 years has slowed my aging process and I augment it with yoga, warm bubble baths, healthy eating habits, and massages regularly when not writing, coaching, or taking short invigorating trips to get away and clear my head.

I invite you to take stock in your own path through restorative self-care as we publish this month’s blog and celebrate the history of women whom without, none of us would Be.

Self-care is a practice related to healthcare that requires our ability, desire, understanding, and willingness to explore, promote, maintain, and support quality health as an imperative while preventing or coping with illness, disease, or disabilities that one may encounter in life. It’s a way of putting ourselves first and telling ourselves that we matter.

Self-care has become part of our societal lexicon. Our desire to define and establish parameters for this practice is exponentially significant. Look around and you’ll find countless references to self-care, and for good reason. 

To mount such an effort, it feels necessary to note the similarity to an athlete’s commitment to pursue and achieve the gold medal standard in an Olympic sport. It is literally a game-changer in figure skating. Yet not all of us are destined to be Olympic athletes nor win gold medals for self-care. This undoubtedly contributes to why it’s a practice we can easily stray from.

Having experienced four generations from Baby Boomers to Generation Z of the early 21^st Century, the role of self-care has grown in importance and expanded the strata of differences it encompasses. As we look back at history, self-care has evolved to fit the current need.

Older adults of the G.I. (General Issue) or Silent Generation survived the Great Depression and two World Wars. Their self-care meant saving, preserving, and stretching resources. They learned to follow the rules to ensure a successful life.

The Baby Boomer Generation faced economic booms and the growth of families. Their youth was scattered with the birth of rock ‘n roll, the civil rights movement, and free love. Their self-care centered on self-expression and overcoming perceived oppression from war and social strife.

My generation saw AIDS, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the rise of MTV, and a need to create our own path rather than being defined by societal norms. We created boundaries around sex to prevent disease and worked on finding our voice.

Since the 1980s, the Millennials have seen a rise in the internet, 9-11 tragedies, a dependence on technology, and labeling of entitlement and self-centeredness. Generation Y has also been at the forefront of a rise in consciousness leading to introspection. Their biggest challenge is self-examination and social connections.

Those born in the 21^st century are more dependent on the internet and technology than ever, and they desire individuality. They need help managing their dependence on technology, defining their role in the world, and returning to a spiritual center.