I had reached the point of diminishing returns. I wanted to quit Twitter, but my fingers were as if possessed, typing command+n, tw, enter at any lull in the workday, letting autofill take care of the rest.
Five years ago, my husband Jake was training for a triathlon. He had just purchased a new road bike and woke up one sunny Saturday morning to take it out for its first spin. As we were lying in bed, he looked at me and said, "I don't have a good feeling about this; I hope something doesn't happen."
In 2017, I decided to quit my job working for a London publisher and move to Japan. I enjoyed my work and had a great social life, but was craving something new and different. After living in Tokyo for six months, I became fascinated by how small details, mindfulness, and incremental changes were given more emphasis in Japanese daily life.
"I don't have any time for self-care. I know I need it, but I feel like I'm a bad mother if I take time for myself," said Michelle, a participant in my Self-Compassion for Parents workshop. "I simply don't have time to practice!"