A sick-day mentality

I'm in the midst of kinda-sorta-maybe feeling better, and I'm hopeful that the (slow) recovery will continue!

There's a hidden blessing in not feeling healthy: staying home and resting. When I have a day off and a healthy body, I run errands and make plans. I have a tendency to generally exhaust myself, even if all the activities are enjoyable. But when I'm sick, the activities and the rhythms change. When I'm sick, there's a drive to just take a little bit better care of myself. I've been going to bed a bit earlier. Sleeping in a bit later, and taking a nap if I need to, and not feeling guilty about it. Drinking smoothies and eating lots of veggies. Avoiding the processed foods. Reading my Bible more. Settling in on the couch for a lengthier knitting session. Finally make progress on that library book that I need to return soon. Doing a slow, mellow yoga practice. By slowing down, and saying "no" a few times, I took better care of myself physically, yes, but also better care of myself emotionally and spiritually. It all has me thinking, what if I took care of myself this well when I'm healthy?

There's never a season in life when I don't need to practice intentional rest, I'm just better at it when I'm sick. I certainly don't want to be sick all the time (blech), but there's a lesson for me here: it's perfectly okay (and healthy!) to practice sick day activities even when I'm physically healthy. In all the midst of this recovery time, more specifically, I've been:

• Wanting to streamline our home again...less of everything. Including phone distractions. I'm in the midst of organizing everything from our filing system to the bathroom cupboard
• Thinking about this podcast on minimalism "Minimal isn't about depravation, it's about bringing those things [social media, etc] back into your life in a meaningful way."
• Reading this blog, written by a college friend
• Knitting through my stash (using lovely grey yarn I brought in 2010) and working on projects I've already started
• Milk and cookies before bed, and late-night muffin-baking
• Making sauerkraut
• Eating homemade lasagna and experiencing the joy of leftovers, again and again
• Rediscovering quotes I wrote out over a year ago, as I was sorting through some paperwork
• Words of encouragement/biblical truth/prayer from dear friends, and a little knitting and coffee on the side
• Loving the feel of a book in my hands, often. I'll write about some of my favorite reads soon!

What are your favorite or most beneficial "recovery activities"?