{"id":62672,"date":"2023-09-20T13:33:16","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T17:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?p=62672"},"modified":"2023-09-20T13:33:16","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T17:33:16","slug":"living-intentionally-are-you-prioritizing-friendships-and-why-you-should","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/living-intentionally-are-you-prioritizing-friendships-and-why-you-should\/","title":{"rendered":"Living Intentionally: Are You Prioritizing Friendships? (and Why You Should)<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Greg Raines<\/p><\/div>\n

By Ren\u00e9e Trudeau<\/p>\n

The other day I met up with a dear friend who is my soft place to fall. She encourages me to show up messy, tender and fully myself. She sees my creativity, generosity and my tendency to be controlling and too goal-oriented. She accepts and celebrates all of me.<\/p>\n

Everywhere I go lately, women are talking about friendships, connection and their desire for greater intimacy and authenticity with their girlfriends. They\u2019re letting some friendships go and deepening others. They\u2019re getting clear on what they need from relationships, particularly during these turbulent times. They\u2019re seeing what a huge impact real, heartfelt connection with friends has on quality of life, mental health, sense of contentment and overall well-being.<\/p>\n

A well-known UCLA study on female friendships found that these key relationships not only help reduce stress but also extend our lifespan and reduce the likelihood of physical problems upon aging. The study discovered that women have a natural reaction to seek out their friends in times of stress (called the \u201ctend and befriend\u201d response), which helps them physically and emotionally return to home base.<\/p>\n

Yet, what happens when we get overscheduled or when caretaking for others dominates our lives? We cancel lunches, walks and tea and wine dates\u2014when these meet-ups are exactly what we need to help us navigate life transitions and tough times.<\/p>\n

For more than 25 years, I\u2019ve been coaching women and men on the four areas of self-care\u2014physical, emotional, mental and spiritual\u2014one of the best ways to enhance balanced living. To this day, I\u2019m continually surprised by how often people neglect and overlook emotional self-care: the care and feeding of our hearts.<\/p>\n

Emotional self-care is as important as daily movement and eating nourishing foods. Critical to this is seeking out and taking time to connect with friends who nurture us, and using discernment in knowing when it\u2019s time to let friendships go and when it\u2019s time to reach out and cultivate new or existing ones. This takes courage. It requires us to stretch. It\u2019s part of our growth and evolution as spiritual beings.<\/p>\n

We need\u2014and deserve\u2014relationships that let us show up \u201cwarts and all.\u201d We need friends who encourage us to shine and are not threatened by our success. We need confidants who provide refuge, a space for us to rest without having to prove, do or be anything to anyone. Consider the following:<\/p>\n