“SELF-CARE & INFINITE POSSIBILITIES”
The other day, I talked to a young woman and she said she felt pressure to add self-care practice into her daily life. She said it seemed like everyone is talking about self care and the importance of it while reading other people’s social media posts. She asked, “What is self care?” “How do I bring self-care into my life?” “Am I doing enough?”
My advice to her and to you, dear readers. Do not worry, compare, or judge yourself. Instead, be aware of what brings you joy. One way to look at self-care, is simply bringing into your life those things which bring you joy so you can be the best version of yourself.
Self-care is expressed and lived differently for different people. My husband loves cooking, baking, gardening, and entertaining as a way to replenish and decompress after a day of work. This is how he cares for himself and this brings him joy. I find my joy through yoga, walking in nature, time to reflect and journal. My youngest child loves crafts and singing. My oldest loves to challenge his physical abilities through sports and daring maneuvers.
Since Covid-19, my self-care routine changed as I had less alone time for self-reflection and yoga. Life at home became days of homeschooling and spending more time with family. In the beginning I had a few breakdowns as my self-care routine changed. In the past, I found a lot of strength from that predictable self-care routine. The year 2020 has so far been a year of change, adaptability, and acceptance. A new way of how I looked at self-care emerged.
What if self-care also meant being aware of how you create and caring about what you create? Bringing care into your thoughts, words, feelings, actions, and attitude.
So, self-care was not limited anymore to setting aside a specific amount of time but expanded into any moment of the day. Self-care was an awareness of how I spoke to my children and how I spoke to myself. Self-care meant being aware of my feelings and letting them flow. Self-care meant awareness of my actions and thoughts and how they affected me. Self-care was an awareness of my attitude and the impact it had on my day.
Simply being aware of our attitude, how we speak, think, feel, & act can be a way to care for ourselves.
Awareness simply means “paying attention.” You do not need any fancy technique, yoga pose, or Kriya to illuminate your life. You can turn a so-called ordinary life into an extraordinary life by simply paying attention.
Through the times where I feel limited, this “paying attention” brings grace and aliveness that inpires me to create with more love. The ordinary moments become extraordinary.
Instead of feeling limited by time or feeling pressured to do all these self-care activities, you can expand your life with this newfound awareness of who you are in this world and how you create in this world.
You can open yourself up to the infinite possibilities of perception, perceiving yourself as a profound life-changing meditation.
Pay attention to all of YOU. Pay attention to those things that bring you joy.
Pay attention with love.
Pay attention to what you love so that love grows.
With Love & Light,
Leana