Practicing Deeper Self-Care for Spring
31 May, 2022
31 May, 2022
Spring embodies new growth, and its abundance is everywhere you look.
By its very nature, spring encourages us to renew ourselves as well, using practices like self-care, mindfulness, and more.
One way to restore your mind and body is to choose a self-care task that is important to you, that truly impacts the way you feel inside and out.
Putting yourself first, however, isn’t always easy. Especially among women, who are generally hard-wired to take care of everyone else first, often leading to disappointment, guilt, exhaustion, and feelings of resentment.
Below are a few ideas to maintain a self-care practice that can help you take care of yourself first, beginning with practices that support and strengthen your foundation.
Have you ever found yourself doing one task but thinking about another? Or, overthinking a task to the point of exhaustion and not doing it at all?
There’s a humorous saying about weight loss; “If my obsessive thinking about exercise worked, I’d be a size 0 without breaking a sweat!”
We’ve all been there.
One way to gently sidestep this obsessive overthinking is to simply bring yourself back to the present moment without judgment.
The trick, however, is having the awareness your thoughts have gotten away from you in the first place.
Here are 3 simple steps to re-center your attention in just a few seconds…
This self-care practice can be done as many times as needed. Eventually, it will become more instinctive than learned.
When you honor the present moment, you’re acknowledging to the universe the task at hand, even if that task is demanding and challenging. Being fully present is a form of gratitude - a gift to you and the universe.
Choosing a self-care mantra or affirmation offers you something you can verbally or silently repeat when you return to the present moment. You’re giving your mantra or affirmation its full attention while the universe is listening.
This can sound like, “Enjoy the journey,” “I am patient today,” “I claim my own power and I lovingly create my own reality.”
Or,
“I free myself and everyone in my life from old past hurts. I am free to move into new, glorious experiences.”
A wonderful idea to remind yourself to do this is to place a small colored sticker in various places. These can be doors, walls, your desk, the rearview mirror of your car, a bedside table, your phone, or your fridge.
When you add a self-care practice that’s important to you, you may be surprised to bump up against resistance.
“I don’t have time for my self-care task today,” or, “I’ve lived with it this long, what’s another day?” Or, “This really isn’t that important to me,” are typical phrases we say to ourselves.
What follows is disappointment in yourself, guilt for not doing it, and the carousel of negative self-talk.
Studies show that self-worth is at the core of doing or not doing your self-care practice. It’s easier to put others first because it appears noble, however, this can lead to resentment and frustration.
Try opposing your excuses with practices #1, & #2, and remind yourself you are worth this self-care practice.
Or, be curious about your vulnerabilities, fears, and anxieties. View this as an opportunity to get to know yourself better.
Speak to yourself in the second person, as if you were sitting next to yourself and you are your dearest friend. What questions would you ask her to help her unravel her pain?
Treat yourself with the same kindness and empathy you would a friend. Write down what comes to mind.
Whatever your vulnerabilities, fears, and anxieties are, they are only a thought.
And remember, a thought can be changed.
Sleep restores your spirit and heals your body.
3 suggestions for the best possible sleep:
Lastly, your self-care practice can be more effective if you think of it as an “intention” rather than an “expectation,” or worse, a “chore.”
Start small to make it easy to attain. Set a time limit of 10 minutes to 30 minutes, twice or three times a week.
When your self-care task is completed, let it go. Move on to the next task fully present.
Be gentle with any corrections. Even highly evolved minds wander, but those people simply bring themselves back to the present moment gently and without self-judgment.
It’s vital you celebrate your accomplishment. Compliment yourself!
Self-care, like spring, adds color to your landscape. You are your own garden. Give yourself the same attention, nourishment, and time.
Weeds can be viewed as your vulnerabilities, anxieties, and fears. They, too, require attention and time. So, tend to your garden. You can keep the weeds from taking over.
Take care of yourself.
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