Have you ever felt guilty for taking time for yourself?
For prioritizing you and your self-care for a while?
I've even heard the phrase that taking self-care is a selfish act.
That might be a little extreme,
However that underlying feeling is actually very,
Very real for a lot of people.
A lot of my students will come to me thinking that it's the yoga sequence and practice that they need or the meditation routine,
But actually what it is they need is to know that it's okay to set a little boundary with family or friends,
Circumstances,
Situations,
Just to take even two minutes of time for themselves and so that's actually a big part of what I help people to reach.
That sense of it being okay,
That realization that you are important,
That having enough energy to deal with everything else is important and to get that energy you do need to take that time.
So even though I offer these meditations for example here on Insight Timer,
You might sense that you need that extra confirmation that it is okay to be here,
To realize that this is what you need,
Just a few minutes of time for yourself.
I have actually used an analogy to explain this to some of my students.
A lot of us use cars and drive a car,
So I tell them that you have a car,
It has to function properly for it to do what you need it to do and that goes beyond giving it the right fuel.
It will also involve other maintenance tasks like changing the oil,
Looking after the tires,
Keeping them at the right pressure,
Maybe changing them when they need it,
Cleaning the car,
Putting it in for a service.
So that kind of maintenance on your car is just as representative of what your own self-care needs,
What your own body,
Mind,
Emotions need.
You have to look after yourself beyond just the basic functions of eating,
Drinking,
Sleeping for example.
You have to have enough energy and focus in order to give for your responsibilities,
Work,
Dependence.
So have you heard the saying,
You can't pull from an empty cup?
If you find you're getting to the point of complete overwhelm,
Where you're feeling utterly spent,
Then that cup,
Your cup,
Has run dry and you no longer have anything to give.
And we've all reached that point at times.
I have frequently reached that point.
Yet most of us won't stop and rather than acknowledge that we need to come back to ourselves to take a little time to replenish our cup,
Our reserves,
We keep pushing.
Pushing through,
We try to keep going.
Have you found that you do that?
When I do that,
I find even though I'm pushing through,
I'm no longer productive in what I'm doing.
My work,
My general daily chores,
Tasks,
I actually find I don't have enough energy to offer the support that the people around me need.
My husband,
My animals,
I frequently become exhausted.
You may find that that's what you're experiencing too.
So remember that you don't have to feel guilty for taking those two minutes,
Five minutes,
Even 30 minutes out of a 12-hour day,
16-hour day,
However long you spend doing.
A few times a week for your own maintenance,
You deserve five minutes.
It's actually very little if you think about it.
So this was just a little message to you.
This is my first talk here and I am going to do a few more because as much as I love offering the meditations and this collection will grow here on Insight Timer,
I know that sometimes the words help more than the meditation on certain days.
The words and these topics which we all experience so much in everyday life need to be spoken about a little so that we feel what we need to to get to our meditation,
To prioritize ourselves,
To prioritize our self-care.
So thank you for listening and if you find you have an extra six minutes today,
Then please do jump over to one of my meditations.
I've got a lovely one about the breath and it's a really calming and grounding practice and you might enjoy it.
So take care and I will be back soon.
