Welcome to this 10-day self-care course on Inside Timer.
My name is Emile Jose Garcia.
Over the next 10 days,
We will be learning what self-care is and how to include self-care in every area of your life by creating your own self-care list.
We are going to do practical exercises that will help you reconnect with your body,
Reconnect with your mind,
Set your intentions,
And increase your self-love.
We will also learn how to create a physical space that facilitates your self-care,
A space where you feel calm,
Relaxed,
Focused,
And invited to just be with yourself and do the activities that you love.
There is a very strong connection between your mental health and the spaces you live in.
If these spaces are cluttered and not functional,
They may affect your overall mental health and emotional health.
Once you have your own self-care list created and you have an invited space to practice self-care in,
We will learn ways to create and protect time to practice self-care.
We will also learn how to include our loved ones in our self-care journey.
And we will practice some simple and creative journaling habits that will help you maintain and amplify your self-care practice.
We are going to have so much fun together in this course.
I can't wait to see how your life will transform after these 10 days.
Today's lesson is all about understanding what self-care is.
Self-care is care provided for you by you.
It's about identifying your own needs and taking steps to meet them.
It is taking the time to do some of the activities that nurture you.
These activities can be very simple and they don't have to cost money if you don't want to.
There are no limitations on what you can or cannot do when it comes to self-care.
You are the one deciding and the activities that you choose to do will depend on your specific situation.
Some examples of self-care activities can be taking a few deep breaths,
Going for a walk in nature,
Juggling,
Meditation,
Listening to music you like,
Taking a bath,
Petting your dog or cat,
Having a coffee.
It is okay if you are unsure of what to include in your self-care list right now.
We will dive deeper into examples in the next days and I promise you that you will feel very confident by day 5 to create your first self-care list with confidence and joy.
We will do it together.
Self-care is about taking proper care of yourself and treating yourself as kindly as you treat others.
I want to shine the light on some feelings that may come up for you when talking about self-care.
Some of the main feelings are Self-care is selfish.
I don't have time for self-care.
If I practice self-care,
I am neglecting others.
I don't deserve self-care.
We all have beliefs that we have learned along our life journey.
Those beliefs have served us in some way.
They have protected us in some way.
At the time,
Those beliefs made sense.
Maybe now it's time to understand them and release them with love and compassion.
Anytime you identify any of these beliefs coming up for you,
Instead of feeling bad and blocking them,
Instead of letting them take over,
Just allow some space and time.
Watch them.
Understand why they are running.
How were they protecting you in the past?
Once you are able to do this from a place of love and connection with yourself,
I invite you to honor that belief,
To acknowledge how it served you,
How it protected you.
Then,
I invite you to say goodbye with gratefulness and compassion,
And just let it go.
You have the opportunity to choose a new belief that serves you better now.
Some examples of old beliefs versus new,
Empowering beliefs could be,
I don't have time for self-care.
Versus,
When I create time for self-care,
I have more intentional time to give to myself and others.
Self-care is selfish.
Versus,
If I don't practice self-care,
I am depriving others from all the love and playfulness I have to give.
I don't deserve self-care.
Versus I deserve self-care because it helps me be a better person for myself and for others.
My loved ones won't understand when I am practicing self-care.
Versus when I share my self-care needs with my loved ones,
They will understand me better and support me.
Self-care is a waste of time.
Versus self-care helps me feel better so that I can be more efficient with my time and my energy.
I invite you to listen to these beliefs again.
Please pause the audio and say them out loud.
How do you feel?
What's coming up for you?
Any feelings or emotions are welcome here.
Don't hide anything.
Don't feel bad about anything.
Just give those emotions some time and space and just watch them.
Reflect about them.
Understand them.
If a lot is coming up for you while repeating these beliefs out loud,
Maybe you could benefit from doing this practice a few times.
Every time you will go deeper and your understanding will increase.
Please show up with compassion and with love for yourself.
And please be kind to yourself.
Every time you are not feeling well,
It may be a clear sign that self-care may be needed.
When I did my training on mental health first aid,
I did learn some of the signs that self-care may be needed.
These signs can be physical signs and non-physical signs.
Some of the physical signs are chest pain or a pounding heart,
Fatigue,
Reduced interest in sex,
Getting colds more often,
Muscle tension,
Pains and headaches,
Loss or change of appetite,
Sleeping problems,
Nausea,
Diarrhea or constipation.
Some of the non-physical signs are feeling overwhelmed or frustrated,
Feeling guilty or unhappy,
Being irritable,
Losing confidence and being indecisive,
Negative thinking,
Having racing thoughts,
Memory problems and excessive worrying.
Being aware of these signs can help you identify when self-care is needed.
Please remember to be kind with yourself.
If you identify any of these signs,
Don't be hard on yourself.
Instead,
Celebrate that you are becoming aware and that you are taking steps to improve your life.
I want to remind you that the fact that you are here shows that you are committed to yourself.
I celebrate you and I invite you to give yourself some time and space to explore,
To reflect,
To understand why you may be experiencing what you are experiencing now.
Awareness is the first step to creating lasting change.
So great work so far.
Thank you so much for finishing this lesson.
I honor you for your commitment and for your progress.
I am looking forward to being with you in the next session where we will be talking about how self-care can apply to every area of your life.
I'm looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.
Until then,
Make sure that you watch for those physical and non-physical signs that I shared and repeat those beliefs as many times as you need until you feel clear.
I will see you tomorrow.
Adios.
