Bell Hello,
Bindi here.
Here's a short 3 minute self-care exercise that can give us time to stop and recharge our batteries.
This practice uses the acronym SNACK.
So first of all,
Finding a comfortable sitting,
Standing or lying position.
S is for stop and self-care,
Permission to stop.
So closing the eyes or perhaps looking at something soothing like the view out of a window or some flowers or a family photo.
And in this phase we can also investigate a soothing touch like placing a hand on the arm or on the heart or on the belly.
Maybe rubbing ourselves there,
Hugging ourselves,
Some kind of reassuring touch.
So taking a moment to find that for ourselves.
And once we've found our soothing touch,
We can appreciate this for a moment.
Really receiving it.
Really taking in the warmth from that contact.
Or the comforting sensations from that reassuring rub.
And now beginning to take a few long easy breaths,
Soothing breath.
Exhaling fully on the out breath with a sense perhaps of letting go.
And then on the in breath tuning into the nourishing quality of the breath.
In a way that the body takes in oxygen and energizes itself.
The N of this snack break is for noticing.
First noticing any physical sensations.
For example tuning in to the feeling of the earth supporting our feet or legs or the seat supporting our weight.
Feeling those sensations.
Now noticing our emotions.
How are we feeling right now?
Precious?
Irritated?
Bored?
Where do we feel this in the body?
And noticing our thoughts.
And toward this I'm noticing a thought of I hope this is coming across alright.
So just acknowledging whatever it is we're thinking without trying to change it.
Because the A of our snack break is for acceptance.
So as best we can,
Accepting whatever we feel.
And we might like to express this silently to ourselves with a phrase like it's okay to feel this.
So choosing some words that fit for us.
Even if we're feeling some resistance.
Seeing if we can accept the resistance.
C is for common humanity.
We all feel this way at times.
And it can be a real relief to remember we're not alone.
So finding a phrase to express this such as everyone feels like this from time to time.
Or whatever other words feel right for us.
And K is for kindness.
No matter what life throws at us.
No matter how many mistakes we make we can benefit from treating ourselves with kindness.
So reminding ourselves with a phrase of self talk like may I be kind to myself in this moment.
And as best we can resting in this sense of kindness.
Or resting perhaps in our soothing touch.
And taking a few soothing breaths to complete the practice.
Many people find that this short practice which takes just 90 seconds once we've got the hang of it helps them to pause that accumulation of stress.
And generate a sense of warmth and acceptance and friendliness and positivity towards themselves that can be really motivating.
Taking a break like this might also highlight further needs.
Like maybe we have some physical needs or social needs.
We might notice we're feeling stiff and we need to stretch.
Maybe we need to drink some water.
Maybe we notice that we feel like talking to someone about how we're feeling.
It can be useful to drop any expectation that this practice is going to help us feel good.
It might be that the practice helps us to feel good.
It might also be that the practice helps us to tune in to unpleasant emotions that weren't so obvious before.
So here it can be good to lean into the acceptance and the common humanity and the kindness phases.
The point isn't that it makes us feel good.
The point is that we get in touch with what's really here and that we acknowledge it and we bring friendship and kindness to ourselves whatever we're experiencing.
So why not try adding a self-care break into your daily life as part of your regular self-care routine.
The acronym SNACK can help us remember the different stages of the practice.
Thanks for taking time to reconnect.
