Priorities abound,
No lack of things to do.
The list is getting longer,
No time left just for you.
You may be last on the list,
Or are you on the list at all?
Running ragged,
Completely drained,
Feeling short with your loved ones,
Life feels quite strained.
How can you be who you are meant to be?
The calm,
Peaceful,
Joyful you.
Here's the secret.
Are you ready?
It's a simple solution,
And if I can do it,
I know you can do it too.
Nurture yourself in little ways throughout the day.
Care for yourself in big ways and small.
You are worthy of it all.
What is self-care,
And what does it look like in our lives today?
What if we could find a softness within ourselves?
What if we could allow a spaciousness to house our spirit,
Our soul?
What if we took care in not only the things we put in and on our body temple,
But also the things we watch and think?
Taking care to nurture the house that our spirit resides in,
The form that so graciously allows us to experience life on earth.
Close your eyes,
Place your hands on your belly.
Let's take care to breathe full,
Conscious breaths.
Breathing in and allowing our bellies to soften and expand.
Then slowly release your breath,
Allowing your exhale to be slightly longer than your inhale.
Once again,
Breathing in through our nose and exhaling through our nose.
Breathing in the life-giving air and spirit all around us.
Living with the innate wisdom of our bodies,
Knowing that we are all connected.
We are often told to put others first.
We end up feeling drained and resentful.
Why not take the time to take care of ourselves?
For then we can take better care of those we love.
Besides feeling good,
You will also be setting an extraordinary example for those around you.
Continue to breathe.
Feel the expansion,
The space,
The stillness.
Imagine that you are a hot air balloon.
You are floating through the sky,
Enjoying the view and the breeze.
It gives you great joy to give others rides.
You love to share the beautiful view to help transport them to the places they want to go.
You enjoy each other's company along the way.
If you don't care for yourself,
It becomes more and more challenging to enjoy floating through the sky,
Enjoying the ride.
And you are no longer capable of taking others for rides.
You may develop holes or run out of fuel for your fire.
Hot air balloons need to be cared for,
Patched up when needed,
Filled up with fuel.
It is not too late to begin caring for yourself.
Mending the holes,
Taking time to refuel.
As you take care of yourself,
New habits develop and you will begin to notice when you are low on fuel instead of running on empty.
There's a story of the lumberjack who didn't take time to sharpen his axe,
Feeling that he did not have the time to sharpen his axe.
The result was that he had to exert great effort to chop down a tree.
When in taking the time to sharpen his axe,
He would have been more efficient at the task at hand.
The same is true for life.
When we take time to care for ourselves in big ways and small,
We are sharpening our tools.
We are more efficient and effective at the tasks we choose to take on.
Taking care of ourselves means more than just taking care of our physical form,
Which is of course a very important part of our self-care.
Our bodies are temples that house our spirits and are worthy of the utmost respect and care.
But self-care does not end there.
Self-care also encompasses the spirit,
The soul.
There are big ways and small ways in which we can take care of ourselves.
It can be as small as pausing to take a deep breath.
It can be saying yes to ourselves and our needs.
And it can at times involve saying no to others and learning when this is called for.
It can be moving our bodies,
Going for a walk in nature,
Doing yoga,
Eating nourishing foods,
Drinking plenty of water,
Or maybe tuning inward to connect with our soul.
Taking time to meditate,
Taking a soothing bath,
Spending quality time with loved ones,
Listening to music,
Tuning in to the wisdom that is within us all along the way to know what is right for us.
Going into the wisdom of our bodies,
The energy of our emotions can help us pinpoint what we need in any given moment.
It is part of our journey to learn and read these cues and to fine tune this skill.
Our emotions and our bodies are always speaking to us.
The messages usually begin as a whisper,
A tickle,
And as we are often out of touch with our essence,
Living with but often not in our bodies,
Not fully embodying these temples through which we experience life on earth,
We sometimes miss the message.
As we continue to breathe now,
Take this time to notice what you need.
Enjoy the music You You You You You You What does self care look like for you?
Always remember you are worth it.
You are worthy of care and love from yourself When you are ready Open your eyes And remember to show your beautiful body and soul love and care.
Thank you for watching!
