What is Self Care?
The term self care has been emerging for a some years now and if you have been perplexed by it or wondering exactly what it is, in essence, it is a way of helping you to look after yourself spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically.
You might think that you are already doing that? A quick check can let you know if you are on track with your self care or not. In theory it is a simple concept but in reality it is something that you can easily overlook and not give priority too.
A Balanced Life
Self care is not about forcing yourself to do things but rather about enjoying doing the things that help you to take better care of you!
- Living with a diet that is right for you
- Enjoying the exercise you do and doing it regularly
- Ensuring you get the right amount of sleep
- Making sure you are getting your health check-ups, dental checks etc
- Meditating
- Spending time with the people you love and enjoy the company of
- Doing at least one relaxing activity per day
- Spending time doing something that is pleasurable each day
- Making a list of the things that are NO things, like being on the computer late at night, taking your phone to bed with you, having too much processed food, etc. and sticking with it
- Enjoying laughter and humour
A step along; developing the relationship to your self!
When you are working with your inner intelligence, the voice of each individual chakra, you may still be using the list above on self care but in a way that includes a process of discernment to find what is most correct for you. You will be checking in with yourself to assess the way you feel, and if the item on the self-care list is something that your inner intelligence agrees or disagrees with doing at any point in time.
How much, how often and when but not so much why!
There is a good deal of discernment involved in this way of working and in putting your whole self, all the levels of your intelligence, into the equation.
- It is not about letting yourself off the hook by putting things off, but it is about being able to say no when something is not right for you.
- It will include coming back to your inner intelligence and being able to hear your internal communication go back and forth to find an answer
- It will not include needing to please others or meeting a perceived expectation that you think others have of you.
- It is about prioritising your relationship to yourself, putting yourself first.
- It will include being in that moment where a part of you may want to do one thing and another part is adamant that it doesn’t, and being able to resolve this inner conflict to find the truth and the best answer for your whole self.
Moving beyond just the mind
Building a unique relationship with your own self is about being able to hear, feel and acknowledge your instincts and your knowing. It requires that you trust the softer parts of your intelligence and not just respond to your logic. It will be your logic that you will often hear first and be tempted to default to.
It is also about being able to find the balance between all of the levels of your being that sometimes competes to be heard.
What it is not about:
- following the rules and directives coming from outside of yourself
- being without consideration to the way in which you would like to ‘do the doing’
- doing things because they should be done
- getting stuck in a routine because this is exactly when you are not listening to yourself
- following the herd
- only listening to your mind
- jumping in before checking in with your whole self
What it is about:
- being able to hear your own internal nuances on any given day
- developing a respect for and being able to listen to the softer voice within
- not getting attached to things before you have checked in with your self
- finalising your response after listening to and feeling into all parts of you; honouring yourself as a unique being
- responding intuitively and not second guessing yourself even if the logical reason is not apparent
- giving your feeling intelligence some air time
- allowing flexibility as you meet with the challenging waves of energy that come from across time and space
- trusting your intuitive knowing enough to see where it takes you to
What are the basics to create your essential relationship
Like most worthwhile things, it starts with the basics but these basics might be something that will take you time to learn:
- being able to identify the voice coming from each of your chakras
- listening to your chakra communication so that you arrive at the best outcome for your whole self
- correcting patterns whereby your mind may be overriding your heart or instinct
- moving from responding from ‘I should’ to ‘I am choosing’
- overall becoming much more aware and sensitive to your inner intelligence, the inner you
- working to identify and strengthen areas of learning
- knowing that when you are self-talking and have a very busy mind, you are not working with the whole inner intelligence
Let us know if you would like to learn more about developing your essential relationship and putting yourself fully in charge of you!