Posts filed under 'Self Care'
I got this great email the other day that I thought was so fabulous I wanted to share it with you.
A lecturer was explaining stress management to his audience. He raised a glass of water and asked, “How heavy is this glass of water?” Answers called out ranged between 20g and 500g.
He replied,” The absolute weight of the glass doesn’t matter. It depends on how long you try to hold the glass.”
If you hold it for one minute, that’s not a problem.
If you hold it for an hour, your arm might ache a little.
If you hold it for a whole day, you will have to go to the hospital.
In each case, it is the same weight, but the longer you hold it, the heavier it becomes.
And that is how STRESS affects your body. It accumulates over time.
If we carry our burdens around all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy; we won’t be able to carry on.
And that is how we get sick and dis-ease happens in our body. It is our bodies signal to stop and check out what is going on.
As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again.
When we are refreshed, we can carry on with the burden.
So what are you carrying around with you that is a burden and causing stress and tension in your life?
When you have identified some things, I invite you to take a break. Put down the things you have no control over. A lot of times, just taking the break will make room for new possibilities and new ways of looking at the issue.
March 1st, 2008
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, we’re busy picking up gifts for our children, our husbands, our parents, our sweethearts, even our friends.
But have you ever thought about giving yourself the gift of self love?
As women, we are all to often taught that a Prince is going to sweep us off our feet and we’ll live happily ever after. Then when we do fall in love, we expect those first romantic feelings to last forever.
We think we know what love should look like and what our partners should say and do to show us how much they care.
Boy, do we end up disappointed.
What I’ve come to realize is that we don’t even really know what we want and need for ourselve, and yet we expect our loved ones to know. The truth is, loving yourself is the root of loving others.
When we truly know ourselves and can accept ourselves fully and completely, then we’re more fully able to love others.
Here’s a question to ask yourself: Do you extend as much kindness, compassion and forgiveness to yourself as you do to others?
You wouldn’t dream of not feeding your children or not putting them to bed when they are tired, or telling them how stupid they are when they make a mistake.
So this Valentine’s Day, I invite you to look at how you treat yourself. Then come up with some ways to really nourish and nurture youself. Self-nurturing takes less time and money than you think. And it will pay back big in many ways the more you do it.
It may be spending time alone, changing your self talk, learning to love your body, going shopping or spending time with your friends, journaling, reading, exercising, learning something new. I’m sure you can come up with even more on your own.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear ways that you enjoy nourishing and nurturing yourself. The more ideas we generate together, the more powerful and loving we all become.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
February 1st, 2008
Happy New Year!
I know everyone has their own New Year’s resolutions to focus on. Well mine is to spend more time focusing on my own self-care. This includes ways to nurture myself not only physically but emotionally and spiritually as well.
Before vacation, I had an interesting, eye opening experience related to self care. One of my clients came in and said that she was constantly zapped of energy and she didn’t know what else she could possibly be doing for herself. She was exercising, eating healthy, going for acupuncture and coming to see me for CranioSacral Therapy.
As we worked, we uncovered the core issue: She was always beating herself up with a critical, judgemental attitude about herself. Now from a place of understanding the issue, we were able to explore what it would be like to change the way she was being with herself.
We talked about what it would be like to find a place of love, encouragement and even celebration for who she is and what she does get accomplished.
Wow, wast his enlightening for both of us! We often think of self-care as taking care of ourselves physicaly. Yet the kindest way to nurture ourselves is to be our own best friend-our own number 1 fan.
So in addition to cleaning out your refrigerator or clutter this January, I challenge you to clean out your mind. Notice how often your critical thoughts and judgements come up.
Maybe your’ll notic a pattern or theme around your thoughts. Then you can replace it with a positive affirmation or thought instead!
January 6th, 2008
People generally take better care of their cars than they do their bodies. I’m always amazed at the grocery store when I see what people buy. Some baskets have NOTHING that is actually food. Nothing that is fresh or whole instead of processed or pakaged pretty.
I am not a nutritionist by any means, but over the years I have learned a lot about how to fuel my body for feeling and performing best. I’m lucky to have a few friends who are experts on the topic, and I’ve read a lot of books.
But the best information I ever got was from actually trying new foods, cutting down on others and then listening to my body and seeing how I felt.
Here is what I have learned about my body:
>Wheat and gluten are a big no-no. I feel the effects instantly.
>I like to start the day with fruit and then have protein for lunch.
>I’ve learned to crave fruits and vegetables and drink lots of water.
>I actually need and crave meat.
>I still have the sugar addiction but limit it to one time a day or every few days.
>When I eat sugar, I try to enjoyit rather than feel guilty about it.
> I tend to eat when I am stressed.
The list goes on and on. It took some time to figure out what works best for me. And I’m far from perfect at it. It’s a learning experience that takes dedication to staying conscious and changing my habits.
Why not try this concept on and see how it fits for you? There’s so much information out there. Start by sifting through it to get a feel for what is the perfect approach for you.
Then I invite you to become conscious, begin pre-planning and try different things to see what actually works best for you!
November 2nd, 2007