I'm Mary Jo Feeley.
In this episode I want to take a look at self-care and I want to take a look at it in a way that will help us to be able to explore both the challenges and the joys that are embedded in the practices of taking good care of ourself.
And let's be honest,
Sometimes it's really hard to know exactly what it is that we need to best support us.
So we're going to be talking about some of that.
We're going to be taking a look at a variety of self-care practices that can support body,
Mind,
Spirit healing,
As well as a little bit later in this episode I will be offering a guided meditation that you can work with periodically over and over again to be able to help you get more in touch with the self-care needs that are arising within your own life.
So when we think about self-care,
And you know there is a lot of conversation about self-care,
You can find lots of information about it.
I think the important thing for me to always bring back to myself and also for those who I work with in my healing and teaching practice is that we have to remember we're comprehensive holistic beings.
So we are going to be inviting self-care into our life that will help bring balance into our life.
Which means sometimes that we may be focusing more on perhaps the physical aspect of our own life and our own health and at other times it may be more of support for the spiritual or the emotional and mental aspects of life.
So we're going to kind of take a look at those various ways that self-care shows up so that we can really embrace self-care from a practice that is one doable,
It is relevant,
And it's something that we find really empowering for ourselves.
Self-care ultimately is about balance.
It is about how do we live a balanced life so that we can have peace of mind,
We can have an effectiveness in our personal life,
We have a sense of well-being,
And whether or not we go to work or school or retired,
We all have responsibilities.
And so how do we balance the challenges of life and how do we bring self-care into that practice of balancing,
That art of balancing,
So that we can nurture ourselves,
Take care of ourselves,
Know the priorities,
We can expect outcomes that are really guiding us and we can also expect that there are going to be outcomes that we never saw coming.
And so maintaining a positive attitude during this time of addressing self-care is going to be really important.
So when I think of the human body and I think of the energy field surrounding the human body,
And I have other episodes that talk about the various aspects of the energy field,
I like to also bring in the fact that we have two kind of balancing energies within our energy field.
One is an active energy and one is more of a passive receptive energy.
And self-care is about bringing the balance of both of those into our life so that we,
In our pursuit of health and well-being,
Have this balance that is able to support us as we move into various parts of our life and our day.
So when we think about self-care,
It really is important that we know what we need.
And sometimes we might get the sense that we're not doing enough and sometimes we get a sense that we're doing the wrong thing.
And I would say it's not about doing too much or doing the wrong thing,
But perhaps it's more about focusing on what needs are arising.
So when we think about holistic healing,
We have a physical body which needs attention.
Whether it means going to the dentist,
Going and seeing a health care provider,
Eating well,
Getting the exercise and rest and quality sleep that our bodies require.
Not only to support good overall health and well-being,
But also to be able to make sure that all the various parts of our bodies function the way they were designed to.
So there is a physical component to that self-care practice.
We have emotional and mental aspects as well.
So whether it's emotions,
Which are really about feelings,
That energy kind of moving through us.
And then the mental processes of thoughts and habitual thinking patterns that sometimes are really helpful and sometimes actually get in the way.
We are able to recognize that there may be times,
In fact I would say there will be times in our lives,
When we are going to be focusing more of our self-care on emotional or mental aspects.
And then of course we have our spiritual well-being,
Our spiritual health.
And when we consider that we are spiritual beings,
We're living a human experience.
There's lots that goes on down here on earth.
And so having the ability to have a supportive self-care practice that addresses your spiritual needs is going to be vital as well.
So I'd like to just take a look a little bit closer at some of these various ways that we can work with to maintain balance.
So certainly we've got,
Let's start with our physical body because that is the densest part of our energy body.
And it really ripples out into all of the other aspects of our being.
And I think it's important to remember that just as a child grows and develops various milestones along the way as they're growing from children into adults,
You know the same is really true for us in our overall health.
And we may want the big picture.
We may want to really have this sense of being physically well,
Mentally and emotionally balanced and happy,
That sense of feeling safe and secure,
That sense of having friends and family and community around us.
We want it all.
So sometimes we have to actually just tease out a little bit more specifically what we need.
And in this case I think physical well-being is important.
So it is important that you know your physical body,
Know your limitations.
And sometimes we have various aspects of our health that limit or sometimes feel like they're almost kind of restraining us or constraining us from being able to do the things we'd like to do.
My sense is that if we can shift from a sense that I can't do this because,
Rather than I'm not able to do this but I will do this instead.
So there it's an opportunity to kind of think about how can I be physically active and maybe I have a mobility issue.
How can I eat really well when right now I'm not feeling so great and I don't have a very good appetite.
So it's about recognizing what our physical need may be and then addressing it again.
Whether it's proper nutrition or getting enough rest or living in a space that provides us with safety and security.
So it might be that your physical activity throughout the week is actually going to be cleaning your home.
You know doing some of that more physical work that gives you the physical exercise and at the same time being able to keep your physical environment more healthy for yourself.
When I think of emotional well-being and mental well-being I do kind of separate those out a little bit because from my experience those aspects of health actually show up a little bit different locations within the energy field.
And so when I think of emotional well-being what I'm thinking about is how comfortable are we?
Are we at peace?
Are we feeling fairly much filled with grace and ease?
And sometimes life experiences can cause us to get off-center.
They influence us to shift out of that calm and centered state and that's going to be normal.
And there are going to be times however that perhaps the emotional healing that you are being invited to do is really where you want to spend your time.
So allowing ourselves when we are feeling a little bit emotional emotionally vulnerable and perhaps in need of some support to paying attention to that and knowing that we have people in our lives that are able to support us.
When I think of mental health and the impact that it has also on our overall holistic well-being you know I think it's really important to remember that taking time to calm our mind allowing our brain state to rest is going to be really helpful to support mental well-being.
Because when we are out of balance it's almost as if our brain state becomes agitated and we become super busy.
Multitasking is kind of the norm in our culture and so sometimes it's almost as if we have to say and I'm going to stop and I'm going to allow my mental processes to rest so that my entire being can settle down.
When we are stressed our body has a physical response a fight-flight-freeze.
It's called the sympathetic nervous system response and it's a wonderful response to have in an emergency.
And when we're constantly on heightened alert that can be really hard on our bodies it can be really hard on ourselves.
And so this is where an example of being able to bring in some quiet calming practices whether it is slow and gentle breathing techniques or taking a walk very mindfully perhaps preparing a meal very intentionally and focused on every step that you're working with as you prepare that meal is a way to bring a sense of calmness and a sense of peace and mindfulness into that process.
And it's also supporting a practice that you are in the process of learning and engaging in more completely.
Our spiritual well-being helps us to feel connected to others and when I say others not only am I thinking of other human beings think about the animals.
Perhaps you have kitties or pups in your house.
Perhaps you have a garden filled with beautiful flowers and vegetables.
Perhaps you live near a park or a lake.
You know when we are able to have a stronger sense of a spiritual connection and a spiritual well-being we have a practice that helps support our ability to connect with those that are not us because really there is an interconnection that takes place between us and all other living beings.
When I'm thinking of self-care and the processes of being able to be balanced I do like to kind of build from the ground up.
So when we think about the chakra system and I have an episode specifically on the chakra system so you can certainly take a listen to that if you're unfamiliar with it or if you'd like more information as well as a guided meditation.
I like to build from the ground up so the the chakra system starts at the lowest kind of the tailbone area where we have the root chakra which is very grounding and as it moves up the spinal column it ends in the seventh chakra at the very top of the head which is the crown chakra.
So that root chakra is about physical well-being and so I think it's important as we are embracing self-care practices to be inclusive.
Make sure we are covering our bases.
So take a look at the physical plant so to speak and what is it that is most helpful for you in your physical well-being practice and what areas might be knocking on your door saying perhaps you'd like to do this a little bit more or try this a little bit more.
The guided meditation in just a moment that we're going to move through will help you have a better sense of what's arising for you within each of these areas but I recommend that let's start at the ground level.
As we move up the chakras we then begin to move into the emotional and the mental aspects of life and then towards the top of the head way up at the top of that crown chakra we begin to connect with the energies and the healing aspects that take place within that spiritual process.
There are a number of different ways to incorporate self-care.
Perhaps you are a yoga or Tai Chi practitioner.
Perhaps you work with crystals and gemstones for healing purposes.
Perhaps you work with essential oils.
Perhaps you grow nutrient-rich organic foods to nurture your body,
Mind,
And spirit.
Those are ways that you can continue to expand into how to take care of yourself.
You may have if you've listened to me before you may have heard me talk about the fact that you're the healer.
So when we think about that it simply means that we each of us is responsible for taking care of our own needs.
Of course we're going to reach out to others whether it is a mental health provider,
A clergy person,
A person who supports dental health or physical well-being by seeing a health care provider or a homeopath or an acupuncturist.
However it is that you bring in an assortment of facilitators and helpers to support your healing always keep in mind that you are your own healer and that when you open yourself up to that innate healing power within your body healing really does take place.
So in just a moment we're going to shift into a guided meditation and this guided meditation is designed to help you get in touch with what self-care practices are arising for you.
Which invitations is that inner healer within you calling you into inviting you into to explore this process of self-care to improve and enhance and increase your ability to nurture your body mind spirit from a balanced space.
So very slowly if you are able to find a position that's comfortable I would invite you to begin to just close your eyes begin to take some nice easy breaths and simply bring your awareness to your breath and follow your breath as it flows in and as it flows out.
Simply noticing your physical body becoming aware of your hands and your feet and your arms and your legs.
Noticing your torso and your back your shoulders and your hips your throat and your neck and your head.
With each breath that awareness of your body to become more focused and imagine moving into your body.
It's as if you're scanning your body just noticing it which areas are inviting you to become aware of them.
Knowing that your body is guiding you to become aware of to notice and simply pay attention to that which is arising for you at this time at a physical level the invitation to spend some time developing practices that will nurture your physical body and thank your body for bringing these awarenesses to you and now as you continue gently breathing bring your awareness to your emotions and your feelings simply noticing them where they flow easily and the feelings that are more challenging and difficult and notice also where you hold the emotions within your body simply allowing your emotions that are arising so that you may recognize the need to spend some self-care time addressing them simply allowing them to teach you and invite you to spend some time nurturing them.
And now offer gratitude to the emotions that have come forth the feelings that have presented themselves to you and as you continue to breathe gently bring your awareness to your thoughts to the chatter within your mind with some of the messages that are arising that are inviting you to bring balance to them each breath allowing you to gently touch into some of the messages that are pulling you from being centered and joy filled and at peace this discovery of the ways that this imbalanced energy within your mental field is inviting you into self-care and notice where is it within your physical body that some of these patterns that are a bit dysregulated are showing up and offer gratitude to the thoughts and patterns and the awareness that your mental field has offered you so that you may become more clear on self-care practices that can support your mental well-being and returning to your breath once again bring your awareness to your spiritual well-being that connection that you experience with others and allow the inner healer within you to guide you to better understand have greater clarity around areas within your spiritual practices that could better support overall spiritual well-being and notice as you breathe and as you spend time focusing in on your spiritual nature allow practices ideas experiences that can nurture and support your spiritual well-being to come to your awareness with each breath in allow greater clarity to come to your awareness and now in gratitude offer thanks to the spiritual nature of which you are a part for the guidance and the clarity that has been revealed and now as you continue to focus on your breath once again bring your awareness to your physical body and allow a practice to become clear to you become aware to you practice that you can embrace to support your physical well-being and now call forth your emotional and feeling aspects of your body of your being and ask for clarity regarding one practice that you can move into gently to engage in spiritual well-being and support your emotional well-being and now as you shift into your focus on your mental well-being invite clarity and guidance related to one practice that you can strengthen become introduced to and engage with that will support your mental health and well-being and bring your awareness to your spiritual health and once again ask that your inner healer offer and show you what self-care practice will best support you at this time to nurture your spiritual health and now embrace this entire meditation knowing that you from within have been introduced to ways that you can touch into the needs that are arising and the guidance from within from your inner healer to touch into and explore and expand upon the physical,
Emotional,
Mental and spiritual self-care practices that will bring balance and healing to your body,
Mind and spirit so now bring your awareness to your breath offer gratitude to this exploration and healing the transformation that is taking place from within and being expressed outwardly to support your body,
Mind and spirit and very slowly begin to wiggle your fingers and your toes offering deep gratitude for the clarity and the insight that you have been offered that you may move forward with and take one final deep breath and open your eyes so this guided meditation has really been a vehicle through which you can access the inner guidance that comes from within your own being listen to it over and over and over again when we do so we begin to realize that what our body is telling us,
What our emotions and our thoughts and our spiritual nature are guiding us and inviting us into is not static it is constantly changing and there are going to be times when you are going to notice that you are being really much more focused on perhaps your physical self-care remember we build from the ground up there will be other times when you will be working perhaps more at a spiritual or emotional or mental self-care level so this guided meditation is a way to touch into within you within yourself for the guidance for the ideas it could be that during this brief meditation you had,
For lack of a better word an aha moment and you suddenly see a piece that you can incorporate very easily into your self-care practice for now I simply wish you many blessings be well
