RADICAL SELF CARE
I meant to write this storyhack yesterday. But I was too tired and instead chose to go to bed super early. I also chose to spend half an hour before bed, taking the time to shower, cleanse my skin and do a body oiling practice with home-made olive oil, infused with Pine needles from my home on the mountain in Colorado.
This is me practicing radical self care.
Over the years of working with people to help them transform their stories (personal and collective), I often find myself asking them “what are your non-negotiables?”. After the common look of confusion, people tend to tell me all the beliefs and habits they have bought into including:
To take care of my family/my business/the planet
To make an impact on the world (often measured through the response and judgement of
others rather than self)
To serve others in the greater good (whatever that means)
It is only after we sift through the maze of beliefs people gather that means they judge self-worth and achievement through the lens of others needs and beliefs before their own, that we finally end up getting to some internal needs that are often pushed to the back of the line in daily life.
The needs that nurture our own inner self-awareness, self-esteem and self-nurturance are the foundations upon which our outer work for others are built upon; however, they are almost always left till last when it comes to prioritising how we live life.
I bet none of this is news to you and you are nodding or agreeing with this situation. This is the case for most human beings on the planet right now, bar extreme narcissists (of which there are few) and enlightened masters (of which their numbers are growing!). One of the major gifts of COVID and our global lockdown has been to introduce enforced time spent in one place. Acknowledging that for some, this has been extremely challenging (especially if lockdown has occurred in a place or situation of abuse and trauma) but for most, this has presented us with a state of non-distraction where we must face our daily habits head on heart on to see where we have been placing the needs of others above our own. This has been a time when we have been offered the opportunity to reset and reprioritise our stories around health, balance and harmony in our bodies, our minds and our lives.
For me, I have always known that I am a morning bird. My power time is from 5am to 11am so I happily go to bed early and rise early in order to enjoy my prime time of energy and inspiration. In fact, I am writing this having risen at 3am and meditated for 30 mins before sitting down at my computer. This is my non-negotiable sacred time. My hour of power as Jamie Sams would say and over lockdown it has become essential to my health and wellbeing.
Other self-care rituals I have been engaging with are –
- Afternoon naps and going to bed whenever I am tired (regardless of how much work I could be doing!
- Detoxing – practicing intermittent fasting, drinking lots of water, cutting out sugar, etc
- Daily yoga – even if I only come to my mat for 10 mins to do child’s pose!
- Reading for pleasure again – not because its useful
- Morning meditation – listening to the he/she voice of creation
- Taking tea breaks outside and breathing in the fresh air
- Retreats – setting digital offline time and telling others I am not available
- Vision Quests – going out on the land solo or in small groups (socially distanced of course) to sleep under the stars and contemplate the lessons that Nature is giving
Of course these are my practices. They are what keeps me alive and excited about the potential of these times of massive transformation on Earth and in our Universe.
What are yours?
