I have determined that self-care is my top value, both personally and professionally. Why is that? Self-care catapults and affects everything else in my life (and yours too!).
To lean into and learn the best ways to care for myself & my well-being, self-care is needed. I may not be able to control my experiences but I can take personal responsibility for choices around my self-care that have a significant impact on my overall well-being.
Am I perfect at practicing self-care? No way.
Do I have to choose to honor that value on almost a daily basis? Yes!
Do I choose it every day? Nope. I am not perfect. But I am perfectly imperfect.
Practicing self-awareness allows me to evaluate where I am, and in order to do so, I have to give myself space.
One area that I find and create space in is my breath. The simple act of noticing my breath gives me space and opens up my being to practice self-awareness. (Hint: This right here is self-care!!)
What else is Self-Care?
Self-care is leaning into what is needed in this moment and in the next and so on.
Self-care is the set of actions or inactions we take through self compassion. What you say to yourself matters!
Self-care is the practice of acknowledging that it encompasses the mind, body, and soul. We cannot practice self-care fully without considering our whole selves. It is not just taking care of our physical selves. While that is important, it cannot stand alone.
Each day I ask myself 3 questions to determine the specific area that I need to practice self-care:
…What does my mind need?
...What does my body need?
...What does my soul need?
How do you figure out what you need?
Sometimes what we need is one and the same, but sometimes it may be more than one thing or one area. The most important piece of all of this is asking what we need. But we must ask our heart center and not look for answers in our head.
Our thoughts can create feelings which over time lead to beliefs that are held as a habit in our subconscious brain. Our brain means no harm, but if we follow our thoughts, we are not always listening to our whole selves.
So sometimes what I need at that moment looks like this… “today I need to change my thoughts. I need to move my attention because I know that my thoughts create my feelings and I want to listen from deeper within me.”
You too can practice Self-Care (and figure out exactly where to start) by listening to your expert inner guidance, specifically your heart center.
Our heart energy can simply connect us to all that we need. When we connect to our heart center, we free our mind. This is often the ultimate form of self-care for our mind.
Our heart center connects to every part of our body. It supports our body day in and day out. So what does your heart center need in order to continue supporting your body?
Does it need gratitude? When was the last time you thanked it? Does it need focused breath to allow the physical healing of that energy field? Does it need foods that help keep it strong and nourish it? Or maybe it needs an opportunity to pump more and become more efficient?
Our hearts are so wise! They can connect us to what our soul needs as well as what our minds & bodies need.
Our heart center aligns our vibration, processes emotions, and has a never-ending abundance of love. What a gift!
This is where bravery and courage come from; however, we must nurture it and allow it to hold space in our lives.
When we practice self-awareness and listen to our heart center, the pathways of self-care are easily revealed for us. Soon we see that self-compassion has become second nature.
Our heart is the communication director of our soul.
When we connect to our heart center, our divine self is revealed. When we see this, we know clearly what self-care is called for at the moment.
So today I ask you…
How can you connect to your heart center?
What did your heart center tell you? In this moment, what is it that you need to take care of your highest self?
The more we practice connection to our heart center, the more self-compassionate neural pathways are built and this, my friends… takes us right up the vibrational emotional scale.
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