Something I hear more than anything from anyone looking to create positive change in their lives is, “ I want to take better care of myself.”
Many of us have no idea how to take care of ourselves. Many of us can't even sit in a room alone with ourselves and be silent for more than a minute.
As intelligent beings, we always have a stream of thought running through our minds and constant background noise drawing our attention away.
We spend so much of our lives on auto pilot that being still in our bodies and listening to what we really need in unknown to us. We are so busy worrying about what we need to do and how we need to take care of everyone else in our lives that our needs are often overlooked.
When, in our transition from being a child to being an adult, do we stop paying attention to what we want and need, and begin pushing it aside for all the things we NEED to do?
Being a health and wellness coach, most of the people I speak to are unaware of themselves. Unaware of the way they speak to themselves, unaware of the way they speak ABOUT themselves, unaware of their true nature, and unaware of the way the world sees them.
The universe has no inclination to any one person. Believe it or not, the world is not out to get you.
So, how do we recognize these thoughts that are detrimental to our true self and begin to notice and change the way we care for ourselves?
I ask this because the first step to taking care of yourself is to change the way you speak to yourself. To, as a friend says, 'give yourself grace'.
Our thoughts shape the world we live in. There is no tangible experience, it is simply perspective.
If the lens through which you think of yourself is negative, what do you think the world is going to look like to you? Negative.
If you are constantly feeling anxious about your mind and your body and your environment, what do you think the rest of the world is going to look like? Scary.
We first begin to care for ourselves by speaking to ourselves like you would speak to a very precious child you love dearly and would do anything for. Give her or him whatever he would like and begin to trust that person again.
Self-care is not just about taking a bath after a long, hard day at the office. It's not about nourishing your body with good food and exercise and it's not about buying yourself a bouquet of flowers to treat yourself.
You are not going to do these things for yourself unless you are able to tell yourself first that you deserve these things and are enough even without them.
Fill your space on the earth. Take all your space up and send it out so that you are full.
That's where you start.
Then:
Look in the mirror each and every morning and tell your smiling, beautiful face, that you ARE enough.
When you get home in the evening take a moment and sit by yourself, try to turn off all the thoughts and be in your body. Feel the pulse of your energy around the periphery of your body. Close your eyes and feel your breath, your life force, in and out of your body. Pull your shoulders back and hold your head high and breath into that confidence in yourself. Your physiology is the gateway into your emotions. Just by changing the way your body is positioned can adjust the way you feel.
When you crawl into bed at night, open your journal and talk about all those things you are grateful for that day. It doesn't have to be anything too elaborate, just a list of things you appreciate and show them your gratitude.
Just by doing these three simple things everyday for an extended period of time, say two weeks, you will begin to feel like at different person, like you are enough.
You'll then know what I know, that you are!
And if you still need help figuring out why you are not feeling like enough after your two weeks, get in touch.
XO
Jenn
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