“I love you, Me” 5-Day Challenge
This week, I invite you to join me in the practice of simply saying to yourself —either verbally, looking in the mirror, mentally, or in writing: I love you. Acknowledge all that you are struggling with and give yourself credit for persevering through this crisis.
This is ourselves, under pressure
Catharsis: an emotional discharge through which one can achieve a state of moral or spiritual renewal or achieve a state of liberation from anxiety and stress.
Consider this a big virtual hug from me! Now, wrap your arms around your own self and squeeze.
Now… pause. Take a deep breath in and out and KNOW you are appreciated by me. Feel that appreciation in your heart.
Fall and winter bring longer nights, making it a perfect time to shift your practice to the evening hours.
Animals burrow and hibernate. We, too, can go underground metaphorically, in synch with nature’s own drive to cycle through a period of rest and reflection. This is a time for long hot baths, star gazing and quiet contemplation.
My body said: Slow down!
An embodied approach to self care is always, first and foremost, about learning to listen to your own body, to recognize that the mind and body are ONE, even if they seem to speak with different languages.
Answering your own call for self care relies on turning that kind of mindful attention to yourself.
And again, the body’s own sensations carry all the signals for what you need.
Last week I talked a little about practice as a way to create structure in your day around intention
I mentioned that for me, a morning ritual is critical for feeling like I’m starting my day off on the right foot. You might think that yoga is my morning practice. It’s actually not!
It’s Sunday evening. How are you feeling? Did you get a chance to rest this weekend?
Practice: I also want to say a little more about the importance of practice in creating structure. A daily practice of some kind doesn’t just segment your day into different kinds of activities. Practice helps organize your mind around intention. And I don’t mean AN intention. I mean, doing whatever it is you’re doing WITH intention.
Start your week with Intention
Sankalpa is part of the traditional Yoga Nidra practice. A sankalpa is an intention that is so strong, nothing will keep you from achieving it. Establishing a sankalpa at the beginning of Yoga Nidra helps you cultivate the power of resolve.
Congratulations!
In these most stressful of times, in the midst of a global pandemic, economic contraction, political polarization and civil unrest, you recognized your own value enough to invest in an ongoing program of practicing self care. And this isn’t a quick mani-pedi with a coat of gloss to make it pretty. This is the careful excavation of the precious shiny gem of your deepest, knowingest, best self.
