The Power of Self-care

I'm sharing a simple self-massage with you in this first Module to highlight the importance of self-care in your life - and to give you a wonderful, self-nurturing practice to enjoy right away.

Self-care is such a central part of being well, of staying present to yourself and of connecting to your rightness and goodness as a woman, a human being and a natural being.

This is true throughout our menstrual-cycling years. When we hit menopause, self-care becomes non-negotiable (unless you want to risk having a horrible ride and to miss out on the transformative benefits of this transition).

And yet, in the rush of our busy lives, we tend to put ourselves at the bottom of the heap. To do plenty for others but to forget to care for ourselves. This, I believe, is the source of so much energetic and hormonal imbalance that builds and builds over the years, causing ill-health and suffering.

Simply changing that habit can be transformative in changing our relationship with ourselves and our bodies. And it is key to turning a negative spiral of well-being into a positive spiral.

What do I mean by self-care?

Let's first clarify what I don't mean.

I do not mean little pampering acts of replenishing goodness in a self-abusing life of ignoring one's own well-being. Those acts are just plasters (band aids) on a life that urgently needs changing.

What I'm talking about is cultivating an underlying attitude of self-care in the way you live, the way you talk to yourself and the way you tend to your own needs.

Self-care is founded in kindness - and it turns out that the hardest person to be kind to is often ourselves. Just think about some of the things you sometimes say to yourself - you might be horrified if you heard someone saying those things to someone else!

It also includes taking care in daily life not to put your own well-being at the bottom of the priority pile.

That means tending to yourself with care in every moment - for instance, when you touch yourself in the shower, when you prepare and serve food to yourself and when you set yourself up for relaxation on your Yoga mat. Can you do all that like you are tending to an honoured guest?

Self-care also means making space for regular acts of nourishing me-time. If that brings up feelings of selfishness, I invite you to ungrip your mind from that belief forever - if you want to give the best of yourself to the world, you have to tend that self.

But you know this. Signing up for this program was, in itself, a great act of self-care. The challenge is maintaining our commitment to ourselves - even when we are busy or stressed.

Building self-esteem and self-love

All of the practices in this program are self-care practices. I'm highlighting self-massage here because it is such powerful medicine for cultivating self-acceptance, building self-esteem and self-love and recharging drained batteries.

And the more self-love we build, the more caring for ourselves naturally moves to the top of our to-do list. It becomes a virtuous cycle.

Our bodies deserve our gratitude and love - BEFORE we start that diet or head for the gym. Our body is our home for this life. It is doing everything it can to maintain the highest level of dynamically shifting equilibrium and do the best possible job for us all the time.

Yet we berate our bodies when things go wrong. Personally, I'm amazed that they are still standing at all, given all that we and a human life throws at them without giving anything back!

So, when you commit to eating well and taking exercise, try not to do it in the spirit of frustrated conflict with a body that is not behaving as you would like, but instead in the spirit of care and support for your body in carrying you through this life.

Let's commit to taking - and to making - the time to care for ourselves. Why? Because we are worth it! And our wellbeing depends on it.

What you'll need:

• A warm, cosy space
• Something comfortable to sit on eg the floor, your yoga mat, a blanket/cushion/sheepskin

© 2022 Tiffany Bown NurtureWorks