Self-care for a New Age
Self-care for a new age is about how you bring yourself to the now. There are a million and one things that take us out of ourselves on a daily basis and I think of self-care as the thing that returns us home. To ritualize self-care is to make a habit of it, to prioritize it and infuse it with your attention and care.
Daily practice can be anything that you are regularly committed to for your own growth and pleasure. One of the benefits of regular practice is that it creates and strengthens a foundation of trust in yourself.
We exist in a time where everything is vying for our “trust”. The healthcare system, car dealers, fitness experts to name a few. Trust me, they say, I will give you the answer you need, you only have to give me the money I ask, and it’s really a bargain. When you have a relationship with yourself based in trust and acceptance, you can resource your own wisdom to guide you to make the best decisions (or find the people that can help you)!
One of my favorite self-care remedies of all time is going roller skating. But I can’t roller skate every moment that I want to because, obviously, there are limitations The way that I create ritual around self-care is to have a daily routine that I do whether the rink is open or closed.
- I get up early. This gives me time alone to make tea and allow myself a few moments of breathing and listening. Sometimes I read and I almost always write, I move my body intentionally.
- I have regular dance parties where I crank up the music (loud music is a zen place for me) and boogie around the house with the kids.
- Sometimes, when everyone is screaming, I just close my eyes and feel my feet on the earth. I breathe deeply.
Because I do these things daily, I am not a stranger to myself. I am in conversation with the internal state of affairs, and even if my sanity is on hormonal recall, I see the cycle in it. I remember that I know the basics of what is going on with myself, and that allows me to step into the present.
Prepare to give yourself a lot of grace as you enter into the realm of caring for yourself. If you are not sure what might work, try a lot of things. If you are always around people, try a small solo venture. If you are used to being alone, get out in a public setting. Remember, self-care is about cultivating a relationship with yourself. Run the gamut and do it bravely in search of what feeds your soul.
To honor your cycles, acknowledge your self-worth, respect your boundaries, move with breath and own your needs are all ways of practicing self-care in the day to day. Try any of these things to guide yourself toward the beautiful being that you can become. No one can do self-care for you, it exists only between you and you.