Is self-care more than taking physical care of our bodies?
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Is self-care more than taking physical care of our bodies?
Many of us know what self-care is, or some ways of caring for ourselves, even if we may not do it. For example; exercising, going to bed when we are tired, eating nourishing foods that don’t dull or stimulate us, resting when required, going for a massage, a spa, getting our hair cut, our nails done and so much more.
But is there more to self-care than this? Does deeply caring for our bodies allow us to develop a deeper relationship to ourselves, to God, and a connection to our Soul?
Now, there is definitely room for all of the above in self-care. It is the basic foundation, the starting point from which we can build: walking, swimming, exercise, how we prepare food, the food we eat, how we dress etc. and even going to the toilet when we need to; but, more so than what we do, it is being aware of the quality we move in. Getting dressed in a rush, doing our hair and eating breakfast at the same time, slamming doors – are these self-caring actions? Whilst it may appear like we’re saving ourselves time, this way of living eventually leaves us feeling exhausted, stressed out, overwhelmed or anxious as we are moving in a quality and energy that is not of our true divine nature, disconnected from ourselves and our body. Doing things in a different quality and movement on the other hand – one that sees us start with a connection to our body and ourselves first, moving in a way that honours our body, with gentleness and purpose – leaves us feeling full and complete in our bodies.
If this is something we are unsure of or find hard to do, a great starting point and tool to re-connect to ourselves and our body is the Gentle Breath Meditation®. The process of re-learning how to self-care can be difficult to begin with if we have spent most of our life in our heads and not listening to our body and what we feel. True self-care isn’t a list of ‘should do’s’ or ‘should nots’, as there is no joy or evolution in this, but rather a constant dialogue with our body. For example, when eating something, asking yourself, how does that feel in my body? –– and if your body doesn’t like it, actually following that message by not eating it anymore. Another example could be going to the gym, lifting weights and asking yourself – how did that feel for my body? Was it too much, did I overdo it? And adjust your exercise program according to what your body is calling for, not based on what anyone else is doing or saying.
Whilst these physical, more practical aspects of self-care indeed form an important foundation from which we build self-love and love into our life, connection to ourselves and our body, could there be more to self-care for us to deeply consider?
What if self-care was more than just the physical things we do?
These are all great and absolutely required, but what if self-care was also about trusting ourselves, backing everything we feel, speaking our truth, not doubting ourselves, and in that building and appreciating our own self-worth and self-value.
Self-doubt and lack of trust of our own feelings is disregarding and dishonouring of ourselves. It affects our body from the inside out; we diminish our light, our innate absolute knowing, truth and wisdom.
Imagine we had someone walking beside us all the time doubting everything we felt or said; that would feel awful and we would soon tell them to get lost, but this is how we often treat ourselves.
This lack of trust in our own feelings, our body, our truth, can leave us feeling less solid, sad, uncertain, anxious and end up keeping us on a merry-go-round of being in our head trying to work things out, or pleasing other people, simply because we have disconnected from our body.
Whereas when we start to listen to our body, to connect to our body, to our truth and trust ourselves, there is a solidness, absoluteness and a steadiness that comes with that, a joy. It can take time to develop if we have been used to not trusting and backing ourselves; the simple key is to start small, giving ourselves and our body moments to stop and pause, to connect and ask our body what’s next and what does it feel to do. This might be to go for a walk, or write, or tidy up, or simply lie down and rest. Learning to live from our innate knowing requires us to go with what our body says, even if our head is saying really?
Over time, as it becomes clearer and clearer as to what our body feels, the more we listen to it the more we are committing to, trusting and backing ourselves. This is not about creating escape or relief from life, or from the things we don’t feel equipped for or can’t cope with, it is about developing a way of living and being with ourselves that is deeply caring, not self-abusive, and building a level of awareness which we can only do by listening to what our body tells us and responding to that, never from knowledge or lists of things to do. It is only from this honouring of ourselves and the innate preciousness of our bodies that we can deepen our relationship with God and our Soul, letting the divine that is already inside of us out to live a very practical and deeply loving life.
It is inevitable that we might make so-called ‘wrong choices’, but these are simply part of the learning process as we start to see more clearly the effects of what overriding the natural impulses our body have on our health and wellbeing. There is no right or wrong choice, just an opportunity to grow.
This can then be extended to what we feel in conversations, email exchanges and what’s happening with other people: for example, where someone may say something and you start to doubt yourself, thinking did I feel that? Was I wrong? We can then simply say no to those thoughts, knowing we, in fact, have no self-doubt issues but we are dis-honouring our truth, the truth we instantly felt, and stand solid by what we feel.
"The body is the marker of ALL truth."
Serge Benhayon The Way of Initiation, ed 1, p 602
Filed under
Body awareness, Clairsentience, Confidence, Empowerment
