Self-Care – Review

I knew when we started this, that it was a tall order! In latte terms, Self-Care has definitely been a Venti!!

And why have we been wading into these deep waters? The answer to that is simple. We want to experience the most ‘Aliveness’ possible in our lives. We want our cup to be so full, that we are literally overflowing with abundance…more than enough to nurture our selves, our relationships, our village, our co-workers…our world! And if that’s not enough, there’s always the moon:)

Remember Self is just one of the three sides to our Self-Fulfillment Pyramid, which I know you have downloaded and are using in your daily practice, right? The other two sides are Relationships, which we covered in stunning depth and Work/Service, which is our next exciting adventure!
Self is a holistic system….consisting of Body, Mind and Heart/Soul.

Body, Mind and Heart/Soul all work together to make us the best we can be. If any one of these parts is ‘off’, then the whole system suffers. That’s why we’ve taken so much time learning how to care deeply for all three aspects of our glorious whole!
Taking care of our bodies means many things…daily exercise, good nutritious food, enough sleep, fresh water, fresh air, fresh time in nature. Are you glowing with good health? I hope so… it’s a life-long commitment, so keep up the good work!

Our minds need stimulation as well as some quiet time…meditation in whatever way suits your life best. We also need Focus…this is also a life-long practice …disciplining our minds to focus on our intentions. Are you doing the Tree of Awareness meditation? It’s a wonderful way to keep your mind focussed on your essential self.

Finally, our hearts…our three hearts…remember?
Our Emotions inform us about how we operate in the outside world – we want to move from reacting in the Old Brain way (shame, fear, guilt, anger) to responding from our New Brain (love, peace and compassion).

Psyche brings us to our deeper, inside heart and helps us make that move to our new brain by showing us our patterns. And Connections is all about the on-going weaving – the ecstatic dance – between the other two hearts. This is where we really start to move into trust in our selves and in our world.
Our three hearts help us to make contact with our Inner Teacher…that source of wisdom which is always there for us…we just have to remind ourselves to access it.

So – that is Self-Care – care of all the amazing aspects of who you are. Think of yourself as a beautiful tree with roots that go deep into the earth. You are constantly bringing energy up from the roots to nurture the growth of life-sustaining fruit…your gifts, your talents, your awareness.

Which is a gorgeous segue, if I do say so myself, into our next topic….Work/Service. All your carefully nurtured gifts are now ripe to flow into whatever your chosen work is here in this lifetime. You are like a perfectly plump peach after all that deep self-care! Don’t let that perfect peach fall to the ground untasted.

Come back next time and we’ll explore the work you do and how to transform it into a deeper contribution…a satisfying gift or service for your village.