SELF NURTURING

Oct 10, 2018

How much can you get from an empty jug? Not a lot!

When we are engaged in service for others, it is very easy to forget to rejuvenate and replenish ourselves. Loving one’s self is the first step to healing ourselves and others.

How often do we see healers and carers become sicker than  those whom they care?

The way to avoid this situation is to balance our lives with healthy activities and allow room for play, entertainment, and taking time out for engaging with nature. Walking in the bush or swimming in the sea keeps us in touch with the simple life and allows us to be “in the moment”. Indeed, these are opportunities for meditation that we can use at any time – being mindful of our surroundings and involving our senses of sight, hearing. smell and touch. 

Such situations that take us away from the impact and stress of our everyday lives nurture us and get us in touch with our inner peace. It is especially beneficial for those who are unable to sit in silence to meditate.

True balance occurs when our receiving equals our giving. When we ” over – give” we can become drained, resentful and eventually sick ourselves. No matter how busy our lives are we should take time out for periodic healing sessions for ourselves whether these be massages or other modalities. I recommend to students that after every ten massages they give, they should then receive a massage themselves. I have struggled with this concept myself, mainly because of time constraints, but I  am endeavouring to honour myself by receiving massages. I am making progress in this regard. Self-nurturing does not have to be an expensive exercise. Here are some ideas:

~ Meditation in all of its forms
~ Epsom salts/ Essential oil bath
~ Candle lit bathroom
~ Naturally scented body lotions
~ Listening to beautiful music
~ Clearing your sacred space
~ Taking time to read inspirational books
~ Watching inspirational DVD’s
~ Start a Wish Book to write down all your ” Bucket List ” items.
~ Journaling – Vent all of your worries, stresses and anxieties, and then visualize your writing being given to God / Universe Source to take care of. There are many ways in which you can express yourself. The main idea is to get everything out of your head and out on paper so that you don’t have to carry it around with you all of the time.
~ Create positive mantras / affirmations for the day ahead.
~ Stretching – important for our general well – being. Just observe your dog or cat!
~ Breath work – mindfulness of the in-breath and out-breath. Guided meditations / breath work are available on YouTube.

Remember, whatever you do to nurture yourself is an investment in your physical, mental and spiritual health. So go forth and treat yourselves to something special.

A hui hou, aloha – until we meet again,

Love Dawn x

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