A few days ago, I read an article about the toxic side effects of self care, and I do say there’s merit in some of the arguments. However, I have not one regret about choosing my monthly theme for April – Healing With Self Care.
Healing With Self Care In April
Remember to fill your cup first, so you can shine your light fully. That is how we serve best.
Anonymous
Here’s what I wrote in my Bullet Journal at the start of April:
March was quite hectic. Despite all the challenges, I’ve had a good year so far. It’s time to focus on self care. It’s important that even as I heal emotionally I focus on other things as well.
One important thing is taking a break – a staycation.
There are a lot of other activities I want to undertake – journaling, collages, some cross-stich. I realise now that self care also includes:
- Guarding my time and energy
- Listening to my intuition and acting on it
- Making time for my practices at the start of the day
- Going off the plan – when I need to rest
- Reaching out for help and support when I need it
- Turning off devices early to help me sleep better
- Keeping the promises I have made to myself
- Taking small pauses during the day to do something that brings me joy
- Making time for breath work – Inhale/ Exhale mindfully
- Giving myself grace when things don’t go according to plan.
Like in the last month, I made a kind of a collage that encapsulated what I wanted the month to be.
How April Went
The month went rather well.
We were able to find a lovely facility to leave Lucky and that gave us the push we needed to plan and follow through on our staycation. We had a restful couple of days in a hotel, enjoyed some new cuisine, read a bit, talked a lot and rested.
I set up a trial flower delivery to myself – so I can enjoy some beautiful fresh flowers at home – something I’ve always wanted to do.
I took things a lot more easy and also discovered that there’s such a word as ‘decommit’ – so I went ahead and did that. Decommiting from a lot of things that were not a priority but put pressure on me and caused guilt.
I enjoyed writing a few posts on Medium and some now and then on Instagram, while consciously cutting down on posts on my blogs.
Most of all, I trusted my intuition and made some choices and did some things that resulted in more peace and equanimity.
I find myself getting drawn deeper and deeper into the notion that what I do or achieve matters little, it’s how I relate to God, to myself, to my partner and others and the choices I make that is most important.
Healing through self care is an on going exercise, but I’m glad I focused on it in April.
My reminder to myself and you:
I like that page on your bullet journal filled with beautiful reminders! Taking care of yourself is absolutely important no matter where you are in your life’s journey. I am glad to know that you are making yourself and your needs a priority, Corinne. Hugs. ❤️
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It is good to know your April was good and you could a have a relaxing staycation among all other things. Getting a flower delivery just for myself is an idea I have had for a few years (as a result of a conversation thread on buying flower bouquets we had a few years back in the Facebook group) but I could never bring myself to order it. The middle class mentality kicks in hard – spending money on something which will wither away is a wastage. Thus, I have set myself to
learn to crochet flowers and place them all over the home.
As you say “Healing through self care is an on going exercise,” I too have come to realise the process of healing is long term. It also gets frustrating at times when I find myself going back to certain negative aspects repeatedly even when I believe each time I have released them from my system. I am focusing upon exercising creativity for now.
Anamika Agnihotri recently posted..Gratitude list for April 2023
I think you’re on a similar thought wave to me Corinne – there’s a need to be kinder to ourselves, to know when we’re pushing too hard and need to pause and breathe. I wrote this week about making an intentional “Do-Nothing” Day a regular part of my calendar – it just does my heart good to be at home in the peace and quiet with no commitments. I’m finding that I’m needing to step back even further and there are changes in the wind for me in that area too – stay tuned!
What a beautiful post. And I love that collage. Have been meaning to make a Vision board like that for a while, and I think now is the time to act upon it. 🙂
Lovely post and I’m so glad you are taking time to just be.
Big hugs Cory.
I am happy to hear about your staycation and about Lucky finding a good creche, too. You needed the break, Corinne.
We all need a break, but how often do we really allow ourselves to chill?
Self-care and healing are everyday affairs for me. There are days when I forget about it all and go back to old times when I allowed negativity to ruin my peace, but I have to remind myself every day that I need to focus on myself. It is one of the most underrated aspects of our well-being.