Self Care

Learning to help yourself

is a lot like teaching others, but more difficult for many reasons. It's much easier to say 'be good to yourself' than it is to do it. It has a lot to do with mindfulness and self-awareness. I used to know a woman (at Walmart) who, besides being an extremely nice person, had been through a lot of personal trauma in her life, but somehow kept a positive outlook on the world. She smoked cigarettes, as did I, but she took great care of her health as far as diet, and told me how she eats a big salad every single day. I claim to eat pretty well but I definitely don't do that. 

One of the things that Charlamagne tha God said in his book was that part of his healthy lifestyle includes eating something green with every meal. He gave examples of spinach with his eggs, salad for lunch and some asparagus with dinner. He said he used to be overweight and have a bad skin condition and ate fast food every day. He made the point that most people take much better care of their things like shoes and cars, than they do their own bodies. 

I think I know why. It's because we can't see inside our own selves. Literally we can only see our own outsides. Most of us don't even understand enough biology to know how our digestion system works, or what the purpose of our different organs are. It's fine to say you need to eat a balanced diet, but if you don't really get why then there's a disconnect. It's the same reason people don't drink enough water or walk around enough, which is the most basic health tip to feel better and have a functioning brain and body.

I'm thinking about this now because I want to be less haphazard with my own self-care. I tend to be more reactive than proactive when it comes to health. When I developed a cyst on a very sensitive part of my body I ended up reading a lot of health blogs and not only found some helpful information and advice, but was inspired by other women's personal stories about their experiences trying to improve their own health. I am still looking for the 'secret' to continuity; how to keep doing something that is good for you over and over on a regular basis; without becoming bored or tired of it.

I still have back pain (although it's much improved over time and with some meds I finally got) from an injury that happened a year ago. And so sporadically I go back (haha) to a couple different online yoga teachers who are amazing at what they do. What I wish is that I did it every single day, and not just when I am feeling pain. Yoga is the best preventative exercise one can do at home because it is specialized stretching that you don't think about doing until you are guided through a series of poses. And they build on each other so you become more flexible over time. I wish I did it every day. I wish.

The two teachers I keep going back to when I remind myself to take ten or twenty minutes to actually do something good for myself are Adriene Mishler (self-love) Yoga with Adriene (home page) and Jen Hilman (back pain) Jen Hilman (home page). I discovered Adriene when I was simply searching for some safe beginner's yoga and fell in love with her personality and expertise as a teacher. I found Jen when I came upon a YouTube channel called PsycheTruth and after checking out some of their different videos, she was the person who seemed the most accessible as a teacher; very laid back and caring. They are both really grounded in their yoga practice and seem to really understand how to explain the movements they are demonstrating while taking the time to tell you why they work.

Peace and Love.