{"id":1067,"date":"2020-11-14T17:26:06","date_gmt":"2020-11-14T22:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wingedlifecoaching.com\/?p=1067"},"modified":"2020-11-14T17:26:16","modified_gmt":"2020-11-14T22:26:16","slug":"handle-yourself-with-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wingedlifecoaching.com\/handle-yourself-with-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Handle (Yourself) With Care"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1067\" class=\"elementor elementor-1067\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-9dcf7b5 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"9dcf7b5\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_ha_eqh_enable&quot;:false}\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-371bb4f\" data-id=\"371bb4f\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-df7aaf5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"df7aaf5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The idea of \u201cself-care\u201d can sometimes feel selfish or narcissistic. But the idea of a pattern of work and rest and caring for our very human needs has been part of spiritual practice for centuries. The Benedictine tradition (c. 526AD to present) specifies a \u201crule of life\u201d &#8211; a pattern of work, prayer and rest that supports the body and mind as well as the spirit. While we non-monastics do not necessarily have the latitude \u2013 or even the desire \u2013 to follow a fixed daily schedule, paying attention to what supports our best self helps us <u>be<\/u> our best self.<\/p><p>In these turbulent times, self-care is more important than ever. Think of self-care as a bank account: when you are depleted, you have little to give. The more reserves you have, the more generous you can be.<\/p><p>Anna Guest-Jelly at Curvy Yoga* talks about \u201ccare instructions.\u201d\u00a0 Whichever phrase you prefer, a \u201crule of life\u201d or \u201ccare instructions\u201d are a general outline of what supports you: body, mind and spirit: what helps you be at your best. You might have to start with those things that you know put you at your worst, and go opposite.<\/p><p>As we head into the holidays still in the midst of COVID, still in the midst of election uncertainty, still in the midst of racial unrest, let us take care of ourselves and encourage our loved ones to do the same.<\/p><p>Here are some of my care instructions:<\/p><ul><li style=\"list-style-type: none;\"><ul><li><i>Take the first few minutes of the morning to spend quiet time with yourself and God. <\/i>The form may change from season to season or even day to day &#8211; sometimes taking the form of centering prayer and at other times, journaling, spiritual reading, or just paying close attention to what\u2019s going on in nature outside my window. This morning time definitely supports the rest of my day. Over the years, I\u2019ve noticed that my days just don\u2019t go as smoothly when I miss it.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p><ul><li style=\"list-style-type: none;\"><ul><li><i>Get outdoors!<\/i> I have really come to see how much better I feel when I get outdoors, whether for a hike or bike ride, an amble around the garden or just to sit in the sunshine on the deck. Even a ten minute walk in the drizzle or cold is supportive.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p><ul><li style=\"list-style-type: none;\"><ul><li><i>Get regular exercise, and don\u2019t resist manual labor. <\/i>After a lifetime of avoiding manual labor, I\u2019ve come to recognize how useful it is in discharging stress \u2013 especially if it is outdoors.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p><ul><li style=\"list-style-type: none;\"><ul><li><i>Meet regularly with a spiritual director and\/or spiritual direction group. <\/i>This helps me keep my attention on my intention, keeps my honest, gives me an opportunity to process and integrate, and gives me the perspective of others on the journey.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p><ul><li style=\"list-style-type: none;\"><ul><li><i>Eat nourishing, delicious food, enjoying caffeine, fat, sugar and alcohol in small amounts that don\u2019t disrupt your moods <\/i>I feel physically healthier, mentally sharper and emotionally more even-keeled when I follow this instruction.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p><ul><li style=\"list-style-type: none;\"><ul><li><i>Pay attention to your emotions and journal them out.<\/i> Being more attentive to when I\u2019m feeling jacked up, angry, confused, or spinning in circles, and stopping to journal, to get the swirling thoughts out and allow the emotions to flow through always \u2013<i>always<\/i> &#8211; gets me to wisdom on the other side. And helps me to respond rather than react to the situation that triggered the emotion.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p><ul><li style=\"list-style-type: none;\"><ul><li><i>Allow yourself to express your quirky humor. <\/i>Humor keeps me from taking myself too seriously and lightens the mood for others.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p><ul><li style=\"list-style-type: none;\"><ul><li><i>Stay in touch with those you love, and nourish new relationships.<\/i> They keep me rooted and supported and allow me to help others stay rooted and supported. And they are just plain fun!<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p><ul><li style=\"list-style-type: none;\"><ul><li><i>Be intentional about fun. <\/i>When I don\u2019t have enough fun in my life, I can get really cranky, resentful, and not much fun to be around.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><p>\u00a0<\/p><p>How about you? What are your self-care instructions? What rule of life do you wish to follow?<\/p><p><b><u>Invitation to Action:<\/u><\/b>\u00a0 Take two minutes right now to list 3-5 of your care instructions.\u00a0 You can always add more later.\u00a0 And plan to follow at least one of those instructions this very day.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><h6>*If you are \u201ccurvy,\u201d older, have physical challenges or are just starting (or re-starting) yoga, I highly recommend Anna.\u00a0 Anna is a master of modifications to meet almost every physical challenge and has both free and paid options. Check her out at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.curvyyoga.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">curvyyoga.com<\/a>.<\/h6>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The idea of \u201cself-care\u201d can sometimes feel selfish or narcissistic. But the idea of a pattern of work and rest and caring for our very human needs has been part of spiritual practice for centuries. The Benedictine tradition (c. 526AD to present) specifies a \u201crule of life\u201d &#8211; a pattern of work, prayer and rest [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wingedlifecoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wingedlifecoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wingedlifecoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wingedlifecoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wingedlifecoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wingedlifecoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wingedlifecoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wingedlifecoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wingedlifecoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wingedlifecoaching.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}