Your Own Words: (Even More) Quick Starter Self Care Tips…

 An Installment in Our Series on Building a (Courageous Woman’s) Life

My goodness! I’m so proud of you, Courageous Women!

I asked you to share some of your favorite ways to take care of yourself, and by golly you answered. I’m thrilled to know you’re DOING this to begin with, but I love how creative you are, too.

Thanks for sharing your Wisdom, including some ideas I’d forgotten. Here are some of the ways you told me YOU take care of your Self.

• Alternative healing

  • Acupuncture

  • Visualization for relaxation

  • Meditation

  • Yoga or TaiChi

• Creating designated down time

  • Taking an email holiday from Friday night through Sunday mornings.

  • Setting aside sacred weekends. NO work. Instead, engaging only with family, friends, and activities you love to do anyway – like knitting, hiking, gardening.

• Out and about comfort

  • Going for a long beautiful drive with music playing and (in warm weather) the windows down. Around here, a trip to Cades Cove in the southern end of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a favorite.

  • Spreading a towel or a throw on a big, flat warm rock by a cool, rushing creek and let the water’s song lull you to sleep.

  • Doing the equivalent of a ‘walking meditation’. Go exploring with a camera. Look for

    interesting shots, like close ups of a wildflower, or an interesting angle on old building.

• Home Remedies

  • Laying down with your favorite four-legged

  • Putting in the earbuds and tune out the world

  • Writing stories: funny stories, sad stories, scary stories, interesting stories. Write about your childhood, family members that have gone on, your pets, etc. Write whatever pops into your head. And give it the ending YOU want it to have.

  • Engaging in child-like play, which is restorative too. Play with legos! Print out mandalas (adult coloring patterns) off the internet, or keep a few kids’ coloring books on hand. Grab a box of 64 knowing you don’t have to share with ANY one. :)

  • Digging in the dirt: house plants, herb gardens, container veggies, square foot gardens, flower beds. Keep it simple. Keep it fun.

• Mindset

  • Accept the things you cannot change. Change the things you can. :)

 And one of my favorites came from Linda LeBrane, who had this to share.

“EVERY Tuesday is self-care day. My husband “goes somewhere/anywhere” for the day… And my 4 (to-do) items for the day are: Silence. Solitude. Sleep. Self-care.”

She goes on to say that self-care might include a shower, a shave, painting her nails, coloring her hair, or going for her weekly massage.

Now THAT’s the way to do it!

You know what to do, Courageous ones. Caring for yourself is an act of unCommon Courage, just the kind of Courage you already have…

So, tell me. What kind of self-care are you practicing?

How’s it going? What helps? What gets in the way?

And how does it feel when it works? :)

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Click HERE to get the scoop.

It’s a terrific opportunity for Courageous Women!

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_{Photo Credits: by Vik Nanda on Flickr}