Inspiring Your Self-Compassion Practice

Inspiring your Self Compassion Practices

Self care, love and compassion is taking care of yourself, to move toward health and overall wellbeing of your mind, body and soul. It is treating yourself with love and kindness while respecting yourself as a human being who is both imperfect and deserving of compassion. Giving yourself the same grace you would give to others.

Self-care can differ daily, sometimes it's indulging in a rich cup of coffee with a sweet treat and sometimes it’s passing up the sweet treat, eating a salad and going for a walk. Sometimes what you need mentally is different than physically. It is all about balance. Sometimes and some days you will do great with your self care practice. Some days or even weeks you may not and that is ok. Do what you can, when you can. Just keep going and move forward.

These are only some ideas for you to try. They are not here to overwhelm you. Pick one or two things, make it a habit and add as you see fit. DO NOT judge yourself for not doing something. You will grow, learn, adjust and add at your own pace. Feel free to come up with and add your own ideas too, be creative! You can always change the way you do something.

I recommend as time goes on, try to develop a minimum self care routine. The things you still try to do even when you don’t feel like doing any of it OR the things you can easily jump back into if you fell off the self care wagon. It happens to all of us, no judgment. You got this, just keep restarting as many times as you need to.

Why it is important

- You only have one body

- If not you, then who?

- Put on your oxygen mask first

- It is not selfish to prioritize your self care, fill your cup.

Practicing Self Care and Compassion

Give yourself the same compassion you would give to a loved one.

- Easy to give, difficult to receive

It's never too late

- The past is the past, you can only move forward

- Your past is your story, your journey

- Self Forgiveness

- You have the control

Keep it simple to start

- Only change or add a couple things at a time

- Create new habits, it takes over a month so keep going!

- Add things at your own pace

As slow, fast, many or as few as needed

- It's ok to try things and decide they are not for you. Adjust as needed

- You can call and look at it as a practice or routine.

- Patience, patience and more patience! Did I say patience????

Positive self-talk

- Fall in love with yourself, get to know you. (Relationship with self)

- Change the way you talk to yourself

- When you think something bad about yourself, change it.

- Tell yourself to stop saying negative things about yourself

- Patience. Don't be hard on yourself, realize it's a process and a journey.

- Sometimes it will be easier than others… We are human.

Challenge yourself

- Things should feel a little weird or not normal

- It’s ok to move outside your comfort zone

- Don’t overwhelm yourself but do challenge yourself

Adjust as needed

- Some things will work and some will not, that’s part of the process

- Your routines/practices will change over time and stages of life

- Growth can be uncomfortable but worth it

- Outside of your comfort zone is where the biggest growth happens

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is being present in the current moment. Observing and creating awareness of your thoughts and actions without judging them. If you live too much in the past it can trigger depression, if you live in the future, it can trigger anxiety. Living in the present keeps you balanced and grounded.

Everything you do can be self care if you apply mindfulness. The more you practice mindfulness the better you will get at it and the more automatic it will become. It’s a lot like muscle memory. Take any aspect of your life and ask yourself how can I make this self-care? A lot of things you already do you just have to change the way you look at them.

Competence equals confidence.

Ponder the following questions and journal the answers if you would like.

What are two ways I can practice mindfulness in my everyday life?

What can you look at as self-care that you previously didn’t consider self-care?

What are two things you can do for self-care even when you don’t feel like it?

Types Self Care and Self Compassion

It's easy to get in the routine of rushing through your morning self care and moving on with your day but the truth is caring for and cleaning your body is one of the most important things you can do for yourself. Simply practicing mindfulness during these activities can drastically change your day. Look at it as loving your body, not just something you have to do each day.

Try to make sure you have plenty of time to do your tasks without feeling overly rushed. That is often easier said than done but you can set it as a priority and wake up earlier or go to bed sooner to give yourself more time. You have the power to change what you want to change.

A lot of the things listed below are from an Ayurvedic Daily Routine. Ayurveda is the sister science to yoga and the medical practice in India. It strives to prevent illnesses rather than just treat it and largely uses food, herbs and spices as medicine. This could be a whole other workshop… Lots to talk about here.

Everyday Selfcare

Waking up (Morning)

- 5 Deep Breaths to start your morning

* Center self, set intention and start your day

- No technology for 30 minutes

* Let the day start without outside influences

- Eliminate, use restroom

* Get toxins out

- Warm beverage like lemon water or tea

* Fires up digestive system

* Helps with bowel movement

- Rinse Face with cool water- wash face holes

* Helps wake up

* Removes toxins from sleep

- Scrape tongue and brush teeth

* Clean bacteria off tongue (white stuff)

* Keep mouth fresh longer

- Oil Pulling

* Protects teeth

* Keeps mouth fresh

* Clears bacteria

-Diffuse Oils

-Turn on music

Evening (Bedtime)

- Try to get a good night sleep, 7 - 8 hours is ideal.

*Sleep affects many aspects of life, especially mental health

- Turn of screens at least 30 minutes before bed

* Blue light produced my TVs and phones can disrupt sleep

- Not eating before bed

- Small glass of tea before bed

- Meditate before bed

- Relaxing yoga before bed

- Essential oils before bed or diffuse while sleeping

- Brush Teeth & Floss

- Wash Face

Other ideas to try, every little thing counts!

Showering/Bathing

- Mindful showering

- Add essential oils

- Listen to feel good or relaxing music

- Take time when you can, be mindful.

- Shaving

- Use a scrub or exfoliant on your body

- Can put oil on skin before showering to moisturize and protect skin

Moisturizing

- Moisturize after you shower or bathe

- Can use oils like coconut oil, Almond oil and sesame oil

* You can add essential oils

* Use warming oil in the winter, cooling oil in the summer

Warming oil- Sesame oil

Neutral oil- Almond

Cooling oil- Coconut oil

- Can use a natural lotion or other moisturizer.

* Try to stay away from paraffins, SLSs and artificial fragrance.

- If you have time add a little massage while you rub in moisturizer

- Practice being present and observing what your body needs

Dry Brushing

- Stimulating the lymphatic system

- Remove dead skin cells

- Exfoliating

Cooking/Eating

- Listen to feel good music

- Make sure you have enough time, so you don't have to rush

- Make something comforting

- Make something new

- Make something healthy

- Mindful eating and cooking

Driving

- Listen to feel good music, a class, podcast or book

- Mindful driving

- Make sure you leave on time so not rushed

Mindfulness

- Meditation or yoga

- Enjoy a cup of tea

- Write down 3-5 gratitude's a day or acknowledge them

- 5 deep breaths in morning or when anxious

Boundaries

- Knowing it’s ok to say no

- Knowing when to say no and when to say yes

- Letting unhealthy or toxic things or people go

- Resting and taking time for yourself

What Goes in Your Body

Healthy eating habits and proper nutrition

- Become aware of your body and sensitivities it might have.

* Sensitivities may be gluten, dairy, sugar and more.

* Can be helpful to keep a food journal

- There are a lot of diets, do what works for you and your body

- Stopping eating when full

- Making sure you get enough food

- Don’t eat right before bed

Vitamins

- A good multivitamin daily

- Vitamin D3 in the darker months

- Probiotic- Gut health

* Kombucha

* Aloe

- Turmeric

- Herbs. Do your research and talk to an herbalist or your Dr.

Beauty products

-Skin is your largest organ, everything you put on it goes in it.

-Try to avoid paraffins, artificial fragrance and SLS/SLES

- Many things are SO easy to make!

Music

- Music greatly affects the way we think and feel

- Try to listen to feel good music

TV/ Media

- What we watch greatly affects how we think and feel.

- What we see and do on social media greatly affects us.

Herbal Tea

- Organic is best or know where it comes from

- Endless types of tea and benefits

- Have medicinal properties

- Add honey as a natural sweetener

- Sweet tea from the store has A LOT of sugar

- Homemade Iced Tea is delicious and super easy to make

Water

- WATER IS SO IMPORTANT

- Effects every system and function in the body

- As a general rule, drink half your body weight in ounces.

* If you are 160 pounds, Drink 80 oz

- It's ok to work your way up

- Carry a special water bottle and track intake

Diffusing or using Essential oils

-Make sure you use quality oils

* Please see me for questions regarding this.

* I use and love Revive Essential Oils www.revive-eo.com

* Look for oils that have been through GC/MS Testing

Third party testing that checks for toxins in oils.

What is in your oils you also ingest

* Do your research before purchasing.

* Be leery of the really cheap oils, DO YOUR RESEARCH.

Takes an insane amount of plant to make oils.

- Use oil rollers with a carrier oil to roll on as needed

- Make a room spray

- Essential oil car air freshener

- Add essential oils to full bottles of oil

Controlled Substances & Smoking

- Putting Toxins in the body, more the body has to deal with.

- It greatly affects mental health, physical health and motivation.

- Temporary feel good, lasting negative effect on the body

Physical Body and Movement

Exercise

- Exercise will be different for everyone

- Respect your fitness level

- Challenge yourself and set goals

- Make it fun. Get creative.

* Dance at home, Hula Hoop, go on nature walks or jogs, Hike.

Yoga/Meditation

- Create your own Zen space to practice

- Make it special and meaningful

- You can do 5 minutes to 1 hour

Do what you can, something is better than nothing

- The more you feel like you don't have time, the more you actually need it.

Breathwork

- When feeling anxious, observe your breath and slow it down.

- There are countless different breathing exercises you can learn and use.

Foot Soaks

- Exfoliate and moisturize feet

- Foot Massage

- Trim nails

Outdoor/Nature

- Get fresh air & sunshine

- Care for plants

- Spend time near or on the water

- Hike

Passions/Creative

- Find time for the things that set your heart on fire, your passions.

- Play Music or Sing

- Art or building things

- Dance

- Photography

- Learn a language

- Take a class or learn something new

* Udemy

* Online Classes, In person classes, Workshops, Clinics

* Competence = Confidence.

Environmental/ Passive Self Care

Cleaning & Organizing

- Keep a clean-living space. Declutter your space, Declutter your mind

- Have a home for everything and put it back when done with it.

- Organize a special place for the things that mean a lot to you or inspire you.

*Crystals, books, pictures, flowers, plants, cards, paintings, anything.

Other Surroundings

- Add a pink Himalayan salt lamp

- Diffuse essential oils

- Open windows and let natural light in

- Listening to things

* Music, nature, classes, a book

Challenges

-We are human and have bad days

* Start small again, just keep trying.

* When you don’t feel like doing it is when you need it most

-Season changes

* Fall through winter can be challenging for some

* Adjusting routines as needed but still continuing

-The universe testing you to see if you really want it

-As your vibration rises you will attract similar energy

* Lower vibrations will naturally start to leave your life.

* Sometimes you will lose people or things and it can be painful

* Be assured that room is being made for something better

-Life is busy

* This will get easier as habits start to form and mindset shifts

Mindset is HUGE! Whole other workshop.

Final Notes

Music is powerful and can be a great healer and tool in self-care but I also want to mention the power of silence. Sometimes having silence and not listening to music can be very beneficial. It gives you time alone with your thoughts, without distraction or outside noise. I know this can be scary but sitting with your own thoughts can be very illuminating, awakening and healing. Similar to meditation. However, when you do this you must practice your mindfulness and not judge yourself or your thoughts. Just observe and be patient with yourself.

REMINDER, this is made as a guide you can come back to when needed or when you feel stuck. To help give you ideas, inspiration and ways you can implement self care into your life. As I said before, this is not here to overwhelm you or make you feel bad about where you are in your journey. It’s just here to assist you.

In closing, remember you only fail if you do not try. If you try and fail it is not actually a failure because you learn, gain wisdom and can do better next time. Ultimately you win. Just keep trying and putting one foot in front of the other and you will eventually get to where you want to be.

Ponder and journal the following questions...

Pick two areas of your life you feel you need more self-care and self-compassion?

Pick two things you would like to bring into your self care routine. They do not have to be from the list, just something that you want to work on to better yourself.

What is something that makes you feel fire? When do you truly feel like you? Something you get excited about?