Creating a Ritual of Self Care in the Busy Season
A Simplified Guide to Creating a Practice of Self Care
It is harvest season and our community is in the midst of the busiest time of the year. We know this to be true because many of the familiar faces at the wellness center are absent, busy creating, growing, and harvesting. While you pour out into your community, we want to offer you a simple guide to creating a practice of self-care that can fluctuate according to your season.
“[G]rowing into your future with health and grace and beauty doesn’t have to take all your time. It rather requires a dedication to caring for yourself as if you were rare and precious, which you are, and regarding all life around you as equally so, which it is. (267-268)”
― Victoria Moran, Younger by the Day: 365 Ways to Rejuvenate Your Body and Revitalize Your Spirit
Self Care in the Busy Season
During these long days of late summer and fall, setting aside any second can feel impossible. The harvest is here now and there can be no delays in bringing it in from the fields (whether those be literal or metaphorical). Preventing burnout and listening to your body can take as little as 20 minutes a day, and that is not 20 minutes all at once, but small moments and breaks throughout the day. A practice of self-care during busy times can include:
Prayer and meditation
Incorporate stillness into your morning ritual. Spend 5 minutes each morning in prayer or meditation to center yourself before the day begins. Liz from HandsOn Bodyworks during her days of stay-at-home parenting 6 children called this time the “Fellowship of the Loo”. Meditating while on the toilet is one way to incorporate self-care in the busy season! There are other natural pauses during the day you can add a moment of stillness to like meals and during commutes. Even a moment of quiet reflection can greatly impact the rest of the day.
Breathwork & Stretch
Practice deep breathing and opening stretches every 90 minutes. This could be two minutes focusing on releasing tension and taking in the progress you have made in your day.
This restorative movement neck release is an excellent guide for what a stretch and breathwork can look like.
Routines of Relaxation
Thank your body for the hard work it has put in at the end of your day. Create a nightly ritual. Soak your feet in an Epsom salt bath. Massage your hands. Brew a cup of tea and sit on your front porch. There are small actions that nurture our inner peace during the busiest of times. It might include stopping off at the wellness center on your way home from work to rest on the CERAGEM or stretch in the salt therapy room.
Create Future Opportunities for Self Care
Set aside time in the future for the care your body craves. Each individual is different, and knowing that in the near future when you do have a more available time that you will do what your body craves is an excellent form of self-care. Now set the time aside and then establishing the appropriate boundaries so you can care for yourself are entirely different matters. Guard this time as sacred, whether it is a bike ride, a nap, a massage, or seeing a holistic provider.
As you create those plans for the future, we recommend taking the time to instill a ritual that can sustain you even in the midst of busy times. Let your community of therapists and healers help you maintain the flexibility and peace you require to get through the hard times.
Know that despite all the busyness you are caught up in that your being, from your soul to your skin and bones, deserves to be cared for and loved.
