Monday, May 4, 2015

Radical Self-Care

At the beginning of each month I come up with a few intentions to follow. Sort of like a mini-new year when the calendar page turns. I find this to be helpful, more so than a huge resolution on January 1st. Some months I follow the intentions well, other months not so much.

For May I am determined though, and only 4 days in I am doing pretty good!! A big intention this month is to practice Radical Self-Care. The idea for this came about through my journaling the past few months and was solidified when the challenge for May in the Mama Scout Laboratory for Creative Living group over on Facebook became Radical Self-Care. (Check out the MamaScout blog. That’s where the group was born. Amy does some awesome work).

I have decided for the month of May to do a blog series on what Radical Self-Care means to me and how I am practicing it. Each Monday I will post a different aspect of and how I am following, self-care. 

To me Radical self-care means going above and beyond the things that I already do each day to take care of myself: waking at least an hour before the girls do in the morning to start my day off with journaling, coffee and prayer. That centers me and prepares me for the day ahead. I also take some time during afternoon rest to sit with a cup of tea and read or knit for a few minutes. That is a centering time for me to prepare for the late day things we do.

I sat to art journal a little bit at the end of April what RADICAL self-care means to me. I had no preconceived ideas what it meant, I just sat down when the five year old was doing her art to do art along with her. It ended up looking like this:

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A theme that ended up coming out was that I need to be more positive towards myself. Towards my body and my thoughts. So for this month that’s what Radical means for me: thinking of and viewing myself in a more positive way by talking about, thinking about and seeing myself a lot less negatively. For myself but also for my girls. Marie-Therese has begun telling me that I need to “stop being mean to yourself Momma!” at least once a day. I don’t even realize I am speaking in a not so nice way about myself until she points it out.

So this month I am going to focus on my positives, on what I am doing right, on how I am glowing. By taking care of my body better through more movement, more nourishing foods, more rest when it needs. I have decided to take a selfie each day as a way to be more radical—as a way to really LOOK at myself, not in a “hey this looks wrong”or “hey look at me”but as a way to see who I am. 

What does self-care look like for you right now?

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As a special for Mother’s Day I am offering a bring a friend deal for my new e-course Cultivating Creativity that begin June 1st. If you purchase a spot, add your friend’s name and e-mail in the notes to seller section! 

5 comments:

  1. I think my favorite in your journal was "Just Be Me!". I really like that. It's very helpful to have some "me" time in the morning before everyone else gets up. I can write my list and get my day going.

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  2. What a great idea! Self care is so important for us mamas. Self care for me looks like early morning quiet while everyone else is still sleeping to exercise, meditate and journal. It looks like eating well, nourishing my body with whole foods. It looks like time in the woods to connect to something bigger than me. It looks like time at night to read or knit once the little one is tucked in. It looks like cups of tea throughout the day, with a moment or two to take a deep breath and let it sink in just how blessed I am.

    Looking forward to following along on this journey :)

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  3. I agree with Kim, I love this idea. For so many years I was pulled in other directions taking care of my babies and helping my husband run a business, but I always woke before the rest of my house to have that grounding time that I needed to get through the day.
    Now? I have too much time on my hands :)

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  4. This is such good stuff. But why is it that anytime I hear RADICAL I want to run and hide under my blankets?? :) It's all good!
    For me radical self care looks a lot like cups of tea... books and knitting and pampering myself in preparation for beach days and an upcoming date night!

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  5. oh I love your art, and so much good in that one picture! enjoy the selfie project, a lovely way to start. xx

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