Self-Care

Self-care is so important. When you take time to replenish your Spirit, it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel. Eleanor Brown

Every morning when I have my morning ritual of coffee and toast and kitties on my lap, I look at the little sign next to me that says; “I am taking care of myself today.” I take a deep breath and sometimes that quote allows me to plan my day in a way that is caring for myself. Other days – not so much. I can think that thought, say those words, and immediately get into my head and panic about how much I have to do that day. Not so self-caring huh?

With February’s theme being all about love all the hype around Valentine’s Day, I wondered what would it be like to direct radical self-care towards myself? I was able to witness and learn the power of this when a dear friend went in for surgery. She asked me to take her home after the surgery and I was so impressed with how she had planned for taking care of herself when she got home. She had made a beautiful care basket that was next to her bed of all the things that she could want: essential oils, a sleep mask, hand cream, a good book, iPod with soothing music…everything that she could think of was right next to her. She had made homemade soups in the days before, she had a teddy bear just waiting to comfort her in bed. Everything was set up for her to be comfortable just the way she wanted. She wasn’t waiting for someone to do it for her – she gave herself exactly what she needed…a loving gift from her before-surgery self to her after-surgery self.

I realized that I do the same thing when I travel – I bring all the little things that will make my hotel room feel like home, and I also plan for my return by having fresh sheets on the bed and everything clean and put away. With Valentine’s Day coming up, I wondered about making my own self-care basket – and what would go in it. In the past I have waited for someone else to do something or give me something that I wanted on Valentine’s Day – but what about giving it to ourselves first? I am so passionate about this subject that I created a Self-Care Saturday one-day women’s retreat in April. To me, being in nurturing beautiful places, along with inspiring women and great conversations (and great food!) is my favorite self-care thing to do and I want to share that with you.

So this Valentines day I hope that you give yourself a loving, self nurturing, pampering and self-caring day.

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