This weeks blog post is by Anna Grillo is a Kinesiologist and Qualified Health & Lifestyle
Educator based in Melbourne. She can be found here – www.trueself.com.au
You can access her free guide called “7 ways
to guilt free self-care” by signing up to her site here.
Kim x
3 Ways To Take Care Of Yourself Without The Guilt
“I can’t wait for my two week holiday break. I’ll finally be able to relax.”
“The kids were at it all day today, my partner has come home grumpy from work, it’s now 11pm and all I want is a bath. Why can’t I get just 5minutes to myself anymore?”
“When’s the next girl’s night catch up? I’m hanging for a wine and an escape!!”
Sound familiar? We all know self-care is critical in ensuring our health and wellness, but when life gets in the way, or everyone else is in need, it’s the first thing that slips. We go to the bottom of the list, get more tired and some days find it difficult to cope. Or worse… we do find a few moments to ourselves and then feel guilty! Personally, I have found three ways to care for me in amongst the mayhem and even better – I have learned to do it without the guilt!
1. Go for small blocks of time
Back in my corporate days working in HR I was very much guilty of, and was a common theme among colleagues alike, waiting for my annual leave in one large block of time and only then giving myself permission to rest and recharge. In this scenario, you spend the months leading up to the coveted holiday in an agonising wait, justifying working the additional overtime or squeezing the additional social obligation in as the two or four weeks off seems so extravagant it will make up for the other weeks of the year where you don’t stop. It might be the same if you have kids and looking forward to the Christmas family holidays. When it finally does come around, often you can get sick (its the first time you have relaxed and actually let go) and you can’t believe how quickly the time passes. Within days of your return, your relaxing holiday feels like nothing more than a distant memory. Best thing I have learned is don’t burn yourself out, go for smaller blocks of time and revel in it. Be it a 10minute bath, a half day shopping, a girls night out or a weekend away with your man… I have learned to embrace all blocks of time and love whatever and however I can get them!
2. Turn routines into rituals
If you learn to revel in these block moments then you can turn everyday routines into rituals. Whether it is taking a shower, cooking a meal or going to your fortnightly chiropractic adjustment you can make these feel more like rituals than routines. Even your child’s weekly ballet class can become a coffee ritual with another mum or girlfriend. The point is these are the activities and rituals you can engage in on a regular and beautiful basis just with a change of perspective. Take your body brush into your shower and you have made the routine more of a ritual! Put on some nice music whilst you are cooking a meal and you can change everyone’s state. Light a vaporiser whilst bathing the kids. Take your spritzer to your chiropractor and voila – you have time in your day now that feels more like a treat than mundane!
3. Capture the micro-moments
For some taking an aromatic bath is too extreme – especially with young babies. Even going to the toilet can feel like you can’t go alone as the little darlings follow your every move! This is when we acknowledge micro-moments! They are the little micro-rituals we undertake during the day to help us reconnect and live in the present moment. It might be enjoying (and the possibility of finishing!) a cup of tea uninterrupted while your newborn baby naps, or taking two minutes in the morning partaking in the daily body boost with your favourite Twenty8 synergy blend, or lighting the vaporiser every morning before everyone gets up. These are the often overlooked and underestimated ways to rejuvenate the soul and fill your own cup. Essential oils are the ideal way to create micro-moments worth capturing!
There are certainly no rules around self-care, but it’s important to address and maybe take on all three approaches where possible. I find people can easily identify with making excuses or not making self-care a priority. If that is the case then the micro-moments approach may be the most important. This just allows us to find little pockets of time during the day to be present and give us an opportunity to ‘reset’.
If, even after reading all of this, you still find it difficult to imagine taking time for yourself, then kinesiology can help. It is a wonderful modality that looks to reduce stress at the root cause and clear the subconscious patterning so you can achieve the change you’re after.
For example, in a session a client might use a mantra “I am a calm and confident woman, able to balance my family and career”. When we ‘test’ this via muscle monitoring, you may find while you consciously can state this, subconsciously your mind does not believe this statement. Kinesiology can assist with clearing the underlying stress patterns so you can confidently assimilate this statement and make the appropriate changes you actually want to implement and see in your life.
Creating micro-moments of self-care throughout your day allows you to refill your cup regularly and with minimal fuss. And while I definitely advocate for you to find some greater blocks of time, simple rituals such as using an aromatic spritzer in tense moments, or taking a walk on your lunch break outside, will help you to clear the clutter from your mind, build your emotional resilience and allow you to feel replenished so you can start to live and communicate from a place of love and respect rather than guilt and resentment.
If all else fails – have an Instant Calm spritzer!
Anna Grillo