Real Self-care is about looking deeply into your own mind!
Self care has been given a huge plug of late and for good reason. In our modern day there are more distractions than there’s ever been before. And these distractions, if allowed to, sweep us away from our true self, away from our intuition, away from our peace. We get stuck in the doing, judging, fearing and wanting state of mind.
Yes, self-care is one of the most important things we can ever do for ourselves. However, I believe we have it so WRONG! Indulging in facials, massages, yoga, essential oils, weekends away etc. are all very enjoyable and helpful. They allow us to create space for us to look more deeply within… But none of these acts address the “cause” of the reason why we need time out in the first place.
Real self-care is about looking deeply into our own MIND. It’s when we question why we need to escape in the first place. Why we need to run away. Why we feel the need to know more, be more, do more. It’s when we question why we are triggered by our children, why we don’t enjoy someone else’s company, why we are offended, why we are fearful, why we are exhausted or stressed out.
By looking deeply at the way we show up in the world; our triggers, our stressors, our fears and by unpacking what’s hidden deeply behind these, we are engaging in the GREATEST act of self-care we can ever engage in.
If we take the time to look within and discover the thoughts and beliefs that hold up our uncomfortable emotions, we will discover that they are often NOT TRUE and can be just a result of a lifetime of conditioning.
Next time you feel the need to run away and escape from your reality, remember your reality is simply what you have created in your own mind; from your thoughts. The most liberating thing to know is that you are in control of your thoughts and you can become the gatekeeper of your own mind. You can let in what serves you and keep out what does not.
Next time you feel uncomfortable, instead of going into fight/attack/defend mode, why not grab out your journal. Write down all of the perceived struggles in your mind and look at the beliefs you’ve then created about yourself.
By writing your perceived problems on paper it allows you to look at these problems from afar, to disconnect from the emotion and to see the story that you have been telling yourself. So often it is just a story that is not serving you.
Distancing yourself from your thoughts is one of the first steps in setting yourself free. Setting yourself free from your ‘story telling’ mind. This then allows space for you to create a new story and to show up in the world with greater peace. Eventually the need to escape will become less and less.
Claire x
