Over time, daily life and the new and beautiful demands of caretaking, working from home, and attending to my fitness, etc. was beginning to take its toll. By the time I had my second son in 2010 I was exhausted. I was pushing through life with a feeling of heaviness and struggle. I was accomplishing a lot, but I was just not feeling the joy and lightness of life that I knew existed.
At one point, I recall realizing that I thought just taking care of myself in my twenties was a lot of work and now I have 2 kids, a husband, a dog, and a house to care for! Shortly thereafter, it became apparent to me that I wasn’t happy in my work. I was crying doing simple data entry and could hardly stand to read one more research article or create one more table or figure.
Around that same time I was really embracing the idea that I HAD to be happy if I was going to continue in this life. This meant that I needed to dig deeper into myself and explore how I could create some sort of meaningful and dramatic shift. For me, it became a quest of honoring my Self.
Important aspects to look at in becoming self-aware are the following:
- Take a look at how you are treating yourself. How do you talk to yourself? Do you beat yourself up? Or do you lift yourself up like you deserve?
- Take notice of how you are doing in your relationships. What kinds of thoughts are you having about other people? Are you feeling like a victim to the outside world?
- Are you noticing the good around you? Do you see all you have to be grateful for? Are you smiling and laughing a little or a lot?
- How often are you sick, going to the doctor, or getting injuries?
- Are you happy in your job? Are you making the money you want? Contributing your talents in the workplace?
Now What?
If there are any areas in which you are not happy or experiencing ease in your life, know that you can create what you desire.
Honoring the Self and self-care is not just about taking care of your body, it is about taking care of your mind, your consciousness and knowing that you deserve to be happy, to feel good, and to be free from dis-ease. Life is meant to be spent loving, laughing, playing, and connecting – NOT struggling and just trying to make it through the day.
“Now What” is not something you need to change, but Now What are you going to create.
Are you wanting to create a better, more purposeful, passionate life for yourself? Then, Honor the Self in self-care. The Self in self-care is realizing that the Self is not one size fits all.
It is imperative that we take a look at our beliefs, in addition to the ‘rules’ we are living our life by.
For example, a rule or “should” that I believed for myself coming from an exercise physiology background was that it is best to participate in physical activity on most if not all days of the week. That is a recommendation by the American College of Sports Medicine. Do we want to create a life in which we need to exercise on most if not all days of the week? I think that is a lot.
More on the example, I feel that we are not here to be spending our lives exercising on most if not all days of the week. Our Self knows what it needs and when.
In fact, when we let go of the old story, or our old beliefs and rules, we begin manifesting the ability to live spontaneously and to listen to our Self. We begin learning that we don’t have to ‘try so hard’ or ‘do so much’. We likely do not need to perform as intense and frequent exercise as the fitness industry will have us believe.
Taking a step back from the doing, allows for an opening for the Self to emerge.
In essence, the Self will tell you that walking is better for your body than running, or that your time would be better spent meditating than watching TV, or that a forgiveness workshop is just what you need.
The Self will tell you it is healthy to eat the foods you love in joy and gratitude rather than maintaining a rigid diet.
The Self will tell you that you have finished your work in a particular career and it is time to move on and up. The Self will tell you when some relationships are ending and others are beginning.
Say hello to your Self. Be still and ask, “what does my body, my mind, and my spirit want today in order to live a joyful life?”
Honor Your Self.
Rachel Wetzsteon, PhD, is a Shaman and Lifestyle Coach. Rachel facilitates Shamanic energy healing to enable physical, emotional, and spiritual healing for her clients. She has a doctoral degree in exercise physiology and a passion for helping people live healthy, joyous lives, with ease. She also coaches her clients in using spiritual concepts to create the wonderful life we long for.
\Contact Rachel by email at rachel@rachelwetzsteon.com or by phone at 612-325-3348 if you are interested in an energy healing session, having Rachel speak to your group, or if you have any other questions. Her website is www.rachelwetzsteon.com
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