Solitude & Sereni.tea

For many, September is the unofficial start of the year. It’s a time of year, when growth is noticed. Kids are back at school – bigger and wiser (hopefully), parents rush around trying to get everything done. Stores have Halloween and Christmas (yikes) decor out already, and the air is permeated with pumpkin spice. And this music teacher is preparing for a jam packed term. So it makes sense that Self-Care Awareness Month is in September.

Evolve to Live founded Self Care Awareness Month in 2017. This is how they define self-care. Self -Care is really just about becoming an advocate for yourself.

According to Evolve to Live, Self-Care encompasses the following:

• Self-Care is about paying attention to you, your body and your emotions.
• Self-Care is about checking in with yourself in each moment
• Self-Care is setting healthy boundaries
• Self-Care is learning and practicing clear and direct communication
• Self-Care is about learning to appreciate and love yourself
• Self-Care is about living your life with joy… guilt free!

Now, I have been making Self-Care my priority since July 1st, and I have had a few stumbling blocks with it (falling/covid), but there are a few things that I have been able to do consistently this summer, even while sick, that have greatly improved my relationship with myself. Some of these I am really looking forward to getting back to.

• I wake up gently every morning. I am an early riser for at least 3 days a week – but for the rest of the week, I wake up naturally. Unless I go to bed late, I won’t set an alarm.
• I take.a few minutes out of my day to breathe, and do a short body scan to discover where I am holding tension.
• I pair all beverages with a glass of water. So if I have a cup of coffee, I drink a glass of water, if I have tea, more water, juice water, the rare cocktail or glass of wine, more water. I am a nightmare on any type of road trip, or walk – but I am happier when I am hydrated.
• I see a therapist. Probably the best decision I have ever made for my mental health. I am preparing for a lot of change in the next year, and I need to change some patterns, let go of old habits, and heal some traumas before I can fully embrace the future I see for myself.
• I meditate everyday. Three times a week, I join in on meditation club, where collectively we meditate on a subject, and sometimes do automatic writing. It’s a really important part of my week, I learn so much from this group – and I can’t imagine what my week would look like without these sessions. When I don’t have meditation club, I will often just set aside a few minutes to sit with my breath, or listen to a guided meditation, or sometimes just a bit of music, and set some positive intentions.
• I write everyday. I try to do morning pages (and automatic writing), but sometimes I cant get it together enough to write 3 pages in the morning. Sometimes it takes me all day to write those pages, and sometimes I will write about my day, when I have tucked myself into bed – I have fallen asleep in the middle of a sentence – many many times.
• Somatic yoga – first thing in the morning, and right before bed. I will be honest about this, This past month, I have not been great at doing this. I have been struggling with breathing for the past few weeks. And getting down on the floor – doesnt feel amazing for me right now. But, when I make the effort to do it, my body feels looser and in less pain than before. So I am recommitting to this practice today.
• Taking psychedelics – I have been taking psilocybin for the past month+ – and while I am pretty sure I haven’t felt the full effects of them yet, because I have been sick – I can say that despite the sicknesses – I am able to maintain focus to get through my work day, something that I have previously been able to do whenever I get sick. I am looking forward to seeing what else this will do for me.
• I keep a gratitude journal – and it surprises me how much I have to be grateful for each day. Yes, sometimes its really good coffee (ok often I am grateful for really great coffee), but even the challenges of my life have brought really good things and people to me – and I am so lucky to have so much to be grateful for.
• Connecting to nature – when I started this project, my goal was to exercise outside for 90 minutes a day. That lasted 3 weeks. I am getting to the point now, where I can start to do that again (we start tomorrow), but I do make an effort to connect everyday. I go to the park near my house a couple of times a week. I keep the doors/windows open to my house, whenever I am home so I can get a bit of fresh air, I water and talk to my plants every day, and try to play them music that they love. Did you know plants love Motown and Funk!
• I started eating my meals in silence and with mindfulness. I dont multitask when I am eating. This means I wont watch tv, or work, or do a crossword, or read. In fact, unless it’s a special occasion (date, birthday, other celebration), I wont talk to my companion. We sit and eat and enjoy what we are tasting. It’s a way to connect with nature and life and yourself.

Things that I plan to work on in September are: boundary setting, volunteering, making time for myself while I launch my new term of teaching, and to start doing social activities once a week (this was something I had tried earlier, but abandoned at the beginning of August).

How will you be observing Self-Care Awareness Month?

*Photo Source- Pinterest – Hands of Joi