By Cat Wilson
You are a person, busy, tired out from the day. You need self care. Wait! What is self care? How do you go about getting something you don’t have when you don’t know what will help? You could look to nature. Let’s go to the beach.
Join me for a moment in a memory of a beach excursion with my friend at her cozy beach house. Come to a little home decorated with shells, games, books, and open light rooms welcoming a visitor or friend.
You both get in the car and drive for a while. You arrive. The house looks welcoming. Step out of the car and unpack the food. Unlock the door and enter into a cozy living room; explore the house. Grab your stuff and take it to your room. It’s been a couple hours on the road, so a short nap is in order. See the bed. Lay down, take three deep breaths, and keep focusing on breathing. Slip into a light sleep, where the sound of wind and ocean are near, and yet in the moment you are encapsulated in a nest of comfortable pillows and sweet smelling sheets.
Sandy memories slip into your viewer of previous visits, and you find yourself on a sandy walk. Footprints in front of you tell you that you are not alone, and footprints behind remind the soul that it’s in a body.
Sun shines upon your face and body. You walk step by step and the cool, light breeze flips through your hair, your clothes, and tenderly brushes your face. Beach environments generously offer refreshments for a stressed soul. You smile. You let go for a while.
Along the sandy walk, each step shifting to energize the feel under the foot, you find surprises that were cast along the shore, offered from a hidden world. Beneath the hidden watery world you see shells and pebbles and sea vegetables washed up and placed before your toes. You take it all in. Looking up you see a world with no end.
Beyond your vision the waves continue rolling in and rolling out from the invisible place beyond where the ocean meets sky.
Light, cool breezes ruffle your hair. Breathe in deeply. Breathe out and let go. The breeze is your gift of self care from nature. A light, cool breeze to refresh!
When you awake you feel enlivened. Now you are really ready for that walk on the beach! Or, if you can’t go now, you have the layer of freedom, ease, peace, and joy that can get you through whatever you need to do now.
What is Self Care?
Self care is a means of providing what your being needs and wants in the moment. Rest. Food. Playing a game. Reading. Massage. Entertainment. Travel. Inspiration. Comfort. Self care might be sitting still in a chair, meditating.
The Beach of Self Care
Perhaps in this moment you need a walk on the beach, even if just in your mind, for a bit of relief. When you feel stressed, go for it! Close your eyes. After visioning, stretch and return with a rested mind and body.
We can find what we need inside and outside when we take time to explore, because it matters.
Do you want to deepen your practice of self care? We have a new online course coming soon called Creating Self Care, Because You Deserve It. To be in the loop when it’s released this summer, make sure you’re signed up for email updates from Apositiva.
Got Mindfulness?
If you haven’t gotten in on our Mindfulness online class yet, we are offering a limited time special of ninety percent (90%) off the full price of $145. That’s just $14.50 for a comprehensive series on the practice of mindfulness. Click here to enroll now—this coupon will expire July 1, 2018.