The act of Self Care is the greatest gift of Love one can offer and receive in this life. The greatest form of self care lies in ones commitment to their own awareness and consideration to their own needs, unique values and inner callings. It is only in truly knowing ourselves that we are able to understand that which brings us fulfillment in very specific and personal ways. The key to this fulfillment lies in the presence of balance, in every way.
We must understand the power that we have over our own lives to begin with, as being the most potent force in the unfoldment of our personal destiny. Following this, we must know that there are other forces at play, and learn to use these to the best of our ability, by being conscious of the unseen forces around us, as well as the nature of our environment, the physical realm and all cycles of life with the seasons that come and go.
Self Care really is the act of being in tune with oneself in order to best be able to listen to the signs and symptoms steering us towards our needs on all levels, including the spiritual, physical, soul, and mental. We are so many things, and we need to remember to honour each and every part of ourselves and that each aspect is as valuable and necessary as the next, with a time for play and a time for rest.
Each and every human being is multi-faceted and a reflection of the universe at large, in all of it’s glory. We are a world of our own and need to celebrate each function, organ, yearning and voice within ourselves that is there for perfect reason.
Self care is about seeing that each part of us is perfect and needs to be acknowledged, be it our quiet self, our creative self, or whatever it may be that underneath, is calling for our acknowledgement. Loving and caring for this self is something that we need to attend to, for not only our own sustainability, but for our relationships that may suffer greatly from our own repression and stagnation.
Self love is about maintaining sensitivity to ones self, enough to hear the calling for time out, or to have the confidence to be alone and attend to what has been neglected in our lives as a result of our (very normal) distractions that frequently take us away from priorities. It is a hardening of our own exterior protective walls that desensitizes us from our own selves in this way, leaving our underlying dreams and aspirations without a voice, but a whisper that cannot be heard underneath the hustle and bustle of gossip, small talk and worry.
Self care is also about having the understanding of our own “right to just be ourselves” and not give thought or consideration to outside perceptions or judgement.
On the physical level, we must remember that our body and mind (including spirit & soul) are not separate from one another. We are whole beings that are constantly communicating on many different levels to the multitude of layers that we have within ourselves. Our body’s should be considered as our temple and the vessel through which our life is lived. Choosing to remain uneducated in such an area keeps us very much powerless in our own abilities to self heal and regenerate ourselves for the greatest possible level of optimal energy and strength.
These are important aspects of self care and to forget how vital it is to eat well, which requires only plant foods and water, is to rob ourselves of the life we are capable of living. We are lead to opt for taking pills for our ills, that have their very roots in our own behaviours…so think just for a moment; if such a small pill can make that much of a biological difference (and that it does- and not often is the benefit worth the harm of a long term dependence) So why then, do we most often so highly underestimate the potential power and potency f the choices we make in the meals that we feed our bodies…the size of a pill, compared to the size of a meal.
We need to weigh this up to realise, that and illness does not simply pop up and sprout out of nothingness, suddenly, ever. It takes a length of time and many poor choices that have amounted to the build up of the resulting ailment. We are in charge of our health with the key to prevention, and this very fact of life, is what self care is all about. Bringing our lives back to simplicity can be such a freeing process and instant weight lifted in the smallest of steps taken to reduce the wasteful and toxic products, foods and attitudes (even relationships) in our lives, lifestyles and habits.