Podcast version
(If you can kindly rate the podcast and follow it for weekly episodes, I'd be so grateful 😊💕)
Imagine this; You're lying on the beach on a comfortable lounger, calm, relaxed, soaking up pure bliss in the sparkling sunshine with the sounds of healing waves in the background, pure paradise.
Or, if you're more of a countryside type of person, chirpy birds singing in an enchanted forest, natural streams of trickling water and little frogs ribbitting and goats baaing in the background, absolute bliss!
Or, if you're more of a luxurious spa fan, imagine yourself completely immerged in a lush bubble bath or hot tub absolutely free of pain and any muscle tension just melting away into the steamy air, just divine!
My aim for this healing story is to explore different ways we can pamper ourselves, realistically or imaginatively, over the next month while the rest of the world gets lost in tinsel towns.
Whatever your idea of delightful bliss is, let's visualise it at any stage during this silly season to help us manage whatever stress, grief, overconsumption, or extremity of any kind, that might creep up over the next month. If you find it difficult to visualise things, I suggest putting on a YouTube video with your favourite music to help you connect to your idea of heaven.
Self care is very much needed now, especially at this time of the year, we deserve it!
While most of the world rushes around like headless turkeys, glitzes themselves up like dazzly baubles and over consume like they're competing in the consumption Olympics, I invite you to try my 12 days of ''Pamp Instead Of Wrap Self-Care'' activities to idulge yourself in over the holidays.
1.A five-minute morning mindfulness, meditation, or just sitting in silence
Close your eyes and connect to yourself, give yourself a big squeezy hug you can try this five-minute mindfulnness meditation here or search for another one on YouTube that suits your liking more. Do this every day.
2.Get creative
I love this, as we can completely get lost in time here. Getting creative can be absolutely anything from drawing our feelings out on paper, even little stick-man figures do the job, to colouring therapy books (free to download) to journalling our thoughts (through voice or on paper) to cooking or baking, anything at all creative that hugs our hearts.
3.Move our body, for healing benefits
Since our body is essentially an energy body, when we experience low emotions such as anger, stress, fear and trauma, they can get trapped in our body and manifest into serious pain, stiffness, exhaustion, demotivation and energy blocks. So moving our bodies through dance, yoga, stretching, somatic movements even rolling around on the ground can actually relieve us and makes us feel really good. If you'd rather listen to an energy clearing meditation to try to move any blockages try this one here.
4.Look at what's around us
Let's find our favourite things, people or animals that we have around us, feel the gratitude we have our favourite things and even write down how grateful we are for them, how they make us feel, and what we love about them.
This is so powerful and can lift our spirits wonderfully.
5.Smell something fresh
I'm the biggest smeller out there, my nose is a serious smell hunter. I'm not sure about you but I love smelling nice things, from fresh herbs to the rain, freshly cut grass, coffee, lemon, my clothes after being washed, cooking smells, lavender, fresh flowers, the list is endless. If you're not a smeller unlike me, maybe you're a toucher, find the surfaces you like to touch most, like a pillow, soft linen, freshly exfoliated skin, your pet or your partner. What ever your most sensitive sense is, explore it, Its fun.
6.Stand or sit on the grass or sand with your bare feet out, feet to the ground
It might be absolutely freezing cold where you are so take care if it is, and try not to catch a cold if you do try this. This is called earthing or grounding, where we connect, skin to earth to the wonderful healing properties our planet offers us. It reduces inflammation, pain, and stress, improves blood flow, sleep, and vitality.
7.Have a bubble bath
If relaxing bubble baths are right up your street, get those hot taps on, light some candles, put on some calming music and bring that luxurios spa straight to your house. If baths aren't really your cup of tea, that's ok. A rejuvenating shower with nice exfoliation and moisturising after is just as pampering.
8.Watch or listen to something funny
Some people absolutely love comedies and others aren't very into comedies at all like me actualy. I love laughing, but my sense of humour is quite dry, I love laughing at unusual things, so if you're someone like me, let me know and I'll send you some dry and random sense of humor things, lol.
9.Go inward
Sometimes we can feel really lonely, especially this time of the year. Let's take the time to really go inside our bodies and feel our emotions, our heart, our bodily sensations and know that we're actually never alone. The one and only person who will always be there for you no matter what, is yourself. That part of you who sends you hunches, helps you to really know, the part of you that gives you the answers, our higher selves are alwasy with us, giving us big squeezy hugs.
10. Grief relief
These last three points are finally showing their little faces as much as we try to avoid them, numb ourselves, or put ourselves into daily robotic modes. I left them to the last three as I think pampering and self-caring comes first, and then, if we want to, we can try to have a chat with our grief.
But if we'd rather not, that's ok too 😊
11.Loss
This period of the year really boils up those desperate feelings of loss we manage to keep at bay throughout the year. We've done so well with our daily coping skills, but maybe this might be a good time to ask Loss a few questions about how it's been feeling.
You have a choice though, if not, that's ok 😊
12.Trauma
Everyone of us is built differently, that's what makes the world so interesting. Some of us can be affected by the littlest of things, and then huge events might not even impact us at all. Regardles of either, trauma can tag along and hinder our happiness when we least expect it.
Is now the time to have a few words with trauma to see what's what?
If not, that's ok too 😊
If the last three suggestions aren't really somthing we'd like to dive into just yet, we can easily repeat suggestions 1-8 over and over. In fact the more we repeat them, the better we'll feel.
I wish you a cozy and pamper filled holiday,
Take care and big love to you.
💕
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