Hey everyone,
Let's start sustainable self-care by being practical and practicing. The first thing we practice is breathing. Breathing is easy to take for granted. We often don’t notice our breath until we’re under stress. Maybe we’re breathing faster than usual. Maybe we’re holding our breath…
In those stressful moments, remind yourself to keep breathing. Keep going.
I’ve wrestled with the questions: “How do I do practice sustainable self-care? How do I work through this in a way that makes me a healthier person? How do I better cultivate health in my life?”
I've got a 22-month-old who's a fire engine, red hair, 98th percentile in height. He can put his chin on top of the dining table at this point. And he's 20 months old. He's too big, he's too fast, he's too grown.
When he's moving through the world at 120 miles an hour I have to remind myself, “Anything can wait at least 3 seconds”
Then I breathe.
I have learned to be diligent and lead from a place of intention. I don't want to lead from a position of fear. Some questions I ask myself:
How can I be more aware that I'm not breathing enough?
How can I remember to breathe more often?
Can I train myself to catch my breath when I feel compressed, triggered or pushed?
Stress is a reminder to breathe.
Fear is a reminder to breathe.
Pain is a reminder to breathe.
It’s hard work, my friends, but with practice, it gets easier. The more you remind yourself to breathe during difficult moments, the easier this will get.
Does that mean you’ll never struggle? No. When my kids are screaming and I haven’t had enough sleep — or if I have a migraine — believe me, it’s no picnic. If the pitch is high enough when they are screaming it causes double vision. I get nauseous and dizzy because of the head injuries I've experienced.
What are my options? Get upset and lose my temper? My kids don’t deserve that. I do the best that I can to learn a new pattern — to train my body to respond differently than my conditioning.