How many of you find it hard to “make time” for yourselves?   Yes, there is work, the kids’ activities, the grocery shopping, taking the car to the garage, any number of chores that must get done.  Our lives often seem to lack space for us to care of our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual selves.  But it’s important to know or remember that you deserve the same attention you give to others and other things in your life.  How can you turn the tide and create space to care for yourself?  Let’s take a look at this dilema.

First of all, you have to decide that you are important and love yourself enough to creatively make time for yourself.  If you are not in a good place on all levels of your being; body, mind, emotions, and spirit, you will not be able to be totally present to others in your life whether at home, work, or in other environments.  This commitment to yourself is essential for moving forward, getting off the treadmill of life so that you can gift yourself with attention and then gift attention to others.  It’s about self-care.

So let’s say that you’ve decided that you are important and deserving.  Now what?  How can you find the time to take care of yourself?  I would suggest that you put yourself on your calendar or your daily to-do list.  Maybe you can only find one or two half hours a week for yourself.  If you can’t make it the same half hours every week, so it is.  Do it when you can.  Whatever you can do is a great start.  Over time, you might be able to carve out m0re time.  What’s important is that you start.  This date with yourself is sacred and should not be cancelled unless there is good reason for it.

Now, if your scheduled times are at home, and for some reason the kids just happen to be around, you might need to put a sign on your bedroom door that says “Do Not Disturb” or “Closed.”   You could even wear a sign around your neck that has the word “Open” on one side and “Closed” on the other.  Insutruct those in your family that there are to be no interruptions when the “closed” side is showing unless it is an emergency (Best to define what an emergency is).  Of course, this is dependant upon your children being old enough to read and understand.  If your children are younger, perhaps your spouse, partner, or a babysitter can be in charge of the chldren while you take time for yourself.

The second thing to figure out is what will feed you.  Perhaps making a list of things that you enjoy doing would be a way to begin.  Once you have the list, you can see what category each of your ideas fits into: body, mind, emotions, or spirit.  Feeding each of these aspects of yourself is paramount for nurturing your well-being.  It’s possible that a given idea will feed more than one of these categories i.e. exercising in some way (walking, running, dancing, yoga, tai chi, etc.) may help your physical, mental, and emotional bodies, which may then relax you enough so that  you become more  able to sense your inner, spirit self.   Finding ways to feed each aspect of yourself will bring you into balance.  What you choose to do may be different than what a friend might choose to do, and that’s just fine.  Being present while you are doing what you love is what it’s about.  Enjoy the precious moments you are gifting yourself.

Besides finding a chunk of time for yorself, you can also take a few minutes here and there throughout your day to be with you.  Make it a point to stop and do some slow, deep breathing and really notice the breath as it goes in an out, bringing vitality into your body/mind.  Gaze out the window at your flower garden, the woods, the sky.  Listen to the sounds you hear as you are gazing.  Be present with these sights and sounds.

After you have spent a few weeks “making time” for yourself, notice the affects it is having on you:  your relationships, your attitude, your energy level, your state-of-being.  I’ll bet you’ll find  a new, more vibrant and relaxed you, more able to happily give to others because you have given to yourself.

Hmmmm  Where is my calendar?  I need to make some dates with myself, but for right now, I’ll just stop and breathe . . . .

Peace to you,

Sandy

P.S.  Let me know how this works for you.