Self-Care 101 - Be Still

Be Still

A good friend of mine once told me “Yvette, you are a human being not a human doer!” At the time, I really thought that I did not have the time to do nothing. Well, I’m older and I hope a bit wiser.

The most important part of self-care is taking the time to Be Still. This can be very difficult to accomplish for many of us who believe that our lives and the lives of those who depend on us will fall apart if stop for even a moment. Take it from me, everyone including you will be just fine.

The best way to ease into the habit of Being Still is to do what I call a 60 second reset.

RIGHT NOW! DO THIS RIGHT NOW! Don’t say that you will try this later because you will…what?....not have time later to do this. Lol.

Set your timer and do nothing for 60 seconds. Nothing. Nothing at all.

How was that? Not too long but maybe longer than you expected.

Use this when your day gets hectic…can’t find your keys, someone at work is getting on your nerves, you just need a min…so take it. Take a min to breathe…think of your favorite place to be or whatever makes you clam, feel safe or happy.

I use this 60 second reset every morning to set the tone of my day. It started as 60 seconds and grew to 16 minutes of gratitude, chanting and prayer. I actually do this 2 times per day, and it has been amazing to just “Be” and let go of all the things and people demanding my time and attention.

Taking time to Be Still is an integral part of our self-care journey because re-claiming our time is the beginning of re-claiming ourselves and keeping our needs at the top of our To Do list!

My next post will cover being still through chanting, mediation, prayer and even walking.