A Life Raft for the Overwhelmed & Exhausted

This is part two in my series to reclaim the expression “self care.” (Check out part one here.)

If you want to love your people well, do amazing work and make a difference, but spend most days treading the waters of overwhelm and exhaustion, self care is your life raft.

But you need a specific kind of self care. Two kinds actually. Comfort self care and growth self care.

Let’s talk about comfort care, first. Comfort self care practices should:

Give you comfort that lasts beyond the moment. Don’t spend time, money or energy on comfort self care that won’t serve your for at least the next 6-12 hours. (Eg., the comfort you get from chocolate is fleeting.)
Comfort your body and mind. You should feel a deep sense of ease. This is my speciality. You need clear instructions for how to get the best physical AND mental bang for your self care buck.
Be fast. Longer practices *can* be great. But, if you are in an overwhelmed and exhausted season of life, you probably aren’t going to do them. Find the short but powerful ones.

How about an example? Try this and taste the power of comfort self care.

Lie down with a stack of pillows or blankets under your head and shoulders. Relax here for about five minutes.

You’re going feel agitated, anxious or mad and want to check your phone.

When that happens, shift out of your head and into your body.

What are the physical sensations of that thought or feeling? Tightness in your chest. A lump in your throat. Tension in the upper back. Butterflies in the stomach.

Let your awareness rest on what you feel in your body. Soon, the discomfort will pass and leave ease in its place.

Start with that. It is powerful.

My No-Time Self Care Challenge is full of quick but powerful practices to give you strength, clarity, joy and resilience. Five minutes a day. You can do this. Click here now if you need a self care life raft.
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Next post, we’ll chat about *growth* self care.