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One of the best things about creating WildFree Health is meeting amazing women who are changing their lives ... and others ... and feeling great as a result. Bonni recently sat down with Heather Jones, and these two high-energy, life-loving ladies looked at the idea of self-care and how it means so much more... and so much less... than TikTok is telling us.
Heather is a life coach with as full and varied a background as we have here at WFH... She fits right in with all the things she’s done and tried and all the ways she looked to bring meaning and JOY to her life and to others. She also has a good grip on reality and isn’t afraid to say when enough is enough and when it’s TOO MUCH.
We talk about self-care A LOT around here, mostly because we know that as women, our instincts say, “take care of everybody else first” and settle for what’s left later. That self-care is selfish. And we know that’s utter rubbish. Self-care is the absolute bare minimum we should be doing.
Not luxe spa days or vacays in Corfu... (Not that we object to ANYONE doing those if they can... please take us, too!) .... Self-care is “the little things we do every day throughout the day so we don’t get to that place of burnout. We are constantly feeding ourselves, our minds, our bodies, and our souls,” she said.
Heather calls for “stepping all the way outside the box” and looking at four key areas regularly to really take care of yourself: Physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.
“Physical is the obvious. It is moving your body, whatever that means (to you)... changing the mindset so it doesn't have to mean running four miles or doing a regular yoga practice. Physical is anything you do to feed the body. It might be rest. It might be deep breathing, which is one of my favorite things .... there are some really cool things you can do with deep breathing throughout your day.
Even simple changes make a big difference...and can take time to become habits—one exercise to bring yourself mentally to where you are physically; use deep breathing and awareness for integration.
“A great way to start a new habit is to set up triggers for yourself. ‘I do this thing and want to do this NEW thing. So think I'll attach it to this thing I'm already doing. A thing that we’re already doing all day all of us is going to the bathroom. We finish up doing our business in the bathroom, and we wash our hands. As you're washing your hands, you can be doing a few things, the very first of which is deep belly breaths. This is a fabulous way to ground your body, your mind, and your thoughts. It's basically all the forms of self-care right here with the hand washing.
“Be mindful that most of us breathe up here regularly ... the shallow chest breaths and that in itself leads to anxiety. So when you're breathing, be intentional about getting that breath way down into your diaphragm and quieting, calming, and soothing the body and mind, which is mental self-care.
Heather believes a great deal of mental health relates to thoughts we allow to take up space in our heads and come at us through social media or “the news,” and even people we are around who bring us down.
“People we spend the time with... do they tend to be super negative? Is there a way to separate ourselves or draw a boundary line to keep that OUT?“ That effort to keep what we have in our heads on the POSITIVE side leads directly to emotional self-care.
“The feelings that you're having, those uncomfortable emotions that a lot of us don't want to have... I've fought them myself... (We think) Let's just go to the good stuff” and ignore the ick. Self-care means NOT doing that.
“Emotional (self-care) is allowing what we might otherwise call a negative feeling that’s there, that needs to be explored, that needs to be worked through. Does it have to be negative, or can it just be a thing that is in this moment needs to be explored?” Once you see that, then you can move THROUGH it. “But don't jump over it. Don’t pretend it doesn’t exist!” As much as WFH is built on healing and helping tummies and bodies, we know that the health of the spirit is VITAL. It is embracing the CONNECTION we all have to each other and to the planet.
“Spiritual doesn't have to be religious, but it can be. It’s what is your higher power... what you call God or Mother NATURE or something else. It doesn't matter what it is. It's just making sure that you connect with whatever that higher power is and that you make it intentional ... that you're getting that not just on Sundays or Mondays or whatever your day of worship is if you have a day, but all day every day. Even simple stuff like stepping outside to put your feet in the grass and listen to the trees blow. “
So... what is that you can start to do today, and include EVERY day to take CARE of yourSELF? These are a few suggestions, and we are always here to offer more help and guidance.
If you want to connect with Heather, here are some links:
Connect with Heather: Web: https://www.heatherjonescoaching.comIG: https://instagram.com/heather_jones_c...FB: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherJones...LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-j...
Sign Up for 21 Days of Outside the Box, Whole-Self-Care: https://subscribepage.io/QPt4Oj
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