The other night I was feeling a little low. In fact, my inner critic was having a field day. It was at this time that I looked to my latest night time self care ritual of oil pulling (an ayuverdic technique where you swish coconut oil around your mouth... sounds disgusting but it is strangely satisfying and I’m loving the fresh breath in the morning :) Anyway, I looked at my little jar of coconut oil and thought ‘screw it, I can’t be bothered’.
Isn’t it funny how when we’re feeling the most low we can drop any self care that may make us feel better? Just when we need it the most, we withdraw it from ourselves, reinforcing the belief that we’re not worthy of looking after ourselves or of self love.
So I did the opposite to what my instincts were telling me. At a time when I was judging myself, I gave myself love instead.
I picked up that oil and I gave it a red hot swish around my mouth, then I brushed my teeth, flossed and got into bed, feeling a million times better about myself.
I realised that perhaps this is one of the most radical self care acts we can do for ourselves. Give ourselves love when we aren’t liking ourselves. Choose kindness and care, instead of self abandonment and judgement. True self care is looking after yourself no matter what.
It’s easy to love ourselves and look after ourselves when we feel good. The question is, can you continue to do this and maybe even ramp it up when you feed bad? Self care isn’t easy. It’s not all blow drys and manicures. It’s a practice. A commitment. It can take effort. But the reward is a rich life where you have your own back.
This Weeks Practice
Where in your life are you judging yourself or beating yourself up? In these moments can you do something radically different and choose kindness instead? It can be as small as a hand on your heart or it could be a swim in the ocean, or it could be eating something utterly delicious. Whatever would feel loving in the moment.
