How do you practice self-care?

A necessity in life.

When I find myself depressed or anxious, I look back at the prior weeks. What was I thinking about? Where was my focus?

Never fails.

I find that my thoughts were negative or I was focused on problems. There have been studies done on the power of our thoughts. Dr. David Burns writes a book that ended up being a life saver for me entitled Feeling Good: the new mood therapy book.

So in all of my years on this planet, I’ve found that self care is a necessity, a non-negotiable. So some of what I do to practice self care is as follows:

1. I practice Heart Math, a wonderful tool to combat anxiety. But it’s important to practice regularly and not wait until the fear starts manifesting symptoms in the body. Ten minutes a day is all I need.

2. I watch my thoughts and practice gratitude daily. That doesn’t mean I go into denial with how I am feeling. It does mean, however, that I acknowledge how I feel, process it, and then make a choice to focus on something else (if I’m ready to). I always have a choice. When I focus on gratitude, it spreads.

3. I jog daily. For me, it’s like brushing my teeth. I just do it. And I love it. I’ve been doing it for decades.

4. I spend time in nature, just observing. This connects me to my essence and I find myself in awe when I just sit and notice – be present. I love to take many pictures of nature.

5. I remind myself that I am enough. Just as is.  I don’t need to be you, just me, and I’ve found peace in that.

Those are some things I do. What about you?