Practicing self-care is not about constantly going to the gym or eating the right diet. Self-care is about tending to your needs as they arise in your daily life. To help motivate and guide you towards a better practice, a good way is to observe how you feel after you have done something.

This is how it’s for me:

After I’ve slept well, I feel rested.

After I’ve practiced qigong, I feel refreshed and ready.

After I’ve practiced yoga, I feel warmed up and relaxed.

After I’ve practiced meditation, I feel at peace.

After I’ve eaten a healthy meal, I feel satisfied.

After I’ve listed what I’m grateful for, I feel content.

After I’ve danced Isadora Duncan, I feel happy and alive.

After I’ve danced Hawaiian Hula, I feel more feminine and loving.

After I’ve danced West African dance, I feel powerful and liberated.

After I’ve worked, I feel accomplished and good.

After I’ve had dialogues with uplifting people, I feel inspired to grow and get going

After I’ve taken a shower, I feel clean and fresh.

Now, how do you feel before and after you do any self-care practices? Most of all, how do you feel when you don’t? I think it’s good to strike a balance between booking times and dates to do certain things, and to just feel the need and do it then. I don’t do yoga or qigong at a specific day every week, because then they’ll just add more stress to my day, knowing that I need to check that of my list too. I rather feel that I need to do qigong and then do it. I can be cranky or feel overwhelmed, then I do qigong. When I feel I’ve been sitting a lot, I need to do yoga to stretch and release tensions. And so forth… So, what is a need you have, and what is a practice you want to make into a habit, or is even for you to have as a reward in itself?

At Telluselle Living Center, I hope to create a combination of fixed classes and an open membership, with timeslots and space to practice on your own. Which do you prefer?

Photo shows me doing a West African dance motion, as taught by Carin Dackman.