Faux Self-Care?

Today the ideas of self-care and rest have been on my mind.

Each month, I purposefully try not to schedule much on the day after I teach. While I love the monthly Explore & Play calls, they do take a fair amount of energy preparing for them, giving them, editing and preparing the materials for the Explore & Play More members.

The time is for rest, integration, quiet. It’s like shivasana at the end of a yoga session.

I’m glad I did that for myself today.

This morning, I didn’t hurry out of bed. I relaxed and took my time getting ready for the day. I took care of a few things that had to happen this morning, and then I essentially took the rest of the day off.

I had a wonderful time with my Aunt and Cousin, enjoying a long, leisurely, delicious lunch. Walking on the pier, looking at the fishing boats. Checking out the massive dock that was wrenched free during the Japanese tsunami and washed up on the Oregon Coast more than a year later.

Were they the most restful choices?

And now, it’s 7:45, the cafe closes in 15 minutes, which means that’s how long I have to finish up this blog post. As I’m looking back on my day, that staying in bed for and extra, ahem, hour, wasn’t nearly as restful as if I had gotten up, written my 750 words and posted here for the day.

It’s easy to do the things that are supposed to be restful, the things that feel like guilty pleasures, like you’re getting away with something. But as I’m realizing now, the obvious, most immediate, or culturally recognized answer may not always be the truest, deepest way to care for myself.

What about you?

Do you have unconventional ways of resting or taking care of yourself? Do you find yourself falling into the cliches, whether or not they nourish you?

 

 

2 comments to Faux Self-Care?

  • I definitely fall prey to the cliche of resting in ways that don’t necessarily recharge my spirit, like watching TV instead of doing something that makes me feel good when I’m done doing it, like making something. It’s tricky, because I rest when I’m tired, and when I’m tired, I don’t feel like doing much, so TV is the go-to activity. Definitely a problem I have yet to solve.

    • It’s an interesting conundrum isn’t it? I wonder if part of it is letting the sort of mindless ways of resting go on for longer than they’re useful. As I think about it now, for me, a movie or one episode of a TV series, is good, more than that, starts to turn the restfulness into draining. And if I start clicking? Oh, boy, now that’s a signal!

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