In the hustle and bustle of life and all that this entails, the act of radical self-care can easily be set aside. Have you ever said 'I haven't got time to meditate', 'I never have a moment to myself', or 'I have so much to do, I'll do it later'?
There have certainly been times in my life when I have felt like there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I'd like to. Yet, what I found was that in the moment that I stopped, took a deep breath, and created time 'just for me', was exactly the moment when I began to find the time.
When I say time just for me, I'm talking about disengaging from the busy-ness - switching off my phone, turning off the TV or computer, removing myself from other distractions including people, and quite simply being in stillness and silence.
The 5-10 minutes that I took to make myself a beverage, sit outside in nature, listen to the sounds all around me, often with my eyes closed, calmed my mind, engaged my heart and expanded my soul.
Sometimes it was about changing my focus, perhaps going into the garden and tending to the plants for half an hour, or playing with my animal companions. At other times it was about consciously taking the time to meditate for 5-10 minutes. Basically, I made a conscious decision to MAKE THE TIME for my own self-care.
I learned the importance of self-care in a more challenging way. So much of my life had been spent giving, giving, giving and giving more to everyone and everything around me, that when I entered a life circumstance 10 years ago, I had very little to give to myself. My world around me came crashing down and I entered a period of depression. I refer to this period as a dark night of the soul.
There was still light in me, yet I wasn't able to recognize it, let alone let it shine through. In time, somewhere I found the strength to turn this life experience into something positive, uplifting and new.
It triggered within me a 'facing of my demons', engaging these as an ally and friend, and then working with them to turn my life around and set my foot upon the path of transformation.
I embarked on a journey of radical self-care. I re-learned to trust my 'gut instinct', and listen when it spoke to me. I began to say 'no' and feel the personal power of saying it, and knowing it was okay to say it. I started to surround myself with 'building' experts rather than 'demolition' ones. I realized that I am many things to many people, however, it's not my responsibility to 'save them' for whatever reason, neither is it my responsibility to 'fix' others. As the saying goes, 'you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink'.
The importance of simply being with myself, revealed to me many of the beliefs and patterns of behaviour that had been like viruses running through my system. And as with all viruses in a system, these eventually led to a system failure.
As I paid better attention to my 'system' I was able to remove the 'viruses', incompatible programs that had been running for years, and instead re-build and create a brand new system and upload new programs that were compatible with my soul.
I re-educated my mind, engaged my heart, and expanded my soul through taking the time to meditate, read empowering books, listen to 'building' experts, and making time for radical self-care practices.
Every one of us goes through dark nights of the soul. For some, it is something they live with each and every day. For others it is only for a brief period of linear time. These dark nights of the soul can be one-off experiences or more frequent. Whatever the duration and form, they are important to the expansion of the soul, and prepare the way for the sharing of powerful gifts with humanity.
Remember, when it is night, there is still light. Just look up to the sky. Even on the darkest of nights, there is the moon to shine it's light on the world. Even when you are in a period of darkness, remember that there is still light within you, and even if you can't see it, because your mind is 'clouded', it's there. You are still shining light into the world and people who see you beyond your physical form, deep into the depths of your being, know that your soul shines through, oftentimes in ways unspoken.
I invite you to reflect upon your system, your programs, your 'viruses' and MAKE TIME for some radical self-care. In the words of Wayne Dyer "Excuses Be Gone"!
Please feel free to connect with me if you feel that any of the services I have to offer may be of benefit.
Namaste,
Lisa
Lisa Carberry is a modern day mystic who draws upon the wisdom and teachings of many incarnations to support the expansion of the global consciousness in this lifetime.
The author of Transform Your Life, Transform your Teaching Book One: Soul Speak in which she shares her own journey of transformation and guidance for personal and global expansion, Lisa is dedicated to helping others to recognize and embrace the oneness of their being and their interconnection with all that is.
Lisa is a global leader in the R.E.A.L Education revolution, an education that begins with an inner voyage whose milestones are self-awareness, personal responsibility, meditation, and soul assimilation.
For further information please visit https://www.lisa-carberry.com.