A Virtual Hug and a Gift of Self-Care
The first version of this blog was shared in a newsletter on March 28, 2020
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, we have been on lockdown since March 17th, though I started my self-quarantine a few weeks before. After picking up a bug in late February, I instinctively found the need to pull back from the world to focus on my health. Service is central to my life, so it was hard to put my needs first. But due to my illness and a very busy start to the year, my spark of light within—my life force—was feeling dimmed. My body demanded that I address its urgent needs. Even though my doctor said I didn’t need to be tested for the coronavirus, I had to work very hard to trust that my body would heal itself.
It was strange to feel so disconnected from my body. My usual self-care habits were all out of whack, and I know others have been experiencing the same. My health has improved, but there are still self-care practices that I’m used to relying on but cannot implement.
I miss hiking in the hills and releasing my stress on my favorite rope swing that overlooks the San Francisco Bay. I need movement in nature to help me relax. But there were so many people on the trail last time I went that I didn’t feel there was enough distance to be safe. My heart breaks when I think of the millions of people who don’t even have access to the most basic of self-care needs right now.
Intuitive self-care is not so easy to practice when the world is in chaos!
But no matter the circumstances, our bodies continue speaking to us, and communicate their intuitive messages continuously, even when we don’t/can’t honor their needs—or hear them speak. I am grateful for my work with The Body Positive, especially helping others connect with their innate wisdom, for it is in times like these, when I am out of kilter myself, that I turn to the practices we teach.
Here’s what I know:
- Slowing down to listen closely to my body’s physical and emotional needs—and honoring those needs as best I can—makes all the difference in improving my health.
- Consciously focusing on letting go of fear helps my immune system do its best to fight off illness.
- Being attuned to my gratitude for all that I do have in my life is the best antidote to my fear.
- Honoring my privilege and doing what I can to give to others less fortunate than I connects me to my humanity and to the global community.
- Focusing on love, kindness, and humor as much as I can in my new and very bizarre daily reality keeps me getting out of bed each day.
- Honoring my need to shut down from communication with the outside world when I need to—and doing so without feeling guilty—is keeping me grounded, and more capable of honoring my requirements for physical and emotional wellbeing.
- Pendulating between reading about what’s happening with COVID-19 and stepping completely away from the news and through email/social media is helping me stay centered. Knowing when I’ve had enough, even if it means shutting down a conversation by cutting someone off mid-sentence, helps to reduce my anxiety, which is especially crucial before going to sleep.
- Holding the energy each day for the healing of our beautiful planet and its inhabitants helps me believe in a positive future for the human race.
- I believe this is a time for us to connect to our authentic voices, to our essence, and express ourselves—and listen to others—from this place as often as possible. The world needs us as whole as we can be to facilitate the healing that is so necessary.
Implementing these practices has been a reliable support for me and I am getting well and strong again.
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To support our wonderful Body Positive community and the people they serve (and love!), we are offering free access to our Practice Intuitive Self-Care online course.
You’ll get videos, meditations, and worksheets that will help you connect more deeply to your self-care needs, which is so necessary during this time of heightened fear and stress. If you’re doing well, but know someone else who is struggling, please feel free to share the course with them.
To register for the free Practice Intuitive Self-Care course,
click on the button below and use the coupon code: SELFCARE200B.
I hope you will pay this gift forward by considering the ways in which you can help others during this very difficult time, such as making a donation to your local food bank and signing petitions to encourage your legislators to support legislation that helps those most negatively affected right now. You’ll find other suggestions in the article, 9 Ways to Help Others During the Coronavirus Pandemic, from Idealist.org. Email info@thebodypositive.org if you have suggestions for us to share.
I hope you notice many beautiful moments today and in the days to come.
With love and a big virtual hug,
Connie
Connie Sobczak
Connie Sobczak
Connie Sobczak, author of Embody and Co-Founder of The Body Positive, loves to watch the light and power that emerge when people recognize and embrace their magnificent, authentic selves. Her favorite pleasure activities include eating delicious meals, rock climbing, and running as fast as she can down mountains with her daughter Carmen. She gets true rest by getting lost in a good book. She is currently in love with The Plague of Doves, by Louise Erdrich, and The Lowland, by Jhumpa Lahiri.