Living the Omer -- Self Care First

I know who my readers are --

You are loving, caring, giving folks who typically do for others until you drop into bed at night. You are spiritual and want the very best for everyone.

And you often forget to put yourself in front of the list for love and care.

As a rabbi and chaplain in an intense trauma/drama experience each day, I am glad that I learned self-care. It truly is a life saver.

Do I practice it all the time? No, sorry to say. But I do practice it each day and the habit of practicing it continues to increase the time I am in self-care mode.

I urge each of you to make self-care a priority. Does this make you selfish? Hardly. It makes us effective at being able to serve others.

In this Living the Omer series, my goal is to have us be aware of the connections of our mind, body and soul. In the self-care arena, beyond the obvious "get plenty of sleep, eat nutritious foods, drink water, etc.," there are wonderful techniques for loving self care connecting ourselves with our bodies in an emotional and spiritual and healing way.

As you get to know your body, you will find areas that scream for healing touch and you will learn techniques to soothe them. Here are some of mine -- see if they work for you.

My most healing place is my sternum: I just lay the palm of my hand flat across this area and breathe.

Another place is the third eye on my forehead: I use the tips of my fingers and apply a gentle pressure.

Taping the sternum with your finger tips in a drumming fashion helps gather courage or energy to meet a tense situation

Sometimes I rub my hands together to generate more energy and then place both hands gently over my face.

Foot rubs are always relaxing; put pressure where the balls of your feet meet your toes; also, separate your toes as much as you can.

Good posture helps the flow of chi/energy and gets things moving.

When I lay down, I often like to lift my legs perpendicular to my body for a change in flow - similar to the headstands I did in yoga in my younger years.

Massage your hands.

Use your thumbs and message right under your jaw bones.

These are some of the many body point techniques I routinely use in my day to connect the body to the energy flow or spirit. See if any of them soothe you -- or be conscious of the ones you know that are personal to you and use them

The more we can take good care of ourselves, the more we are keeping our spiritual lamps bright, the more we can make a difference in this world serving, loving, and caring for others.

Go forth with a peaceful and vibrant body, mind and spirit to light the way in this crazy world.