Practice: Tools For Transformation
Self-Care For Your Journey
On your journey to transformation, it is important that you make self-care a priority. The journey can be exhausting mentally, emotionally and physically. Disciplined self-care is a practice that will nurture you and give you the mental, emotional and physical strength to continue your journey--even in the face of your greatest fears. Self-Care includes: - Daily self-care routines like getting enough sleep, eating healthy food, and being physically active.
- Keeping up with your regularly scheduled health check-ups like eye exams, dental check-ups, mammograms, etc.
- Maintaining your relationships with people you are close to emotionally and with whom you share your journey.
- Doing things (no matter how small) that bring you pleasure and fun.
- Developing practices or tools that help you to connect to yourself, such as daily meditation or journaling.
Self-Care QUIZ
Take this quiz to see how well you are meeting responsibilities, while also recognizing and fulfilling personal needs and wants. True False T F 1. The only way I can successfully manage my life is to take care of myself physically and emotionally. T F 2. Nurturing myself enlarges my capacity to help others. T F 3. I eat healthfully and exercise regularly. T F 4. I get check-ups, go to the dentist, and take preventative precautions. T F 5. I set aside personal, quiet time for myself, whether I'm meditating or simply letting my thoughts drift. T F 6. I experience the gifts of each season: ice skating, sledding, walks in the snow; gardening, hiking, more time outside; camping, swimming, barbeques; harvesting the bounty, marveling as the leaves on the trees turn color, spending more time inside. T F 7. Creativity nurtures me. I do what I love, whether that's cooking, drawing, painting, writing, dancing, singing or another creative pursuit. T F 8. Reaching out to others enriches my life. I spend quality time with family and friends. T F 9. Contributing to the world provides connection and purpose, so I give my time, energy and experience where it is most useful. T F 10. I notice and heed the emotional signals that tell me I'm out of balance: irritability, being overwhelmed or resentment and I do things to shift my emotional state. T F 11. If I feel that I'm catching a cold, I realize I may have stressed my immune system with overactivity, so I stop and take care of myself. T F 12. When I need or want to, I say no to requests for my time. T F 13. I listen to and honor the requests my body makes for such things as a nap, a walk, green vegetables, hot soup. T F 14. If I have something planned for myself, I don't just toss that aside when someone makes a request of me. T F 15. I'm busy, but I find time to do the things I want to do. If you answered false more often than true, you may want to take a look at the questions to which you answered false and see if you can incorporate something of its message into your life. | 
