Three self-care things you did today!

[ecomama]

We can do it BBers, we can do self-care.

Sleepy21 pointed out research that shows self-care REALLY helps!

Please share what you do for self-care so we can get inspiration, ideas and motivation to do it too.

Best wishes
EM

[Jstar49]

Hi all,

Had a late nap

Made tofu and rice and salad for dinner- Let H do his own thing

Didn't feel Guilty!

Cheers,

J*

[ecomama]

omg this thread has exploded!

Hey Sleepy, I love you to bits lol!!!
GF you are SO smashing this self-care thing. Sensing when it's time to leave is a good one for sure, THEN getting right back on the horse the very next day and doing it again is amazing.

Hey Not_Batman, 2 family members having "episodes" of a psychotic nature. 1 I've been NC with for decades (my mother) and the other sadly my eldest D. I don't say sadly about mother bec this is the only way I've known her.
That bs from my childhood & life till NC then white knuckling the period after NC thru heavyyyy depression and other DV was a veritable nightmare. 10 years it took to lift depression. I can't take meds, I had to do it myself. Gardening was my answer.

Divorcing the next lol. With that came 5 Courts and another piece of PTSD added to the pie.

Those nightmares touch my real life at times now too. Not just my past.

My Counsellor was awesome today as per usual. She's pure gold. I'll post what she said for my self-care later.

I count your creative endeavours as SELF-CARE, can't wait to hear how it turned out!
Well done you for following through.

I hope your little boy is okay?
Big hugs from Aunty EM.

EMxxxx

[ecomama]

Hey smallwolf, great to read your posts!!

LOVE Rumi. So beautiful. I have some LOVE cards in a little stand and I change them around when I think I need to.

Usually they make me smile. I just fixed them and didn't trigger lol... that's progress.

Thankyou so much for being here, such strong wise words you post.

Hey Sleeps our girl, I'm glad you have the option of being in a Cafe! You guys sure earned that. We're in 'shut down' here now (again)... not lock down though.
Things to be grateful for.

I'm grateful for YOU! lol.

Aww Blue what an incredibly thoughtful post thankyou! Pure gold.
I hope Golden is here reading with us!!

I got so much out of reading that, I'm going to read it again and again I'm sure.

Hey J* I saw your post and guilt can TAKE A WALK. LOL!

I'm excited to hear how your flannel flower screen printed pants turn out. WOW.

Allowing time for our own creative expression NO MATTER WHAT IT IS, is a beautiful, generous self-care act.
I'm so happy to hear you returned to it.
It really makes my heart sing and gives me some hope I can also.

Nice ones everyone!!

I AM SO PROUD OF ALL OF US!!!

We got this.
Love EM

[ecomama]

Hey J* SNAP lol... minus the H lol!!! LOVE tofu fried up and just like that lol.
I love it all soft and mooshy in an Asian soup. Oh this all probably belongs in the Recipes thread lol!!

Today I:
* had a Counselling appt and sobbed my heart out. She was awesome.

* ate some leftover Thai food for dinner

* had a nap!

After these familial episodes on the weekend, my Counsellor told me to:
* establish firm boundaries with eldest D around convos relating to mother. Apparently the 'enmeshment' we all have was thunderously noticeable to Counsellor over this. She said "What's the point of going to 'all that trouble of going NC' (HEAR that NC hopefuls it's HARD!!) if you're going to have it thrown in your face all the time?
That's not your intention when going NC.
BOUNDARIES. Sighhh I'll let you know how badly eldest D reacts. Ugh.

Just gotta tell you that I can hear my son singing downstairs. It's the 1st time I've heard him sing since his gf broke his heart.
Phew.... his grief & depression must be lifting.
He's planning a sleepover party at our house on the weekend, yay. I mean that YAY lol. Their friends are AWESOME.

* ok back to Counsellor... along the lines of what a helpline trauma psych told me to do ie "radical self-care"... my C told me to do the 5 things with INTENTION and TIME.
The 5 things strategy is intended to GROUND us.
5 things we can see hear touch smell taste.

Now I have to CHOOSE pleasurable ones.
Where is my BF when I need him? he's such a good COOK lol. 😉😎😍

Once a day I have to choose one of each of the 5.... what a great coverage of radical self-care!
Well it's radical for me, 100% lol.

I might structure my self-care around them but probably not lol.

Hey golden!
Is there ONE thing you could choose out of the 5 to do tomorrow perhaps?

Thinking of you and sending ALL the healing energy I can over to yours right now.

Love EM

[quirkywords]

yesterday

I finished watching at tv series I have been immersed in for a few weeks

I paid a bill I had been putting off without feeling guilty

I had a plate of yoghurt and dried fruit.

[Jstar49]

Today I:

*finished a job (painting d's sm cupboard mermaid purple)

*Ate zucchini slice and salad for lunch

*letting d and friend play on PS4 for as long as they like.

Em I'm curious about the 5 senses strategy- have heard of it in terms of grounding during a panic attack or similar, but not sure how I'd choose one for the day. Can you give an example?

Cheers,

J*

[ecomama]

Hey self-carers, hey J*

Yes.
Let's choose "taste".
So today for breakfast I CHOSE to eat a croissant with honey.
I focussed on preparing it and with each bite I brought my mind back to the tastes, chewing each chew and swallowing. (Instead of what I usually do, which would be doing tasks between mouthfuls and finding it half eaten at night and giving it to the chickens!).
It's about doing each sensory activity mindfully.

There's a lot behind why my C said for me to do this with food.

"Touch".
I put some nice thick body cream on my legs and spent a few minutes doing this, thinking about how my legs feel and the soothing of the cream.

Well there's 2 of the 5 for today.

EMxxxx

[Clues_Of_Blue]

Hi all,

Thanks EM. Also, love the 5 things. Should try and engage more there, myself.

Thought today I might share some self-care things I do every day, or every work day.

- Coffee. Always start the day with good quality coffee!

- Nutrition. Make sure there's protein, carbs and fibre in my meals, and I eat enough to keep me going every day (especially on work days). Doc tells me I've gotten out of strut with iron, will be upping my green veggie intake.

- Calm. Especially when getting ready for work, I'll have my nature videos on - anything from "live fish cam" or "live bird cam" on YouTube, or forest scenes. Got my nature sounds playing at night on my phone. There have been studies that suggest just looking at a picture of nature can soothe a person significantly. For us depressive types, anything that helps is important.

- Hydration. Lots of water! Dehydration can sap energy and cause headaches. No sense adding to our problems, right?

[Jstar49]

aha!

thankyou!

J*

[missep123]

Yesterday I had a really stressful day at work so I made sure to reset myself today to have a fresh mindset

1) I had coffee which I find fun and it is a self-care ritual that I love doing. 2020 was definitely the year I got into drinking coffee! My life has changed!

2) Watched Tik Tok, it's so fun and relaxing and really takes my mind off things

3) Spent some time with my dog which always makes me feel better