This post is not meant to diagnose, treat, or save you from mental illness, if you or someone you love is in danger, please get help. You can text HOME to 741741 to be connected with a crisis counselor. I personally have.
http://www.cdc.gov/suicide/factsSometimes we all have to do things that we don’t particularly like. Some are big things, like getting a tooth extracted, and some are small things, trimming your nails. However, if you do these things for yourself, it is known as self care. These things don’t make you selfish, as they are a part of caring for your own body, and possibly staying healthy. Other things can make you feel good: like helping a friend or enjoying a sip of your favorite hot/cold beverage. Personally, I enjoy trying different types of hot tea. I like blonde chai, lemon zest, orange, and black teas.
On a cold day, when you wake up and there is frost covering the ground, you can see you breath almost smoke out of your mouth, and you have to bundle up with a few layers on to make it through the day, there is something euphoric in also sipping something warm. It’s almost as if it warms us from the inside, instead of the outside like a hot shower. The feeling of this warm lightly touching your lips, enveloping the inside of your mouth, soothing your throat, and then running down into your stomach, can almost make you feel like you are whole. The feeling can remind you and your body that you are precious; as you do not want to sip or gulp the beverage too quickly.
Forms of self care that remind us that we are calm and delicate and can create an awareness in our bodies that can bring a sense of wonder. Isn’t it wonderful to sip? To feel it roll around in your mouth? To taste the flavors, whether they be spicy, sweet, tart, savory, smooth, bitter, or creamy, they are all still warm. My grandmother, rest her soul, used to sip hot water from a mug she warmed in the microwave. Sounds odd huh? Yeah I guess a little, but if I sit down to think about it: she was still experiencing the warming feeling without adding any external flavors of substances. She enjoyed the warmth over her lips, the warm sensation in her mouth, and the warm feeling of the beverage rolling down into her stomach.
Whenever I have to do something I don’t like doing, I try to concentrate on some of the things I do, or might enjoy about the situation. I may not want to do this due to fatigue, illness, or lack of time and effort; or maybe I am feeling anxious, nervous, worried. The idea that I have developed for myself is to focus on what I will enjoy: I hyper focus on the positive.
I.e. I have to get a tire patched on a friend’s car. I am doing something nice for someone and that feels good. However, on the other hand, I am nervous about being in the tire shop for an extended period of time. I am worried about embarrassing myself. I am anxious that the wait is going to be a very long one and may cost my friend some additional money, that she was not expected to spend. As every Bell Tire offers a tire patching for free, we can all attest to the “weight of the wait” so to say. Meaning that your time may be worth more than the ability to stay in one place for a particular amount of time.
Waiting is particularly hard for me. As someone who suffers from anxiety, waiting can feel like the end of the world is going to come before I am done waiting. The anxiety can build inside me causing me to need that warm beverage again. Which will eventually get cold if I stop sipping it for too long.You can remind your body what it is supposed to be doing. You can create a self awareness that fits your lifestyle. Maybe it’s a smoothie, an iced coffee, or an energy drink. We all have to take the time to decided for our selfs.
Certain substances upon entering the body create different responses. For example, nicotine and caffeine are both stimulants they wake your body up or juice your body up or bring your mood up; depending on how your body breaks them down. I prefer a hot tea or coffee in the fall and winter, and an iced tea or blended iced coffee in the spring and summer; I live in the Midwest. Whatever substance you chose, its good to know how it effects your body. Mindfulness is key.
-A Manic Monday
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