Just because it makes me feel good! :)
In a world that encourages pushing our limits every day, it takes conscious effort to keep a check on our own well-being and to allocate time for self care in order to create balance.
I believe that being nice to yourself is not selfishness.
On Mental Health Awareness Day I decided to share my thoughts on the importance of looking after ourselves.
On mental Health Awareness Day a lovely fellow yoga teacher, Jackie Quayle shared her own story in a facebook post .
She writes about how she, being a yoga teacher (teaching others the tools to feel better - for a living) still went through a rough patch half a year after opening her studio.
I met Jackie in person a few weeks ago when I had the honour to play singing bowls at the first year opening anniversary of her studio in Widnes, called the Yoga Bank. It is a real gem, a place with a soul. A home of honest, loveful, high quality yoga. I would recommend everyone to visit it, whether you are a yoga teacher looking for inspiration or someone who would simply like a warm welcoming place to practice yoga.
Her story inspired me to share my views on the importance of looking after ourselves.
No one is immune to stress. No, not even us, yoga teachers, unfortunately. :)
It is the same for everyone: when we get busy, it is me-time that we cut out first. When the pile of things-to-do gets bigger and bigger, it gets harder and harder to justify activities that don't decrease the to-do-list. Maybe we needed Yoga Alliance to require a Self Care Hours Log from us to remember? If our job is to keep giving- it is also our responsibility towards our self and our clients to keep recharging.
Last year when I got really busy at once, I decided to block out every week half a day in my calendar and mark it as" Wellbeing morning". I would go to a class (not necessarily yoga but sometimes yes:) in my local gym, I go to the sauna, take a long walk if the weather is nice, take some singing lessons again, or occasionally book myself in for a massage... I would do something that has strictly no other use then:
It makes me feel good!
Ever since I started my journey as a yoga teacher I had a clear vision of what message I want to deliver through my work: My job is an opportunity for me to remind people to treat themselves better. To establish a loving relationship with themselves. I believe that being nice to yourself is not selfishness. On the contrary. If we learn to be kind, generous, less demanding, more understanding and forgiving with ourselves, we will be more likely to treat others this way too.
So whether you are a yoga teacher or not, please sit down today, and set aside some time in your busy schedule to do something in the next few days that you will do, just to treat yourself. Something
just because IT FEELS GOOD!:) <3
