5 Key Areas To Take Time for Yourself
Take time for yourself and make you important. If you don’t, no one else will. In my book “Empower Yourself by Loving Your Body” I discuss five key areas where you should take time for yourself.
These are basically five steps to help you have a better relationship with yourself. Your WHOLE self. Your body, your relationship with food, and your sexuality.
Five key areas I suggest you take more time with.
1. Getting Out of Your Mind and Being in Your Body.
2. Creating a More Loving Relationship with Food.
3. Cultivating a Love Affair with Your Body.
4. Putting more Love into Your Sexuality Through Sensuality.
5. Commit to you. Make you important.
1. Get Out of Your Mind and Be In Your Body
Take the Time To Get Out of Your Mind!
Slow down! We are all racing around stressed out. What are we trying to accomplish and where are we trying to go? The monkey mind is not your friend. An overactive mind can cause all kinds of problems. Learn how to slow your mind down and listen to the wisdom of your body instead. Learn how to BE PRESENT.
And I am talking about being present in your body. And really that’s the only way you can be present is when you are “out of your mind” because being in your mind doesn’t allow you to be present. That is the nature of the mind. The mind is in either the past or the future. Think about it. Your mind is either in the past in should have, could have, would have thinking, possibly obsessing about “the way we were,” or it’s in the future, fearful or anxious about what might happen.
Even if your thoughts are positive, your mind is never in the present.
That is the nature of the mind.
What is always in the present moment? You guessed it – your body! Yes, your body is always in the present. If you want to be empowered in your life, then you need to learn how to get out of your mind and access the power and wisdom of your body. Take time for yourself and learn how to slow down, get out of your mind, and be in your body.
Maybe you’re wondering what I really mean by “out of your mind” and “into your body.” This is the best way to take time for yourself. So that you know what I mean let me give you a simple example. The idea of saying “I look good” versus “I feel good.” If you think you look good, then you have a mental construct of your body. On the other hand, if you feel good, truly feel it, then you are in your body. Most of us don’t take time to feel into our bodies.
You’ll never completely get out of your head, meaning be without thought. The important point is to become aware of how frequently you are in your head. It’s useful to know the difference. With practice, you’ll notice when you’re in your head and take steps to center yourself back into your body. It’s a great place to hang out. 🙂
Here’s a little helper for you…. a truly divine meditation that will slow down your monkey mind and guide you into your body.
2. Create a More Loving Relationship With Food
What Kind of Relationship Do You Have With Food?
Is food your friend or foe? Is it a source of nourishment or a source of mental anguish?
What type of relationship do you have with food? How does food make you feel? Are you emotionally attached to food that isn’t healthy for you? Do you beat yourself up after eating? Are you eating on the run, in the car? Do you eat without paying attention to what you’re doing?
What would it take to love yourself enough to have a life-affirming love relationship with food? To take time for yourself and create a calm environment when you are eating.
Develop a love relationship with food. What I mean by that is make peace with food. Do you think of food as a nurturing, supportive, joyous part of your life? Or is it something you obsess about, control, measure, regulate, limit or overindulge in.
You need food to nourish your body so it will function optimally. When you take time for yourself with food it creates a healthy relationship with it.
3. Cultivate A Love Affair With Your body
Take Time for Yourself by Treating Your Body Well
You may not consider it this way, but your body is your sacred temple. But too many of us treat it like a cheap rental car! With all the stimuli you’re exposed to in the media and in society, do you come from an “if only” perspective about your body. If only my hips were smaller, if only my breasts were larger, if only my smile was straight, if only my legs were thinner, if only my legs were thicker. This is living in your head about your body. If judgment is the only type of relationship you have with your body, it’s disempowering you.
Having a love affair with your body will empower you. And I believe pleasure is the path because it’s the best antidote for those with body image issues. You do this by cultivating a more sensual, instead of mental, relationship with your body.
Here are some things you can do to take time for yourself and your body. And to create a more sensual instead of mental relationship with your body.
- Get a massage
- Take a bath
- Do a guided meditation
- Do ambhiyanga (nurturing oil massage)
4. Put More Love Into Your Sexuality Through Sensuality
Are you sexually wounded?
Many women in our society carry sexual wounds. If you have been sexually abused, you have wounds in your body from those experiences. Maybe you weren’t sexually abused personally, however collectively the consciousness of this world is such that it has wounded most everyone’s sexuality. Men, too, have been sexually wounded. If you want to really know how to take time for yourself you need to look at your sexuality…heal, awaken, expand, and put more love into it.
In A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle speaks of “the pain body“, a residue of emotional pain stored in the cells of the body. What women need to know is that there is a magnificent, marvelous, and mysterious counterpart to that, “the pleasure body.” The female body is designed for sensual pleasure, and the female brain is wired to give us an opportunity for the full experience of those pleasures.
Pleasure is a Fabulous Way to Take Time For Yourself
We are the leaders of love. The masculine way to lead is through conquering. The feminine way is through intuition and surrendering to our innate desire to lead with love and feel great sensual pleasure in our bodies. Feeling pleasure is how we let love in so we can lead with love. The more we calm our busy minds, the greater the opportunity to experience deep love, acceptance, and more pleasure in our bodies.
If you have had body image issues, you hold pain in your body. It’s time to let that pain go. Allow pleasure in. Opening up your body and letting pleasure in heals body image issues. When you let love and pleasure into your body, you stop the internal battle you may be experiencing.
We’re not programmed to open and accept, delight and bodily pleasure.
Historically, we haven’t had a safe space for such receptivity. It takes effort to change our attitude and programming about pleasure. Pain may motivate because we want to avoid it, but pleasure heals. When you take time and learn how to open deeper into pleasure, you’ll heal the relationship you have with your body.
Your ability to feel pleasure is related to your ability to open and receive. We live in a world where the natural tendency is to react by shutting down instead of staying open or opening up. In new situations, we tend to be suspicious, defensive, or judgmental. It takes effort and consciousness to keep ourselves open. That’s why for many, pleasure is elusive. I’m not only referring to sexual pleasure or our bodies. In general, we are not raised to be receptive.
Take time for yourself and become sensually receptive. This is the first step towards putting more love into your sexuality.
Simple Practices To Increase Receptivity
- Listen instead of talk.
- Breathe deeply.
- Stop and notice your environment.
- Take a moment to feel what you are feeling.
- Stop judging and start counting your blessing.
5. Take Time For Yourself By Committing to YOU
Are you committed to YOU? Do you take time for yourself? When was the last time you took a workshop to elevate your spirit and expand your consciousness? Are you receiving the support you need in order to do so? Do you have a regular exercise program and/or meditation program? Do you feel worthy enough to create these things in your life?
If you don’t make yourself number one in your life
you’ll give to others from an empty and possibly needy space.
Giving to ourselves is something we typically didn’t learn from our mothers. If you don’t fill yourself up first you’ll have nothing to offer others. You may then fall prey to giving out of need for approval or making commitments that you can’t keep. Giving to yourself first is not selfish. It allows you to give more fully to others.
When taking an airplane flight, the flight attendants give safety instructions. Showing the oxygen mask, they instruct you to first put your mask on before turning to a child to help them with theirs. This is a perfect example of how you can only give fully and safely (without harming yourself) if you are taking care of yourself first. Are you doing that in your life and in your relationship? Life becomes more pleasurable when you do. You also save yourself from making commitments you can’t keep or building resentment in your dearest relationships.
What can you do today to commit to YOU? You are important. You’re worthy of taking time for yourself. You are a very special, precious being who needs loving support in order to give to others in a healthy way.
What resonated most with you in this article and why?
What can you do to turn any insights into action right now? Leave a comment below and let me know. I would love to hear from you. Thousands of other women come to my blog for inspiration and wisdom. Your comment may provide support to someone else.
Thank you so very much for being here and for adding your perspective.
I’m Anna-Thea an author and Certified Divine Feminine Educator. I educate women on how to create a more pleasurable life. Love yourself today and every day. Take time on a regular basis to refuel yourself. To learn more check out my online courses.
