Part of the key to self care is finding ways of being nice to yourself that don’t require a huge investment of time. Yes, it would be great to spend the day at one of those fancy spas. I can almost feel the sense of relaxation soothing all of the tension that I carry around in my body…
But who has the time for that.
If you do have that kind of time that is wonderful, but if you don’t, what can you do in a few minutes when you want to feel better?
After spending a morning trying to keep up with all of the tasks that are necessary in order to maintain a website like this one and, as a result, finding that I had spent hours staring at a computer screen without anything useful to point to as the result of my effort, I happened across a series of TED talks on the topic of Taking Care of Yourself.
Just finding the set and bookmarking it was a source of instant relief.
This smorgasbord of videos includes one delightful 3 minute video that offers a useful antidote to the sense of being trapped indoors that many of us feel so desperately in the winter.
And there is a wonderful 15 minute talk about gratitude. One of those practices that we can all work on… and just watching the video should give you a taste of the benefits of paying attention to the things in our lives that are good.
And as a long time believer in the value of even a small amount of mindfulness practice (one of my favorite prescriptions in my clinical practice is to do a two minute guided mindfulness practice twice a day using the Calm.com app) I love this 9 and a half minute post that argues that ten minutes of mindfulness a day can make a big difference in your health.
Finally, I love Brene Brown, anything she writes about or talks about makes me feel better, and in this compendium of videos about how to be a better steward of your health, there is a special talk about the power of vulnerability. A nice antidote to the sense that many of us have that we really can’t share anything personal because we may get into trouble….
If you want to see the whole list here it is… Bookmark it and come back from time to time when you need to get reconnected with what is really important in life.