30 Dec January; love is in the details

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

― Mother Teresa

We have just stepped into the season of winter, a time when our bodies naturally need more rest and connection with our inner nature. We are able to be more reflective, slower paced and quiet. Yet many of us feel pressure to be expansive, and productive which is the exact opposite of what nature doing. As we are a part of nature, going against it has a lot of us feeling defeated by the time February rolls around. But what if we heeded the call of the natural cycles that govern us? What if January is a time of quietly attending to the details of our lives?

Attending to the details is the side of self care that doesn’t get a lot of airplay, yet is absolutely integral to our mental and physical health. Getting enough rest and food, washing that stack of dishes so you can enjoy a clean kitchen, clearing areas of clutter, conscious spending, setting boundaries—all fairly simple things to do yet, I know when I’m busy or stressed they are the first things to go out of the routine. (except the dishes because, two kids + getting behind on dishes= I cant see the kitchen and we all starve or survive on take out.) These are examples of ‘boots on the ground’ self care, the small details that keep our personal little islands afloat, nothing flashy or fancy, but actually kind hard to do (let alone done mindfully.)

How often do we slow down long enough to notice how much we already have, and think to ourselves, “I have so much to be thankful for?”  How often to we overlook what we have already accomplished because we are striving for bigger/ better/ more? It’s exhausting, and many of us are rolling into this new year exhausted.

The remedy to exhaustion is not doing more of the things that stress us out, its rest and relaxation. Rest is an imperative part of our productivity, yet most of us are terrified to allow ourselves to do it. If this is you, ask yourself, what is the worst that can happen? There is so much inherited shame around idleness but magic appears when we stop the striving, there is room for grace. Creative ideas and raw truths have the space to drop into our hearts. How deeply can we trust the reward of showing up for ourselves in the moment?

“More often than not our wishes come true in between the lines and inside the ordinary. “

– Stacy Couch

January shares that the big things we long for begin with one small step, and then another. When we set and achieve small tasks, we build self esteem and feelings of self worth, quell anxiety and ground ourselves into our lived experience.  The time will come again where we expand, just as surely as we know the sun is making its daily return back to us. But now is the time to soften into the small, exquisite details of our lives and let them nourish us.

It’s a time to focus on the infinitesimally mighty acts of self care, and to breathe life into the tiny sacred areas of our being.

It’s a time to tidy and sift through the contents of our bodies and mind so that when it’s time to leap forward, we are ready.

Self care check list:

Love is noun, meaning, it’s an action, its something we do. Your small acts of self care build self love.

Ask yourself what are 5+ things that you do for self care for your body, heart and soul? note: this is not another ‘to do’ list, this is a list to remind you of the things that feed you. Some examples are; time in nature, talking with friends, alone time, therapy, going to the movies etc.

Write yours down and put them somewhere you can read them. Then, make a commitment to do one thing per day, or more if that suites. Try it out for the month of January and see how you feel at the months end.

Self care is a pillar of wellness and prosperity, it is literally fuel for your life!

If self care and healing is something you are wanting more support with, I am opening up two spots for intuitive healing in the new year, if this speaks to you reach out and we can schedule an info session! More details on my website.

So much love in the details,

Jacqui