As an empowerment coach and life educator, I teach families about the importance of self-soothing rituals and calming techniques for each member of the family. If you have been a parent, you will remember the methods you developed to sooth a fretful baby or toddler. You knew what worked and what would just make the child more upset.
Coping With Stress
When you are upset, you also need to have an arsenal of effective ways to calm yourself down and improving your mood. Sometimes unpleasant memories or negative self-talk will spark conflict in your heart. You may feel your heart racing, breathing becoming shallow and your stomach churning.
When you are feeling overwhelmed and stressed you can more easily relax by finding ways to be kind and gentle to comfort yourself.
How to enjoy being you? One the greatest obstacles in life is self-acceptance. Though it is difficult, learning to be okay with who you are is perhaps the most crucial thing you need to do to be happy. No matter what your life has dealt you, you have the opportunity to accept yourself and learn to like who you are.
Consider how you feel when looking at someone you have a crush on, or with whom you’re falling in love. Even their faults are cute – at least for a while. You may love the way they play with their hair, or the way they walk, talk, or dance. You may like the way their mouth moves when they’re thinking, or how they get quiet when their heart is touched. Or if you have a child, you may delight in how they behave a bit mischievously at times, or how they are curious and like to get into things. You may see the sun reflecting on your child’s hair, and think that this must be the perfect angel of God sent down to bless you – at least during the best moments.
Five Senses in Self-Care
By utilizing the five senses of feel, taste, touch, smell and hearing you can build an arsenal of empowering experiences. What makes you feel better? What techniques have you developed to calm and soothe yourself? Are they beneficial or harmful?
Touch
- Massage
- Warm bath
- Playing with your pet
Taste
- Sipping herbal tea or flavored water
- A small helping of a comfort food
Smell
- Smelling lavender or vanilla
- Deeply breathing in fresh air
- Smelling the flowers and smells of nature
Sight
- Seeing a funny movie
- Reading a good book
- Looking at pictures of loved ones
Sound
- Listening to music
- Repeating positive affirmations out loud
- Singing or humming a favorite song to yourself
Is it art, a special chair, a clean kitchen, the color on the wall or a rock in your pocket? What helps you relax when you are distressed and stressed out? Perhaps you need to invite in new ways to calm your troubled heart and soul.
Develop Your Self-Care Techniques
When I was a young mother trying to do way too much for way too many people, I found rejuvenation and relaxation by smelling the essential oil of lavender. One client, Pat, found that she could calm down by touching a tree in her yard. Just leaning against it and breathing deeply was enough to move her into an emotionally healthy place and into being a much more appreciated member of the family.
Self-Awareness Quiz
- What can you do to calm yourself when you are in stressful situations?
- Which of the five senses- touch, taste, smell, sight, or sound, is the most self-soothing and calming for you?
- Do you try to do some calming exercises or techniques daily?
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© Judy H. Wright- http://www.Artichoke Press.com
