Self-Care Is Health Care

As I write this post, contractors are banging and sawing on the west side of my house. I started out the day working right next to the banging. As a creature of habit I was reluctant to move my laptop and my body away from where I normally work. Then I remembered the Ayurvedic wisdom that one of the main causes of disease is the misuse or abuse of the senses. So, I collected my stuff and moved as far away in my house from the noise as I could.

And I immediately felt better.

We’re conditioned from the time we’re born to put up with unpleasantness in various forms. Somewhere along the way, we start to think that pain and suffering are unavoidable. So we can get trapped in a victim mentality, waiting for someone to put us out of our misery.

Empowerment comes with the realization that we are that someone.

In the example I started the post with, I at first tried to ignore the banging. But when I tuned in to my body, I became aware that the banging was jarring to my nerves. I was my own savior when I realized that I was free to move to a better place. That was a simple choice. But our lives and our health are constructed of webs of choices.

Moving away from noise is a clear example of the power of tuning in and taking loving action. What about being more selective about … the news we listen to? … places we hang out in? … the clutter we allow in our living space? And so on. What does not serve our health and highest good is to some extent toxic. How can we live in a way that minimizes the toxins in our environment?

When we take care of ourselves, we are taking care of all of humanity, all of nature, and creating a more beautiful and peaceful world, one choice at a time. Because we are a microcosm of ALL that.

So as I turn from the banging on my own western wall, I put headphones on and play beautiful music; I sip golden tea; and I write something meaningful to me. Because this moment is not a dress rehearsal.

It is life. In the present.🎁