Burnout means it's time for space-making. Read this post to get you thinking about all the ways you can take care of yourself today. So you can be lighter, freer. So you can move forward without leaving any part of you behind.

5 Ways to Take Care of Yourself Today

1. Therapeutic touch.

If you feel the waves of failure, shame, or isolation, use your body to access deeper compassion.

• Put both hands over your chest/heart center.
• Put your hands on your belly.
• Hold your own hand, like you would a loved one’s.
• Give yourself a hug.
• Cradle your face, like you would a child’s.

Ask your body what it needs to feel cared for in this moment. When your body relaxes and feels more comforted, your mind will follow.

Don't underestimate the investment you make in yourself.

2. List how you *do* want to feel, and frame those feelings in possibility.

Make a list pinpointing how you want to feel, and focus there for as long as you can.

You can use affirmations too. For example, “I’ve figured things out before, and I trust that I can figure things out again.”

This isn’t about avoiding any negative emotions you’re feeling; it’s about generating movement toward what you most want to feel.

First try honoring the discomfort. Sit with it until you glimpse what lies underneath it all. You might find your own intrinsic worth and goodness, possibility, resilience, stillness, all the ways you've made it through before.

With this change of heart comes a stronger connection to how you want to feel. You honor your feelings but don’t get stuck there. You regain your sense of wholeness. And then you do things from a place of wholesomeness and trust and "already enough."

3. Take time to relax and breathe. 

• Take a cat nap.
• Draw a warm bath.
• Do a walking meditation, stopping to smell the flowers and appreciate the plants.
• Use essential oils for aromatherapeutic release.
• Massage/exfoliate your skin with a dry brush.
• Try “legs up the wall” pose.
• Try some breathing exercises.

This doesn't need to take a long time. It's about using your body as a springboard for mental and emotional calm. If you want more ideas like these, get my book Sleep Rituals for 100 at-home practices that are all about you and the present moment.

4. Unplug.

Give yourself the grace of detaching from all the ringing and dinging and buzzing and beeping.

Whether it’s for a day or an hour, in the morning or at night, or for set periods during the day, try going without easy access to your phone, computer, radio, tablet, or other devices. Keep your phone in the other room while you work or exercise. Turn off notifications. Try only checking your devices after you’ve completed a task.

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” - Anne Lamott

5. Voice your concerns to a trusted friend.

The gifts buried in you can only see the light of day when you (a) nourish them and (b) give them a voice. The same goes for the knots in your stomach, the anxiety in your body — those need to breathe.

Be with someone you trust. They don’t need to solve your problems or fix anything, only be there to hear you out, so you can hear your own way out.

. . .

Tell me:

Which of these thoughts did you need to read today?

Tell me in the comments. I read every single one, and I'd love to know!

With love,

Jen

P.S. Need to stop taking stress to bed with you? Get my book Sleep Rituals for 100 at-home practices that are all about you + the present moment. You’ll have meditations and so many other ideas you can use anytime. To feel better. Lighter. Free to live... free.