The Art of Extreme Self Care

Cheryl Richardson has written a fantastic, easy read, entitled "The Art of Extreme Self Care."  Many people in our society are stressed, overworked, feel under appreciated and resentful.  Are you a "yes" man/woman?  Is "no" a four letter word in your world?  Does giving make you feel like a good person, yet resentful when you don't feel properly acknowledged for all you do?  We all have experienced this phenomenon on one form or another.  Part of living a healthy, happy, balanced life is learning to put yourself first. Cheryl's book provides invaluable tools, teaching you over a twelve month period how to transform your life and practice the art of extreme self care. 

In the first chapter she discusses deprivation.  Readers are encouraged to really look inside themselves and ask "Where do I feel deprived?" "What do I need more of right now? Less of?" "What am I starving for?" and several other questions that encourages the reader to examine what is needed to start practicing self care.  Chapter two discusses the concept of Mirror Work, and encourages readers to say "I Love You" to themselves each time they pass a mirror.  I touched on this subject in my June 21 blog entry: http://existingstricky.blogspot.com/2010/06/power-of-affirmations.html

The next few chapters teach readers how to say "no" with grace, creating balance, making a "no" list of things you absolutely will not do anymore, creating a "soul-loving" space, protecting your sensitivity, caring for your body, reawakening your hidden passions, and standing up for yourself.

Chapter Five definitely hit home with me and will appeal to fellow control freaks.  Have you ever watched someone help you out by performing a task, and had to hold back that "backseat driver" monster trying to claw its way out?  Then, after the person leaves, "fix" what they just did? Cheryl puts it this way, "Hi, I'm General Manager of the Universe, and you need to do this my way and in my time to keep me happy." When I first started working for my Dad, I was THE office person. As things got busier, more help was needed. It took me years, and several assistants, to finally learn to let go and let people do things in their own way and in their own time. As long as it gets done, does it really matter how? This was a really difficult lesson for me, but because I learned to let go, I started working 40 hours, rather than 60 per week, I held onto help for much longer and the work environment became more fun, and shockingly, more productive. Last fall I hired a wonderful woman to take over my position in the office, so I could focus on healing and writing. She's done a fantastic job, however, she has created many new systems and in some cases has a completely different approach to getting things done.  And you know what?  Things are running smoother than ever and I get to spend my days writing, talking to my tumors, waking Triton, making delicious vegan meals, and practicing my knitting.  I wouldn't be able to do all this if I hadn't learned to let go a bit.

The final chapter encourages readers to create an Extreme Self Care kit, essentially a toolbox that can be pulled out in moments of crisis.  All in all, this is a wonderful book, filled with great tips and inspiration.  I highly recommend it.

Healing With Energy Psychology

In my last entry I discussed how emotions play a large role in healing the body.  I discussed forgiveness, mirror work and affirmations.  There are many techniques for releasing trapped emotions and healing the body.  This new field of study is called Energy Psychology.  My Mom wrote a great lense on Squidoo on this very topic.  http://www.squidoo.com/energy-psychology  I personally have had great success with both Resonance Repatterning (formerly known as Holographic Repatterning) and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique).

Shortly after my cancer diagnosis I researched several energy psychology techniques.  I connected the strongest with Resonance Repatterning, a technique that essentially helps clear out subconscious patterns that interfere with your life.  I scheduled sessions with local Kansas City practitioner Bobbie Martin.   http://www.bobbiemartin.com/

During the my first session we discovered a pattern that attracted slimy, wannabe rapists my way.  Subconsciously I had decided that this kind of attention was all I could obtain and all that I deserved.  Because of this I was missing out on the opportunity to meet a nice guy.  I was 24 years old at the time, never been in a relationship, and had been molested, stalked, harassed, and assaulted repeatedly for the past twenty years.  After my first repatterning session, I went to Best Buy to purchase a CD and was approached by a very polite gentleman, who complimented me and gave me his telephone number.  No creepy comeons, inappropriate touching, didn't threaten to stalk or attack me, he simply smiled, gave me his information, and walked away.  I was ecstatic!! I'd never had such a wonderful and positive experience with a man before, and just one hour after being repatterned!  Three months later I entered into a relationship with a wonderful man that I had the opportunity to date for almost three years.  Amazing isn't it?  I highly recommend this technique; it changed my life.

EFT is another great technique.  The nice thing about this method is that you can do it at home, in the shower, the car, pretty much anywhere.  Essentially, you "tap" on certain acupressure points in order to release blocked emotions.  There are tons of videos to follow along to on many different topics on YouTube.  You can also check out some of these links for tips on EFT:

EFT for Allergy Relief: http://www.squidoo.com/eft-allergy-relief
EFT for Pets: http://www.squidoo.com/peteft
Empower Your Affirmations with EFT: http://www.squidoo.com/eft-affirmations
EFT for Stress-Free Holidays: http://www.squidoo.com/eft-holidaystress