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Self-careRachel Harvest

Rachel Harvest is a former professional ballet dancer who focuses on nutrition as well as prioritizing self-care.

Three Best Practices…

Know Yourself

Know yourself – be curious about who you are, you body, your needs, your wants. always be the student, with “I don’t know, i’d like to learn” as your guiding stance. it not only makes making change more fun, it opens you up to being more gentle and supportive of yourself during the process.

Trust Yourself

Trust yourself – when you know yourself (#1) better and better every day, you also become better and better at knowing what you need. your gut response tunes up, becoming more articulate and sensitive and you have no reason to second guess your choices. through trust you release anxiety and find peace and comfort in the choices you make moment-to-moment.

DemandRespect

Demand respect – when you know (#1) and trust (#2) yourself, you stand in authority. this gives you the voice and capacity to put up boundaries (sometimes, homeland security/border control level boundaries), speak your truth, teach people how you want to be treated and get what you need and want out of life. You deserve that kind of respect.

To Do: Mindful Mourishment

When I say nourishment, the first thought is breakfast/lunch/dinner. That is one way you nourish yourself (and it’s certainly one of the spaces you can apply this exercise). There are also, much deeper nuances to true nourishment. When you eat you use your senses to experience whatever fuel you choose to put in your bodies, digest and absorb.A nourishing choice would be a food that you enjoy with your sense of touch, taste, smell, sight and even hearing (crrrrrunch) that provides quality nutrients to help your body go and repair and work optimally. You can also choose something that’s sweet or salty or buttery or fried and indulge in the feel-good response you get. It doesn’t fully nourish you and, there is nourishment in the psychological experience. It’s important to acknowledge the reason you choose what you choose. That’s mindful nourishment. Judgement doesn’t nourish. Guilt doesn’t nourish. Restriction doesn’t nourish nor does punishment.Based on the definition of nourishment above, here are other ways you are nourished:what you readwhat you watchwhat types of conversations you havewhat you listen towhat smells you fill your environment with…get the point?What ignites one or all of your senses, gets put into our bodies, digested and absorbed?Do you read tabloids, magazines and news that you respond to with judgmental/distrustful/disrespectful feelings?Do you watch TV, movies, performances or any other kind of entertainment that you respond to with judgmental/distrustful/disrespectful feelings?Do you gossip, complain, fight or speak in any way that produces judgmental/distrustful/disrespectful feelings?Do you listen to radio, podcasts etc that you respond to as above?Do you make your environment smell and feel good… or not?The point is to wake up to what you passively let into your body/mind/spirit. If you actively choose what you take in, digest and absorb, you grow in your strength and resolve to make choices that nourish you, that are self-caring. You become a boundary ninja. Which is necessary, because, you’ll see quickly, there are an awful lot of not-so-nourishing things you’ve been letting in, past the gates. Be mindful. Practice as often as you remember. Journal about what you learn.