Self Care SoMa 17

Self Care   Do you like to iron? I (Marianne) do not. But Sophie finds her time at the ironing board relaxing and a form of meditation.  So, what does ironing have to do with self-care?    According to Sophie, self-care is the ability of us to be aware of our personal needs.   Sometimes, we have to decide what action brings us more peace of mind: visiting with our family or taking care of unfinished tasks.   We do talk about a mangel which actually makes ironing fun. If you have never seen one, do a search for many different models - a new model you can but today runs about $ 2,500.00.  But this photo I found online is close to what we had in our home and used for the weekly ironing marathon. When Sophie and Marianne were in Yoga Teacher training, we started a little book club. One of our favorites was Loving What Is by Byron Katie. We both highly recommend that you read this book. Please get it from your local library or support an independent bookstore! Does Self Care sometimes feel like a chore? If it does, is it still self-care?   Sophie describes the Ayurvedic practice of Abhyanga. Here is a link to the Wikipedia entry. If you are knowledgeable about this subject, you can help improve the article. And while you are at it, donate to Wikipedia. Now, more than ever, we need sources of information.   Our conversation did bring us to mental self care.In particular, letting go of guilt and stopping comparing ourselves to others.   As always, our conversation takes us to many different topics. Here is one tool to calm ourselves when unhelpful thoughts are taking over: Sing a song or repeat a mantra over and over.   Join us on Patreon for many guided meditations and our Yin Yoga Series. Patreon: Explore Soma You can also find us on Instagram Explore_Soma_Podcast and on Facebook Explore Soma Podcast BlueSky @ExploreSomaPodcast.bsky.social We are looking forward to hearing from you. Sophie & Marianne