Self care – love yourself!

What a time, what an experience, what an adventure! If you are reading this, you are probably in some sort of isolation or in some way, shape or form restricted in your movement and contact with others.

This is a challenging time for most of us and I certainly do not want to impose any happy go lucky positivity on you and yet, the truth is, I am having a wonderful time in this uncertainty.

I am not sure this is the change I have been preparing for, all I know is that change it is!
In this beautiful blog Kanika and I have written on many themes regarding change, fear and courage and to me, this is a time, in which all I have learned, all I claim to know is being called upon and the time to be, to act, to respond, is now.

Many Masters and Teachers have been endlessly sharing with us, inviting us to “simply” be in the now. The now is probably not looking all that bad, you are probably in a beautiful home supplied with all the comforts the modern world has to offer. You surely have enough food to nourish your body, your mind and your soul and all that is required of us is to do “nothing”.

But unfortunately this is not quite how it works, because who are we really without our distractions, our tasks, our professions, our business, our responsibilities, our duties, our family, our friends? What remains of us when we are stripped of all the things we use to make sense of this world, our existence? Well, this seems to be a time to find out.

I keep hearing Osho say “There is simply nothing to do” and this may be the most difficult, most challenging fact of my existence. In essence this could mean to me, that nothing I do or do not do matters, so why bother at all. Surely a philosophical question, but what better time for one than now.

And yet I am here and simply by this fact which is my experience, my existence is justified. More than that, I have managed to feel welcome and crucial to this planet, by showing up and by doing my best. And my best begins with self care. It begins with me welcoming myself here on this planet in this body that needs to move, to touch and to be touched, with this mind and all it’s thoughts, doubts and worries. With this heart that feels so much. Welcoming myself by assuring myself that for whatever reason, I am meant to be right here, right now.

My suffering begins when I doubt this simple fact of my existence. When I worry about the future that I can not control, when I believe I am not where I am supposed to be, when I feel I am not doing what I could/should be doing. Most of all I should be doing something!

I believe the only comfort that can be found is by radically living in the now and I mean radically. There are so many of us that fear financial and often existential consequences and yet, we simply do not know what will happen so there is little use in allowing the mind to form endless future scenarios that are unpleasant. Leaving the now is where the suffering awaits.

I too have a strong urge to plan, to be prepared, to try and get that future under control but the truth is, I don’t know what I am preparing for. I don’t know if I will be able to sustain myself, if my life concepts will still be applicable, if I will have a return on my investments, if I will be able to honour all my commitments.

In the now none of this matters. In the now everything is possible. In the now I am doing my best and have every intention of showing up, no matter what. This is where I am aiming to be, present.

And this too is self care. To watch myself, to take responsibility and to use what I know, what I have learnt to make sure I can show up, to make sure I can be present for this task, which is a different one for each one of us. The one requirement we share is the need to present ourselves.

If you must do something, learn to rest. Learn to relax, to breathe deeply, to let go of tension. And rest. You may never have truly rested in your life, and opposing to what you may believe, you deserve to rest, in fact, you need to rest. So much has been done, enough has been done. Rest.

Let us do our very best to take good care of our selves. If I tend well to myself, if I am rested, I will have capacity to tend to someone elses needs. If I take good care of myself, taking care of the world around me comes natural in the deep knowing that I am a part of everything and everything is a part of me.

It begins with me. Then I can connect to you. And so it continues. It begins with me.

My experience is filled with a sense of thrill and stimulation, my heart is filled with love and care for all of existence. My mind is in a state of wonder and curiosity. I feel deep humility and awe realising that I am a part of this human species, a part of this process of adaptation and ultimately, a part of the human evolution.

I hope this finds you well in these interesting times. For whatever reason, This is our Time, so let us show up for this!

With love
Charu Eliza Hermsdorf

Co-Founder of DIMA Mallorca, A Centre for Conscious Living
Mediator and Conflict counselor at MediateBerlin
www.mediateberlin.com