Welcome to this self-care meditation.

As a parent, you have a lot of

demands on your time, on your

energy, on your attention.

And because of that, it can sometimes

be easy to forget, to take time for you.

So to emphasize the importance of that,

and to perhaps give you permission to do

that, I'd like to offer a quote by Parker

Palmer before we go into our meditation.

And the quote is,

"Self-care is never selfish.

It's simply good stewardship of

the only gift we have, the gift we

were put on earth to offer others.

Anytime we take care of ourselves, we do

it not just for ourselves, but for the

many others whose lives we aim to serve.

Self-care is not selfish.

And we could write that off

as trite, but it's true.

If you are not taking time to replenish

your own energy, to be still, to

take care of your body, to eat well,

without that, you're just going to

deplete and you won't have a full

enough fuel tank to keep going.

So if nothing else, I hope this

encourages you to take moments

throughout the day for you.

And that's what this

meditation is all about.

So let's start by finding

a comfortable posture.

And one that feels particularly

good and nourishing for you.

It doesn't have to feel

austere and upright.

Maybe this is sitting.

Could be lying down, could even

be standing, if that feels best.

And if you'd like, you

can close your eyes.

And let's drink in one

deep breath together.

Breathing into the nose.

Slowly letting it out through the mouth.

Noticing any tension you

might be holding in your face.

The forehead.

The eyes.

The cheeks.

The jaw.

Even the tongue.

Just inviting these muscles to relax.

You don't need to be on right now.

You don't need to have

a particular expression.

You don't need to be showing

up in a particular way.

It's okay to be however you are.

Even if that includes feeling uncertain,

overwhelmed, a little burnt out.

We can add so much extra tension

by constantly feeling like we

need to show up a certain way.

Masking, perhaps, what's

really beneath the surface.

So letting the face soften

into its original face.

Inviting the shoulders,

the neck to be at ease.

The chest and the belly.

And I invite you to place one hand on

your belly and one hand on your heart.

I tend to like to do the right hand

on the heart, left hand on the belly.

And just take a few moments to

feel your body breathing you.

And your heart that's beating.

Even while you're running around, spending

so much time taking care of others.

Your body is still here

nourishing you, caring about you.

Keeping you going.

So maybe just feeling a moment

of appreciation, gratitude.

You can even say in your

own mind, thank you.

body.

Thank you for continuing to show up

for me, even if maybe I'm not always

the best at showing up for you.

And the breath is your reminder

that as long as you're breathing,

there's still so much more right

with you than wrong with you.

No matter how many mistakes

you may perceive you've made,

no matter how hopeless things

might feel at times or how

overwhelmed life might feel,

this breath is your reminder

that you're still here.

There's still another opportunity

to choose how you'll be in

relationship to this moment.

And as you rest here in stillness

and attunement, just ask yourself,

is there anything I need right

now that I can offer myself?

It could be within the meditation, but

you can let down those boundaries and also

just consider outside of the meditation.

Is there anything I need right

now that I can offer myself?

And see what comes up

around that question.

And what does it feel like to even

consider offering this to yourself?

Just starting with the nourishment of

the intention to take care of yourself.

It may feel a little scary, yes.

It may feel like an

unfamiliar pattern, indeed.

But just see if you can sit with

it for a moment, this intention

to offer something to you.

So in our final moments here,

I invite you to thank yourself.

It's not an easy job that you have.

And some words of reassurance

and kindness from yourself to

yourself can often go a long way.

So whatever that sounds like

for you, you're doing great.

Thank you.

You can even talk to

yourself in the third person.

So if it were me, I might say, Hey Corey,

I know there's a lot going on, buddy.

This is tough, but

you're making it through.

I'm here for you.

We've got this.

I'm proud of you.

So what do you feel like you need to hear?

And can you say it from yourself to

yourself with the most amount of love?

Let's take one more deep breath together.

In through the nose.

Slowly out through the mouth.

And when you're ready, you

can let your eyes open.

Thanks for practicing with me.

You know, we all have different

relationships to self-care.

And it is often the case that obsessively

taking care of others can be a subtle

form of bypassing the more difficult

work of taking care of ourselves.

And so just notice if that

might be a pattern for you.

You have a big job as a parent, a

caregiver, and it won't be sustainable or

at least with any sort of energy, vitality

and joy, without being able to take

these moments for yourself to recharge,

reconnect, reattune and just show

yourself some, some love and gratitude.

So necessary and goes such a long way.

So thanks for doing everything

you're doing in the world.

I appreciate you.

We need you.

And I'll talk to you next time.

Until then, as always, take care.