SELF-FULL FILLING

Such important SELFcare & for many of us, not easy to do, at least not without background ‘resistance’!!
How is this for you??
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Beautiful wishes of gentle SELFcare today.

Couldn’t we all use a little of this…..always?
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Such a yummy SELFcare invitation!!
Give it a try!!
You maybe surprised with what shows up!

❤️

Practice inviting in feelings of joy and delight.

Such a beautiful invitation!
Some days are for slowing down….& simply breathe.

Such gentle & living SELFcare.

❤️

Some Days are Simply for Breathing

Remember, it’s okay to slow down
and take a day off from everything.
Let the world keep spinning.
Let the clocks keep turning.
Step away from the noise
and the obligations.

Rest is not a failure.
It is the moment you admit
you are human,
and that your limits are not flaws
but thresholds asking for kindness.

Some days are simply for breathing,
for sitting quietly.
Let the body soften.
Let the mind unravel.
Today does not need you to carry it.
You are allowed to be held.

~ 'Some Days are Simply for Breathing' by Spirit of a Hippie

✍️ Mary Anne Byrne

~ Art 'Snowy Day' by Emel Erten

A lovely….& important….SELFcare invitation.

Come back to this when you forget……which most of us will! 😉

❤️

Breathing in the Day

Breathe.
Let the world move on without you, for a while.
There is no need to chase minutes,
or measure yourself by tasks.

Sit in silence.
Feel the pulse of your own heartbeat,
hear the gentle hum of life around you.

Savor your tea, your coffee,
the warmth resting in your hands.
Notice the pauses,
the quiet spaces between moments,
the stillness where nothing seems to happen.

Slowing down is not an absence of life;
it is life, lived more fully.
Moving gently through the hours,
we discover the beauty
in simply being.

~ 'Breathing in the Day' by Spirit of a Hippie

✍️ Mary Anne Byrne

~ Art by Michelle Johnson

Ahhhhhh……Gratitude as SELFcare.

Notice today what is good & also the feelings in your body.
Simply notice & say Thank you.

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Allow yourself to think about this day, something that’s happened that’s good. It doesn’t have to be a magnificent thing. Maybe it’s simply a meal. Perhaps someone smiled on the subway. Maybe someone let you get in line first. Maybe you saw a baby playing. Something good. Go through your day; go through the time that’s passed. The day, a couple of hours, what happened that’s good?

When you find those, connect to the feeling that happened, for just a moment that good-­ tasting meal might’ve made you smile. The flower growing where you didn’t think it would grow might’ve given you an instant of wonder and awe. That baby laughing might’ve reminded you that life is continuing as it should in ways we don’t know. Allow yourself to connect those feelings and bring back those feelings of the good things. It’s called gratitude, gratitude.

And if it works for you, say thank you. Thank you, little miracles. Thank you, little good things. Thank you, little moments of smiling, little instances of joy, little times of happiness. Say thank you. And then take those experiences of gratitude and allow yourself to breathe them in, the gratefulness, the gratitude.

Know that as we practice looking for the good moments, looking for what to be grateful for, it becomes a habit. We see what we’re looking for. We shift our moods. We’re more in our lives at that moment. We’re living large.

Some wise & love-full words for this Holiday season….& beyond!!
Wishing you the most tender & wonder-full SELFcare as we move into a new year!
Gratitude to all for choosing deep SELFcare over a list of ‘shoulds’. And when you forget, just recommit to your intentions!!
❤️

OPTING OUT OF THE HOLIDAYS

If you are not looking forward to the holidays or the new year, know there is nothing wrong with you.

Feeling low, ambivalent, numb, irritated, sad, bored, or disconnected at this time of year is normal.
Feeling “out of step” is normal.

If you do not feel like celebrating.
If you have a “no” to certain people, gatherings, or rituals.
If you cannot cover up your pain anymore.
If this season brings grief, anger, or exhaustion instead of joy.

… There is nothing wrong with you!

You can love people and still need distance.
A sensitive heart often needs strong boundaries.
What works for others may not be healthy or right for you, especially given what you have been carrying this year.

You are not broken.
You are not “failing” at the holidays.

This season, give yourself permission to rest, to opt out, to be honest.

To celebrate, or not celebrate, in your own way.

Sometimes the bravest thing is to stop performing and tell the truth.

- Jeff Foster

Moments of Calm…..sometimes we don’t realize the importance of calm is to our wellbeing in so many ways.
How might you invite even a little calm into your life?

Yes, this too is SELFcare!
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Allowing Moments of Calm

Most of us rush through our days,
caught in a constant whirlwind of
errands and obligations,
amid the low, unceasing hum of stress.

We move from one task to the next,
our minds spinning faster
than our feet can carry us,
rarely pausing to breathe,
to simply be.

Yet there is a quiet grace
in slowing down,
in letting life unfold
without the relentless
need to control it.

When we allow ourselves
moments of calm,
when we step off
the treadmill of anxiety,
even briefly,
we remember what it means
to truly live,
to feel,
to be present.

This is not about
abandoning responsibility
or turning away from the world,
but about finding a rhythm
that honors our human need
for stillness
within the noise of daily life.

Perhaps presence
is not something we achieve,
but something revealed
when we loosen our grip
on the need to hurry
and give ourselves
permission
to slow down.

~ 'Allowing Moments of Calm' by Spirit of a Hippie

✍️ Mary Anne Byrne

~ Art by Jane Newland

This too is SELFcare…….important SELF
CARE!!

Give it a try!

❤️

Practicing grateful contentment helps you discern what is a true need versus someone else's agenda. Repeat this simple practice each time you notice a desire for something more, better, or different.

The importance of a pause for SELFcare…….

Especially important when you ‘don’t have time’ to slow down!
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When You Don't Have Time, Pause

In this busy world
you may not feel you have time to slow down.
Hours rush past,
a blur of noise and tasks,
and you tell yourself
that rest can wait.

When your thoughts are tangled,
when your breath feels shallow,
when the day presses hard against you,
pause.
When you don't have time, that's when you need it most, pause.

Even for a few moments.
Let your shoulders drop,
unclench your jaw,
and listen
to the quiet that still lives
beneath the noise.

You don’t have to step away for long.
Start with a single breath,
a sip of something warm.
Notice the morning light
filtering through the trees outside.
Feel the soft weight of a blanket
around your shoulders.
Simply be,
right here, right now.

These small pauses are enough.
They remind you
that life isn’t only about doing, achieving, or moving forward.
It’s about being,
breathing,
returning to yourself.

Slowing down
doesn’t mean falling behind.
It means meeting the day with presence,
carrying quiet steadiness
into everything you do.

Even a few moments
can reset the world inside you,
letting calm bloom quietly,
patiently,
in the simplicity of this moment.

~ 'Whe You Don't Have Time, Pause' by Spirit of a Hippie

✍️ Mary Anne Byrne

~ Art by Heather Stillufsen

A lovely SELFcare invitation to share with you.

Are you able & willing?

Comments welcome!

❤️

Autumn's Gentle Invitation

There is a gentle invitation in autumn,
to draw the curtains earlier,
to linger over a cup of warm tea,
to rest in the soft amber evening light.

Outside, leaves loosen their hold.
Inside, we do the same.
What drifts away
leaves space for a quiet, steady sense of peace,
as we gently release any tension we may carry.

We notice the hum of the kettle,
the wind against the windows,
the steady pulse of our own quiet heartbeat.

Evenings stretch softly around us.
We give attention to the little comforts:
the familiar chair,
the weight of a blanket,
the scent of something baking.

In the hush, we remember
how to inhabit the world without hurry,
how to let the edges of the day soften,
how to rest into the grace and ease
of being fully present in the moment, in this and every moment.

~ Autumn's Gentle Invitation by Spirit of a Hippie

✍️ Mary Anne Byrne

~ Art by LH Designs