Can you give yourself permission to take care of yourself for just a few minutes? it may seem like an odd question, But let’s look at it more closely.

We generally instruct our bodies and minds to function when and how we require them without a second thought. When we start a totally new routine, then we may pay more attention to the task in hand and to all the finer details as we are making new protocols for us and our bodies to follow, enabling our minds to store that memory economically. You may then think ‘job done’ and move on to your next task without a second thought. It’s perfectly normal.

We are generally only acutely aware of something if it is incorrect. Because it stands out to us, we might take time to observe it.

Let’s take the mundane, mindless but essential task of cleaning our teeth. Have you ever stopped to feel the sensations from your motions? The only time you will be aware of anything is if the toothpaste is, say, too strong and you feel a burning sensation, or you catch your gums, or bite your tongue. The last time this job was a power of amazing sensations was probably the first time you were taught to clean your teeth correctly.

Now I have drawn your attention to it, you can probably recall the last time you cleaned your teeth. If you close one of your senses the others will be more poignant, so if you close your eyes you may recall it more vividly in your imagination: the colour of your toothbrush, the type and name of the toothpaste, the sensations you feel when cleaning is in motion in your mouth, and even the movements of your hand and arm, the smell, the taste and even the zingy fresh clean feeling when completed. 

Now you have made a mindless activity into a mindful one, taking a few seconds out to stop, focus, and appreciate the activity. Did you notice a calmness as you allowed your body to stop, so it can feel what your imagination has stored as you recall all the sensations you do not notice in your routine?

Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing your awareness on the present moment by paying attention in a particular way, while calmly acknowledging and accepting your feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations non-judgmentally. Well, what has this to do with giving yourself permission to take care of yourself for a few minutes? 

Can you allow yourself for just 60 seconds – a single minute, or even better two – to have a psychological holiday once a day? That is not long in the grand scheme of things, is it? Can you take yourself to a safe place at a designated time to allow your mind to become receptive once again and really absorb something as if it were new, giving all your senses the enjoyment of a banquet of the world around you?

Are you able to look around – what colours and shapes do you actually see – how is the light changing this, even dancing on things and people? Note all movement and how many things are connected to each other. Can you close your eyes and listen very intensely – are there any new noises, or wonderful familiar ones now you can see inside your mind’s eye, your imagination calling up all possible connections to show you the sounds?

As you breathe in, what is the temperature of the air in and out?

Also what can you smell, what does it remind you of? 

Again allow your mind to make those wonderful connections. 

Ask yourself how do you feel with you positive senses, as a physical feeling can assist with replacing a negative mind feeling such as Anxiety? 

Yes how you felt doing those few things in those few minutes, as doing this for yourself is allowing your mind to relax, and may even let go of a lot of tensions, as when you are enjoying yourself you are looking after emotional and mental wellbeing too.

We can choose the subjects we think about, but we can not choose how we think about those subjects. 

So give our minds a few moments of wonderful subjects, this will assist in replacing negativity and anxiety.

This then can become a routine of your wonderment, just a few minutes a day, as its your happy mind now, your new normal.

Can you spare just a few minutes to just absorb again, can you to give yourself permission to take care of yourself?

If you would like to book in for some hypnosis or mindfulness sessions, please get in touch! 

Kim Cruttenden
https://www.kpctalkingtherapies.com