Wellness is not just about how you take care of or feel in your body. It encompasses nurturing your body, mind, and spirit. It includes your thoughts, your self-care routine; such as meditation, getting enough sleep, eating nourishing foods, and exercise. It is also the quality of your relationships, and allowing yourself the freedom to follow your passions. It is living your life from the inside-out by aligning with your purpose and your spirituality.

It is our responsibility and our birthright to nourish ourselves and it is essential to our wellbeing. When you nurture your body, mind, and spirit you have the courage to live an authentic life by following your heart’s desires.

Too many of us believe that to have a self-care practice is selfish. I know that we were programmed as children to think of ourselves before others is selfish, but that is absolutely not true. We have all heard the pre-flight instructions on airplanes that we must place the oxygen mask on ourselves before our children. That is because if we are unconscious due to lack of oxygen, we will be unable to care for our children. The same goes for life. To serve others, we must fill our own cups first.

For you to achieve a quality state of wellness, you must believe that you are worthy and deserving of the time and energy required to practice loving self-care. It needs to be a priority for yourself and you must guard it like your life depends on it. Because ultimately it does.

I was with some friends the other night and one of them shared that a mutual friend says I am self-centered. (She’s never said that to me, but that’s the rumor on the street.) My first reaction was, “MOI? Self-centered? I am NOT self-centered.”Then I went to the truth, which is it is not my business what anyone else thinks of me. But, you know what? If having a strong self-care ritual that I am deeply committed to makes me self-centered, then I am self-centered and I am damn proud of it.

I love my self-care rituals and they support me in giving myself the loving kindness that I desire and keep me connected to God, my Source. By nurturing my spiritual connection, my overall wellness is enriched – body, mind, and spirit. All my other relationships are also enriched because I am not expecting others to meet my needs.

My daily self-care rituals start with me writing my morning pages. Morning pages are an exercise that I learned to do when I read and participated in Julia Cameron’s 12-week course, “The Artist’s Way”. The morning pages are a daily assignment in the course that are three longhand, written pages of stream of consciousness writing. They are designed to help students clear the random, oftentimes negative thoughts that keep creatives blocked from practicing their art. The morning pages became a practice that I loved and once I completed the course I made a commitment to myself to continue with my morning pages practice. I have filled up at least a dozen notebooks and journals with my rambles. It is a practice that supports me in becoming conscious of things that I am needlessly worrying about and would find greater joy in my life by surrendering them to the Universe. They also give me a place to write my prayers and gratitude and set my intention for my day. Sometimes I have dreams that stay with me and I write about them and the meaning of the dream may become clear to me. My morning pages are extremely beneficial to me and a sacred, daily practice.

After I complete my morning pages I exercise. I love yoga, Pilates, and Piyo, which is a combination of Pilates and yoga. I either pop a workout DVD into the player, or I find a workout on YouTube. Since I retired from dentistry, I love being able to get my workouts done early in the morning. By doing them in the morning, I get them done and I don’t talk myself out of doing them later after I worked all day and am tired. The key for me is variety. I get bored with the same workout day in and day out, so I am always looking for new workouts to do to shake things up for me.

Unlike many people I know, I don’t love working out, but I love the results. My favorite thing about working out is releasing the endorphins in my brain. It’s like taking a happy pill. I also love the energy that I have for the rest of the day post-workout. Working out is a wonderful way that I honor my body and keep it strong and healthy. I plan on this body carrying me through a lot more healthy living so I am going to doing my best to keep it maintained and able to do that for me.

Many mornings I include meditation in my self-care routine. I admit, I do not meditate daily. I am working on making it more a part of my morning rituals. Oftentimes, Deepak Chopra will offer a 21-day meditation experience through The Chopra Center. I almost always take part in them when he offers them. I find that participating in a “challenge”, helps me to stay committed to the practice of meditation. I always reap the benefits of being more centered within when I meditate on a regular basis.

Another thing that I do to practice good self-care is that I eat an organic, clean, low-carb diet. I have to give my husband, Bryan, credit for preparing our delicious, healthy meals. He loves to garden and he loves to cook, and I love reaping the benefits of his passions. Many of the foods that he prepares for us he grows right in our back yard. I am honored to call this man my husband. He is an excellent chef and organic gardener. He is always the first item I write on my gratitude lists.

I also listen to podcasts to help me nurture my commitment to my wellness. I love, love, love podcasts. I listen to them when I’m getting showered and dressed for the day. I also listen to them when I’m driving. There are so many outstanding podcasts that speak to whatever interests you have. I found my favorites on iTunes, but if you’re not an iPhone person, I know you can find them through Google. Oh! Did I mention, they’re free?!

So, what about you? Do you have a daily self-care practice? If so, Brava! I applaud your commitment to nurturing yourself. If not, it’s OK, but I encourage you to create one ASAP. You deserve it. You are worthy. I promise that you won’t be the only one to reap the benefits of your self-care rituals. By placing your self-care on the top of your priority list, you will put your best self forward in life. Then everyone you are in relationship with will enjoy the rewards of your efforts.

Your self-care rituals will probably be different than mine. Your routine needs to include things that make you feel good. Perhaps it will involve trying something new, such as a yoga or painting class. Get creative. Brainstorm. Make a list of things that you enjoy or have always wanted to try.

I hope this post has inspired you to make your wellness a priority in your life. It is the key to living your most authentic, joyful life from the inside-out. Living from the inside-out is the secret sauce to overall wellbeing and happiness. I can’t wait to hear from you about what your self-care rituals are. Please leave a comment below and share with me what you are currently doing or what you plan to begin.

You’ve got this!