Seven Practices that make up my Self Care Toolbox.

In my last Journal Post I talked about all the things that I do in my day-to-day life to feel that I am making a small difference within my own world, in relation to what's going on in the wider world. These include things like removing toxins from my environment, being aware of my screen time, looking after my rest and sleep, and looking after my diet and movement. 

It was a thorough list and the Journal Post is here if you didn’t see it: Living our Best Life in Testing Times

Did you notice that most of those things are external? I thought about that and decided that I would explore how I look after my well-being - internally. 

As Oriah Mountain Dreamer writes in The Invitation: "I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away." I asked myself that question: what sustains me, from the inside? I invite you to ask yourself the same question... and remembered how my yoga teacher Barbara Occleshaw used to call the broad practices of yoga a Toolbox. So, here is the toolbox of SEVEN PRACTICES that sustain me:

Yoga – My personal practice: The yoga that I do for myself has three layers:

Firstly, I get on my mat to prepare for my classes, working out my lesson plans for the week, or lesson plans for an up-coming retreat. I love the prep, the questioning, the evolution.

Secondly, my practice is my way of coming home to myself when I feel I am starting to fall out-of-balance. When I am working on my computer, sometimes I feel myself getting a bit stuck mentally, or that I've been sat in there too long, and my hips feel stiff, my back feels rounded, so I take a break and go and lie down on my mat!

My yoga mat is permanently out in my home studio. I have bolsters, blankets, blocks and cushions to hand. Sometimes I do some twists and hip-openers, stretching, shaking out my limbs (and yawning!) for 10 minutes or so, but I usually do about 30 minutes of simple movement, focusing on hip openers and shoulder movements, and then the three movements of the spine: forward and backward bends, side bends, and twists. I go through a little routine that incorporates all of these, not planned or written down, just naturally going from one thing to the next thing.

After 30 minutes I rest for a few minutes, then I get up and put the kettle on and I always, always feel different. I feel calmer and more centered and I notice that I'm breathing more fully. Ana after a cup of coffee or a cup of tea I get back to my computer and feel like I can carry on with my day, with more clarity and focus, or I put my boots on and take Tilly for a walk.

And thirdly, I go to a weekly yoga class with Mary Freeman. I close my eyes, follow her lead and just go with the flow. I am a student again, and I notice the difference between being the person showing up to be 'in my yoga practice' and the person showing up to 'lead the yoga practice'. Her classes are deeply nourishing for me. 

Rest is a big part of my day. Moving through the phases of menopause has been challenging for me in three ways – I say this because it seems to be different for every woman! – weight gain, disturbed sleep and fatigue. So, I am in the habit of sprinkling guilt-free rest throughout my day. 10 minutes if I just need to stop, breathe and settle, 20 minutes if I feel a bit scattered, over-tired or sleep-deprived! I either lie on a bolster in my studio or I use three cushions on the sofa to elevate my legs. Add an eye pillow and a blanket = Power Nap!! (I think I love napping even more that I love sleep!)

Meditation – Seated meditation is one of the cornerstones of my day – it holds up the rest of my life like the foundations support a tall building. I would be lying if I said I meditate every single day, but most days I sit down with my candle, sage and meditation stool, grow my spine with a long breath in and settle in slow breath out. It always feels like a home-coming. I go through phases of using different meditations, mudras or breathwork but mostly the point of it, actually, is just to show up. Some days my mind is already busy and full, some days my mind is quiet and happy to be at ease. But always, by taking my hot lemon up from the kitchen, in my pyjamas, lighting my candle, I am sending a message to my inner self. “I am here, and this is important to me. Making this time means that I am tending to myself before I tend to anything or anybody else. I am worthy of this time just for me.” Showing up here at the start of the day, means I am training myself to be present, not only on the meditation stool but also in my daily life. The habit and intention are the things that matters the most, rather than doing it right or becoming enlightened! 

Yoga Nidra – if you haven’t tried Yoga Nidra – I encourage you to grab cushions and blankets, headphones and an eye mask as soon as you possibly can! I love this practice so much that I have put a free recording for you here… and, once you feel the benefits and want to dive deeper, there are more to buy and keep on Paperbell here.

Yoga Nidra is part sleep, part rest, part meditation, part life-affirming and part life-changing. That is a lot in one nap!  

There are hundreds of Yoga Nidras on apps like Insight Timer, but they should all have a particular structure in common in order to be called Yoga Nidra.

They include some or all of these:

1.   Relax the physical body and draw the senses inward.

2.   Notice the Breath and allow it to naturally lengthen, slow down and soften.

3.   Set your Intention / Sankalpa - a personal resolve.

4.   Use visualisation to invite you to witness thoughts and emotions without getting caught up in them.

5.   Use opposites to experience non-attachment – warm / cold, heavy / light, tension / ease.

6.   Drop into stillness and be in silence for a few moments or minutes. Notice the peace that resides here - it is already within you. 

7.   Repeat your Intention / Sankalpa. 

8.   Notice the breath, weight of body and awaken the senses once again. You are back in the room!

9.   Move gently and roll over to one side, come up to sitting.

10. Pause and journal or reflect before getting up and on with your day.

The researched and proven benefits of Yoga Nidra are: a reduction in stress, anxiety and insomnia. The practice triggers the parasympathetic nervous system and reduces it's opposite - the 'fight or flight response'. It also measurably works on slowing brain waves which takes you into a safe container of Theta and Delta brainwaves - a wonderful dreamless sleep-state. 

(If you are intrigued there's more info in Kamini Desai's book 'Yoga Nidra The Art of Transformational Sleep' and a quick read of the science here.)

The benefits that I feel are: Yoga Nidra is deeply restful and within that state of deep rest, I feel my body tingling and pulsating – I feel the life-force that is behind everything. It feels sometimes - just like the supine yoga posture of Savasana or 'Corpse Pose' – a death of sorts; the surrender of personality, opinion, drama, labels – so that the version of the me that is lying under the blanket is actually the Real Me, the stripped back, bare bones of me. And that feels cleansing, purifying, fascinating and life-affirming. 

The practice of Sankalpa (translation: truthful vow) within the practice of Yoga Nidra feels like an opportunity to be in touch with my deepest truths, longings and values and to bring them more sharply into focus within and outside of the practice.

I have three more practices - off the mat!

Nature – I have written before about how I feel that humans need to be in regular contact with natural surroundings… for so many reasons. For me, every time I take Tilly out around the lanes, to the coast or into the fields, I think to myself 'This is where I need to be right now!' I need to be away from the computer, noticing the colours, the birdsong, the temperature. All the 5 senses feel enhanced and I feel so alive when I am walking through a muddy field, have my feet in the waves or I am lying at the top of a hill watching the clouds… really it is my balm.

Creativity - When my Dad died in March 2025 I inherited his Canon birdwatching camera and I now take it with me on walks and out and about in my van - I love to capture the light at different times of the day and the year, the details that we walk past and don't even notice. It has re-awakened my designer's eye and I am planning to do something special with the results. 

Journaling – I like to process my thoughts through writing them down. It gets the scramble of thoughts out of my head and I have to unscramble them, in order to write them down. In this way, journaling helps me to process my inner workings or record experiences that I have in a Nidra or seated Meditation. The most remarkable thing for me is that when I read my old journals, I have forgotten most of my notes and struggles – we can’t keep hold of it all in our head! That is what is most valuable to me – that I have a record of how much I was hurting but more importantly how much I have healed and grown.

As I wrote in my last post - this is not a sermon and a To Do list. This is me expressing how I manage all aspects of my well-being through practices that I have studied, explored, evolved and now include regularly to help me through the highs and the lows of life. 

The practices I have found that have helped me over the years, I offer here to, hopefully, inspire you to find what works for you - to ground when you feel flighty, sleep when you're wired, process when you're in turmoil. 

I always feel so grateful that I discovered the yoga toolbox all those years ago and I can dip into simple breath and movement practice when I need it and reap the benefits! 

Just like you I have been through the wringer in my life at times, and, just like you, I have the privilege of choice. Now more than ever we have choice at the tips of our fingers; apps to try, recordings to listen to, paper to write on. If anything, there is too much information and too much choice! 

My advice would be this: once you find something that makes you feel better, seen, held, supported, do more of it - the search is over. Begin there. And build your own toolbox of practices now - when you are feeling good in your body and mind. They will support you 'when all else falls away.'
Namaste x