What Is Radical Self-Care & Why Is It Important?
You do so much for others. You take care of a million details, check off your to-do list, make sure things get done. Yet, when do you step back and offer yourself the same energy, care and consideration that you so willingly extend to your list, to your projects, to others?
I just returned from a wonderful three-day retreat where more than 80 people gathered to nourish themselves in silence, practice mindfulness and deepen compassion. We were guided by three brilliant teachers. My teacher Tara Brach quoted often from her beautiful new book, True Refuge. In the closing chapter, she writes:
“Most of us are working so hard. It’s like we’re on a motorboat noisily zipping around, trying to find a place that is quiet, peaceful and still.” She continues, “True freedom comes when we throttle back the motor and come naturally into stillness.”
Cheri Maples, Founder of the Center for Mindfulness and Justice, was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh in 2008 as a mindfulness teacher. Weaving stories of her life as a cop in Wisconsin, and how her service to others in that role was strengthened by her practice, she taught us about the importance of keeping an open heart and creating healthy boundaries in order to live in balance.
La Sarmiento touched our hearts time and again with her honest teachings and delightful humor. She shared her teacher Eric Kolvig’s powerful self-forgiveness meditation, which invited us to allow ourselves to be imperfect, make mistakes, be a learner and forgive ourselves as best we can, either now or in the future.
Taking time away from our busy lives is so important to deepen our connection to ourselves and others, and to nurture our inner balance.
The Center for Mindful Awareness is pleased to offer a series of monthly workshops for self-renewal and self-care to help you do just that.
These workshops follow the model of the acclaimed SHINE program and contain both formal and informal practices that can be used in your everyday life – and this month the focus is on Radical Self-Care.
We are nearing capacity for this February 22 workshop. So, register today to ensure your place.
No one is more deserving of this opportunity for self-care than you.