I promised you a simple trick that I learned from my cat to turn your morning (and your day) around. So here it is, courtesy of Molly.
Molly loves to cuddle in the morning. And she *knows* I hit the snooze for 5 minutes.
She thinks it’s a signal to cuddle and get scritches.
What does that have to do with self-care you ask? Well, I noticed what I said to Molly each morning… and the contrast to what I said to myself.
May I give you an example?
(Alarm rings and is silenced for 5 minutes of snuggling. Molly starts rubbing against my hand and purring in anticipation of love).
I say “Good morning, Molly. How did you sleep?”
As I rub her chin and behind her ears, I tell her how soft she is, what a good cat she is, and how much I love her.
When the alarm rings again, I ask her if she’s ready for some yummy breakfast, and I give her some gentle pets when I put her food down.
…
In contrast, when I’m stressed, what I say to myself is:
(Alarm goes off, and I grumpily hit the snooze, and beat myself up for not sleeping better)
I tell myself I shouldn’t take too long getting ready, I better hurry up.
I rush through brushing my hair and feel frustrated when it snarls around the brush–just proof that I don’t do things right!
I tell myself I wasted too much time and I’ll just have to skip breakfast today. And put myself down for the clothes I choose for the day.
…
Which pattern do you think would set me up for a better day? Which one would leave me feeling calm and grounded and connected with people?
Which one do you do for yourself?
The truth is, it only takes about 5 more minutes to do things the loving way. And those 5 minutes can help my whole day go so much smoother.
Sadly, when things are going stressfully, I sometimes forget. And the more I practice, the easier it gets to be loving to me. And luckily, I have Molly to help remind me to breathe and connect in the morning.
What are 3 things you could do for yourself to be loving tomorrow morning? Would you share in the comments below to anchor them for yourself and inspire others?
And if you feel too stressed to even consider being kind to yourself, we get it. There is a lot going on right now.
You may want to start with this recording on Anxiety Constricted Breathing.
And we have Grounding Exercises you can use for yourself and others.
If you’re on Facebook, you can join our Thriving Now Facebook page for a couple Facebook Live tapping videos coming soon (one tonight at 10pm Eastern / 7pm Pacific 11/11/16 and the other to be announced).
In any case, small steps… baby steps to being kinder to yourself… can help you feel safer and less triggerable. Because you deserve to feel loved and safe.
Warm, gentle hugs,
Cathy and Molly
Brilliant Cathy. This is perfect support for me now. Thanks!
I’m so glad, Kaye! Warm hugs.
In the morning, I always try to express gratitude before I get out of bed. I just say to myself “deep gratitude for this day, this life, this present moment.” It helps me feel good before I start doing anything else. And then when I go to the bathroom, I talk to myself in the mirror with affirmations and positive self-talk.
Tomorrow morning, I will also learn love & self care from my kitty. I will take 5 minutes to curl up with him, and imitate what he does. Nuzzling our faces together. Stretching and rolling onto our backs, arms stretched luxuriously into the air, with gentle wiggles. I stare into his loving beautiful green eyes and tell him how wonderful he is, and that I’m happy he seems to think the same about me. And although I’m not fully there yet with my own self-talk, I will try to take that lesson to heart with how I talk to myself. Thanks Cathy. Hugs to you!