Welcome Zen friends . I hope , wherever you are , you're doing well . On this week's episode , episode number 51 , I talked about how important it is for parents to care for themselves . As a mental health therapist working with children and teens , I see what a great impact it has and how positively it affects children and teenagers when parents are caring for themselves and filling their own cup . So on today's drop of Zen , our short guided meditation , I have a meditation designed to help you identify where you need to focus in your life to care for yourself .
Speaker 1So please find a comfortable seat or a place that you can lie down . Make sure you aren't driving . If you are , pause the podcast and come back to it later , and let's begin by closing our eyes or a soft gaze downward , and I'd love for you to start thinking about your day . Think about what your day has been like so far . If it's morning time and you're just beginning , then think about what the day was like yesterday and then think about what your typical days involve . Do they involve going to work , caring for the family ? If so , what are your activities like In parenting ?
Speaker 1We have different stages and phases of life with our children . Are you in a stage where the kids are quite young and people are touching you all day and sitting on you . Or are you in a stage where you have teenagers and it's rare , perhaps , that you get a smile or a pleasant exchange ? Just notice where you are in this phase of life and then start by asking yourself am I meeting my basic needs ? Am I getting enough sleep ? Am I going to bed at a good time ? Am I able to sleep when I do go to bed ? Am I eating healthfully and eating foods that I enjoy and that feel good for my body ? Am I getting social time , time with friends and family who make me feel good ? If I have a partner , am I getting time with that partner , time that's uninterrupted by children ? Just start to assess where you are and how you are or are not meeting your needs , and if you notice that you're coming up short in a number of areas , offer yourself some compassion . Or , as my friend and podcaster , vicki Smith says , see if you can be friendly towards yourself and just continue with this little assessment of sorts by also noticing am I having time to shower ? Sometimes we're not even making time for that or having time for that when the kids are babies or quite young . Am I having time for haircuts ? Am I having time to take care of my basic needs ? And then am I having time to do the things that fill me up ? Maybe it's a creative outlet , maybe it's exercise , and again , just notice and then see if there's anything else in the other areas that could be coming to mind of ways that you care for yourself .
Speaker 1And now identify one area where you feel like you're coming up short or where you think you could do a better job of caring for yourself , and then just ask yourself how can I improve a little bit on this ? So let yourself off the hook . It doesn't need to be perfect . You don't need to perfectly care for yourself in this way . How could I just do a little bit better ? So if it's exercising , maybe you don't need to exercise five days a week , but how can I start by exercising two to three days a week ? Or how can I exercise for ten minutes a day , trying to just find a doable way to start out ?
Speaker 1If it's getting together with a friend , how can I make time to see a friend in the next week ? Which friend would fill my cup ? Who would I most like to spend time with ? And just notice what's coming to mind and then , if you'd like , go ahead and set in an intention to do this thing and just breathe it into your heart and then let it go Exhale , not getting too attached to the intention , but just making that promise to do your best to care for yourself in that need , in that way that came up for you , and just staying here for another moment or two , maybe give yourself some credit , even a big gold star , for the ways that you are caring for yourself right now , and remember that rarely are any of us doing this perfectly , especially if we have kids . And then , when you're ready , just gently flutter your eyes open with a gentle , soft gaze . I'm so glad you joined me here today . Until next time , friends , I hope you'll continue to take some time today and every day to do something kind for yourself .