How Self-Care is a Spiritual Practice

Wednesday Wisdom. Caring for Ourselves with Comfort & Joy.

This past weekend, I gave a retreat for thirty women from St. Gregory’s Parish, at the lovely Vallombrosa Center in Menlo Park. The theme was: Caring for Ourselves through Comfort & Joy. We used my book, Comfort & Joy, as the basis for the retreat, and together, we explored how caring for ourselves and others could become a spiritual practice in our daily lives.

During the weekend, we meditated and prayed together, engaged in collage making, and held a sacred circle during which we had many rich discussions. I wanted to share some of the insights from the retreat as a source of inspiration for all of us.

Deep and spiritual self-care comes from:

• gaining self knowledge–listening to your inner voice, and noticing your self talk
• giving yourself permission–realizing you have choices
• cultivating a loving relationship with yourself–being tender and compassionate towards yourself, and practicing self acceptance
• rooting your daily actions in your union and connection with the Divine

We explored the ways Jesus engaged in sacred self care by going to the desert to be alone and pray, by always connecting to his Abba, and through companionship and sharing meals with others. When is the last time you took time out–even during the day to restore yourself? Are you allowing prayer and sacred time to keep you connected to the Divine throughout the day?

We also made collages of the things that gave us comfort and joy, as we shared our need to connect to them more in a sacred way, and allow them to fill us with the presence of God in our daily lives. Can we let the small things really fill us–the unfolding rose, the excited laughter of a child, or a warm cup of tea? Can we see our daily lives as sacred–and hold them in faith?

One woman faced a moment of realizing how empty she felt, and that none of the things that usually gave her comfort were filling her up. Through her honesty and willingness to meet this emptiness, she came to ask herself the real questions: What is it that I really need right now? Where is God calling me at this point in my life?

The weekend retreat concluded with journal writing, sharing, and mass. The participants left nourished and renewed, hearing the call to awaken to their daily lives as a sacred journey, and to allow the simple things to deepen and become sources of comfort and joy.

Pause and Practice: 

• Ask yourself: What would I like to give myself permission for? Don’t rush in with an answer, but let your heart speak. Sit with the question for as long as you like and see what arises.
• What are sources of comfort & joy in your life? Do you need to connect with them more? Take time to notice what you need.

“For thus says the Lord…

As a mother comforts her child,

so I will comfort you:

You shall be comforted in Jerusalem”

(Isaiah: 66:13,)