How to Begin Your Self-Care Journey

I’m just going to dive right in by saying - STOP overthinking this. If you have found yourself reading this post or exploring Kineo in any way, you have already completed step one by being curious and showing up.

Kineo’s intention is to highlight and encourage the truth that you hold all of the tools and power within to explore and reach your self-care goals.

I want to emphasize the importance of your acknowledgment to yourSELF.  I see it far too often and still find ways I can practice this preach in my own life, that we (humans in general) innately avoid the truth in the fact that we have NEEDS beyond basic survival. This is about going deeper into the way in which we exist in our bodies and reality.

Acknowledgment of anything that contributes to your well-being, begins with the need for you to recognize that you are WORTHY of receiving that which fills your cup.

When I was practicing massage, I could easily measure my self-care meter when I found myself doing a session and felt jealous of my client receiving the work. I knew it was time to schedule myself in to continue to be the practitioner that left clients feeling full rather than depleted after a session. I carry this reminder in my life now, not in practicing bodywork anymore but through being aware of the quality of nourishment and presence I give to my family and daily life practices.

To truly acknowledge your worthiness in keeping your cup full can be done by assessing how you exist within the roles of your reality. If you are a parent, spouse, partner, sibling, friend, provider, boss, or a human who interacts with other humans, you can look at how you might show up in those relationships.

Look at it this way - after something positive happens - you passed a big exam, you just saw an old friend that brought a massive smile to your face, your kid gives you the biggest hug out of nowhere, your partner makes you a thoughtful dinner. Those pieces of joy in life fill us up. After an event, big or small, that brings us happiness, we likely have a smile on our face, project more of that joy, and have more uplifting thoughts and experiences. 

Let’s consider the opposite for the sake of balance. When we are having a hard day, all buttons have been pushed, and patience just isn’t. We react much differently to daily encounters than if we had woken up on the right side of the bed, or if the barista had gotten my oat maple latte right, and if that guy ahead in traffic was paying attention and didn’t make me miss the light, ugh, that kind of day that makes you say - “REALLY, one more thing?!” or “Today is just NOT my day.” *insert dramatic sigh. You know how you show up during those kinds of days.

So, what if you could have a smidge of control over how you show up in any given situation, whether it’s perceived as good or bad? What IF you didn’t give from a half empty or half full cup? What if you were able to share from a cup that is overflowing?

I’ll tell you this - when I would hear my need to schedule time for myself, just the anticipation of that session or hour alone would add fuel to my bucket. My moment of acknowledgment made a massive difference in the work I provided for the rest of that day.

These are just two steps in what I believe to be a sequence of trial and error moments for a lifetime - acknowledgment and self-worth. Our lives are constantly in motion. Energy is a never-ending ebb and flow to and from our state of homeostasis. So your answer to steps 3-8 trillion is unique to you, which is why we call it “self-care” and not “everyone-else’s-opinion-of-what-I-need-kind-of-care.”

So, instead of over-analyzing, researching, and comparing to other peoples versions of self-care, getting lost in translation, convincing ourselves that self-care is a luxury for the luxurious, or has to look, feel or be in any particular way - let us take this moment right now to step forward on our chosen paths of loving oneself by acknowledging that we are all humans living in a complex modern-day world and are worthy of receiving our own medicine in the way that calls and resonates to us most.

Whatever your version of healing is, simply by existing, you have earned the right to acknowledge your impact on this world, your world, and are deemed worthy of receiving that which helps you show up as your best self more often because a cared for version of you, gives others a more positive experience of you, passing the goodness on and on and on.

Repeat after me -

I see and honor myself and where I am in this moment.

I am worthy of receiving the care and support I need to show up as my best self.

I choose me, and by doing so, I give from a place of abundance and grace.

So, how do you begin your self-care journey? You just did.