Mother’s Day is just a few days away. The typical order of this day is naturally to give to our mothers, in other words, to mother our mothers because that is what mothers do, they give. What if we break from tradition just a smidge and add something.
I want to declare this Mother’s Day, May 13, 2012, an opportunity to mother your own body-self. Whether you are a mother or not a mother, you deserve this gift. With a compassionate generous heart, offer your body special caring and attention; make your self and your body smile and rejoice with gratitude.
If you know your body really well, many “gifts” of love and caring will quickly emerge; a walk in the woods, a massage or facial, a long and luxurious bath with candles and bath salts, an ice cream cone, a beautiful bouquet of flowers; the kind you give a good friend…or something else.
If you are just now getting to know your body-self, or have a distant relationship with her, this may be more challenging. You can use your body memory to access those times that you and your body felt alive, joy-filled or excited. These could be recent memories or even childhood ones. I cherish the memories of swinging; the air in my face blowing my hair forward and back as my legs pump and I find myself going higher and higher; and then as I cease pumping my legs, I relax, as the swing lowers to the place where I feel comfortable enough to JUMP!
If you struggle with not deserving mothering, this will be a wonderful exercise to move beyond that place and begin to introduce self care into your life. You get to use your creativity and imagination to play with possibilities. Consider asking a friend what she does to give to her body. Notice where you deprive yourself. Notice where and how you treat yourself. Experiment and pay attention to how those experiences make you feel; repeat those where you feel “given to” and discard those activities that did not make you feel special.
Please tell me what you do to treat yourself this Mother’s Day and I give you my word that I will do the same. I am hoping that this will be the beginning of your personal self-mothering path. Keep me posted.
Sending you and your body love on this Mother’s Day and everyday!
