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How Is Your Self-Care?

Do you take good care of yourself?  If so, is your primary intention in your self-care rooted in deeply loving yourself or in the fear of getting sick?  If you don’t take care of yourself, why not?

My intention in this blog is to demonstrate the difference between love and fear as motivating factors in self-care; you can also apply these same ideas to life in general!    

 

Both love and fear are motivating factors and yet they come from different foundations.  Is your self-care rooted in love or fear? 

Below I share a dramatic story of how I learned to take care of myself.  I later learned that I was so diligent in my efforts to take care of myself because I was afraid of feeling terrible.  I was being motivated by the fear of getting sick again, rather than loving myself enough to take good care of my body. 

My Wake-Up Call:

In 1981, I worked at Biscayne National Park in South Florida as a Park Ranger and Environmental Education Coordinator.  The job consisted of taking school children camping and leading the general public on boat tours and water activities like snorkeling and I loved it!

That summer, the park staff was eliminating alien trees, especially the Brazilian Pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius), so the park’s native flora could thrive again.  One day, I decided that the Schinus tree in my front yard had to go too, so I cut it down with a hacksaw and carried the wood and branches to the dumpster.  A few days later, I broke out in an itchy, oozy, crusty rash on the front of my arms and legs.  Yikes!  I later learned that this tree sometimes causes a poison ivy-type rash in sensitive individuals like me.

After that experience, I became even more sensitive, to EVERYTHING, including chemicals, environmental toxins, and foods.  Since eating is important to survival, this area proved the most problematic to me.  It seemed that I didn’t feel well, no matter what I ate. 

Muscle Testing as a Tool:

Soon after, an ad in a local wellness magazine caught my attention — a nutritional biochemist was speaking in Miami later that week.  I attended the program and learned so much.  I was curious and volunteered when Jay, the speaker, demonstrated muscle testing, to determine if something is good for your body or not. 

Muscle testing is basically a way of questioning the body; it will respond with answers beyond your thinking mind.  It sounded a bit far-fetched to me at first and yet in testing the answers I received, they were usually spot-on!

Sugar Sensitivity & Self Awareness:

It turns out that I was highly sensitive to sugar.  Jay also demonstrated this technique with our thoughts, which was a real eye-opener to me.  Negative thoughts made my body weaker.

Self-Inquiry through Allergies:

I was so intrigued that I made an appointment with him to have an analysis done.  I was allergic to over 40 different foods, ranging from common allergens like corn to unusual ones like artichokes.   Jay coached me to avoid these foods, saying that eventually I should be able to eat them again.  He also suggested some supplements, including large amounts of vitamin C, which I took every day.  

Strong Motivation:

I stuck to my eating plan with vigor and started to feel SO much better.  It was especially difficult in social situations.  I used to love going to a local Italian restaurant in Homestead, FL (Donzanti’s) with my friends.  I really enjoyed having pizza, salad with blue cheese dressing, and a glass of burgundy.  Most of these things were not on my new eating plan, so I declined invitations to most social events and became a bit of a hermit.  I was VERY clear that I was not going to eat anything that made me feel terrible; I developed an incredible sense of discipline around nutrition and eating.  My craving for sweets vanished.

One year on my birthday, my staff, knowing that I wouldn’t touch a thing with sugar in it, presented me with a rice cake topped with candles.   Perfect! 

Strong Boundary Without Will Power:

I created such a strong boundary around food that very little will power was required.  There were times when I probably hurt some people’s feelings.  My mother-in-law was an excellent country cook.  Her specialty was pie making.  Not once did I even taste a pie she made, and, at first, I think she was disappointed.  Everyone raved about Lucy’s pies and, while the family was eating pie after dinner, they sometimes looked at me quizzically, not believing that I didn’t even want to taste it. 

Changing My Motivation from Fear to Love:

Years later, when I heard Anita Moorjani (author of Dying to Be Me) speak, I realized that I didn’t eat certain foods because I was afraid of not feeling well.  This was a huge AHA for me.  I know now that you can have the same action in your life and get totally different results when you perform the action out of love rather than out of fear.  The vibration at the heart of your intention is paramount.

 

The Power of Affirmations:

This AHA helped me realize that something needed to change!  I explored this fear and replaced it with love, mainly through affirmations. 

When eating or choosing healthy food to eat, I said to myself, as an affirmation, “I eat well because I love myself deeply.” 

Initially thoughts of getting sick would surface.  I simply repeated my affirmation until it became my predominant thought pattern.

Now, what I choose to eat is done out of love for my body and a desire to be well and stay well, rather than a fear of getting sick or feeling terrible.  This one shift has had a significant impact on my overall health.  It has taken me to a deeper sense of Self-Love than I had before.  I truly am healthier than ever!

 

Action Steps for Moving from Fear to Love in Self-Care:

To support you in your explorations, I have included a summary of some actions you can take to shift your vibration from fear to love.

1. Ask yourself directly “Am I taking this action out of love or fear?”  Use a journal, if you wish, to explore your motivations.  Be honest with yourself.  Be kind and loving too, especially if you don’t like your honest answer.  With awareness of your true intention, you can change it!
   
   
2. Create an intention or affirmation more closely aligned with the vibration of love rather than fear. Examples are:
   • I love myself enough to take wonderful care of me.
   • I appreciate and care for my body.
   • I nourish my body with delicious, healthy food.
   • I celebrate my sense of wholeness, grounded in love.
   • I am whole, perfect, and complete, just as I am.
     
     
3. Learn muscle testing if you want a way to communicate directly with your body.  I find it very helpful and use it daily.  Interestingly, my body may be okay with a food one day and not the next.  My standard question for food or just about anything: “Is this of value to my body at this time?”

What about you?  Do you have something in your life that you are approaching from fear rather than love?  How would you feel if you could change the foundation of your experience from fear to love?  What can you do to lead from love instead?  Please let me know how this goes for you.

I invite you to continue exploring The Art of Ease and Grace with me in future blogs.  

• If you would like to get an email notification when future blogs are posted, please click HERE to join my mailing list.  At this time, my audio blogs are only available by email. 

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~ Carol McNulty-Huffman,

Best-Selling Author & Inspirational Speaker

artofeaseandgrace.com

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A Peek at My Next Blog Post:

Topic: Grace

• Grace is our topic next month.  The title (and content) of the post will reveal itself between now and then!  LOL

• There are many ways Grace can move in our lives.  I look forward to seeing how my words flow around this topic in the next few weeks. 🙂   

Summary of the Three Keys:

• The three keys to living with ease and grace are Vision, Vibration and Grace.  Vision is about setting a Vision for the long-term or an intention for the short-term.  Vibration is about stepping into the Vibration of that Vision, so that it can easily manifest.  Grace is a wind that is always blowing — a power flowing through our experience more and more as we open to receive it.  

• The fact is these keys are already at work in our lives, whether we are aware of it or not!  Noticing these keys allows us to access them more consciously and use them to create a life of greater ease, grace, and flow.

• To learn more about Vision Click HERE
  
  
• To learn more about Vibration Click HERE
  
  
• To learn more about Grace Click HERE
  
  
• To learn about the Birth of this Blog, and releasing regret, click HERE*

We are continuing our conversation about the art of ease and grace, between blog posts, in my private Facebook group (Art of Ease and Grace). Click HERE to request entry.  You can also email me at carol@theartofeaseandgrace.com or send a message through Messenger to make that happen.

If you would like to get an email notification when future blogs are posted, please click HERE to join my mailing list.

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