Self-care
Many of us put so much time and effort into nourishing ourselves through food and exercise, but what about nourishing the spirit? Isn’t this equally as important? We are “whole” people after all! We can micro-manage every bite and sip we take, but if stress is present and joy is missing, those commitments hardly matter. Tasks that force us into the present moment such as meditation and mindfulness activities help us to really engage all of our senses and get in touch with a deeper knowing of ourselves. Many activities serve to cultivate self-care and we should view this act not as selfish but prudent. Self-care can seem a bit cliché in the wellness world, yet we all have had the experience of witnessing the radiance that emanates from someone that’s tuned into something they love. And the benefits of such self-care do not stop there.
My passions are many, but the one that truly inspires and excites me is pottery. Raised on a farm as a child, I was always getting dirty. I still enjoy getting dirty on my mountain bike, in my garden, and now playing with clay. The act of centering clay is what I love the most. On the potter’s wheel we center the clay first and put our entire physical core into this act. We len into the clay with both strength and tenderness, surrendering our shape to that of the clay. Becoming one. This sets the foundation for a successful pot.
Some of us also put our mind into this act, and the meditation begins! We move together with this lump of earth, and create out of this harmonious dance and solidarity something unique. And something now containing an element of us within it. Just as the air I breathe out is now the air you breathe in, the clay is forever modified by the vitality I channel into it. This connection and transfer of energy with the natural world is waning in every aspect of this modern era, stirring an urgency to touch the earth in a meaningful way. Pottery provides me such a union.
The hobby also provides me an escape from the routine activities of work and home life. Going to a class surrounds me with fresh faces, inspiration, and an abundance of energy that refuels those aforementioned home relationships. Rather than simply truck along the busy days, always looking ahead to the next task to be checked off the list, I am supplied the forces that ignite mindfulness and reverence in the ordinary. Just like the centering of the clay is the cornerstone of a sound pot, nourishment of one’s own inner creative forces strengthens all other aspects of life.
Whether through pottery, dance, poetry, or another art form, the experience is relatively the same……a wholeness grows inside of us as we express for the sake of expression, rather than some tangible outcome. This act of kindness toward oneself, permission to experience something out of pure joy, is rarely experienced enough. This is to me, the greatest act of self-care, and when this is cultivated within us, those we love around us also reap the rewards.
“When we act out of an inner unity, when all of our selves is present in what we do, then we can be said to be ‘on center.”
