selfcare meets you where you're at (plus a tool I'm loving for this)

For a lot of people—especially those who spend their time caring for others—focusing on themselves ends up at the bottom of a loooooong priority list. Our schedules are overfull, we don’t have the equipment we think we’ll need, and it all just seems like too much work because we’re exhausted. But there is a way to sneak in some selfcare at least weekly.

Something old is new once again … or maybe it never really went out of style. Audio-only practices were popular in decades past—if you’re my age you might remember listening to workouts on cassette in your Sony Walkman … while tugging on your leg warmers and headband. And if you spend exended time on the road these days (either in your vehicle or in your sneakers) you might be a fan of Audible books, or my personal favorite, podcasts. These offer lots of options for more in-depth listening on topics such as mindfulness, for example.

But if you’ve been reading these posts for any length of time you know how much I value the support of community when it comes to caring for ourselves. It can feel pretty lonely, popping in some earbuds and heading out for a solo walk.

Enter Clubhouse. Now available on iOS and Android, this audio-only app lets you explore “hallways” of topics to find “rooms” of like-minded people to connect with. It’s vast like the internet itself, but by honing in on your favorite subjects you can join clubs as unique and interesting as you are.

Each Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET I participate in a room with osteopath and pain care expert Colleen Jorgensen of Stillness in Motion, and spiritual coach Tawnia Converse of A Soulful Space. We met in a coaching program run by Marvelous (formerly Namastream), the online teaching platform we use for our businesses, and quickly connected. 

When we were making our plans for 2021, in addition to making financial and project goals for the year, we each made a goal for ourselves to make sure we were taking regular selfcare breaks. We all know how easy it is to let something like that slide, so we noodled around the idea of booking a regular video chat to guide each other through short practices on a rotating basis. When we heard about Clubhouse, we thought it would be a wonderful place to offer each other some breathwork, mindfulness practices, functional movement, etc., and to share these practices it with others as well.

Each Wednesday one of us leads a short practice, then we open up the floor for discussion and questions afterwards. We try to stick to about 20 minutes total to respect everyone’s time and busy schedule. The practices can be done from anywhere, and now Clubhouse offers the option of listening to replays. Head to our club, A Place for Wellness, to learn more and listen to some past episodes.

Here’s the practice from a session I led in December, where I guided listeners through a hand posture (mudra) that I feel is particularly useful at the start of a new year.

Click here to follow me on Clubhouse and learn more. We’d love to have you join us … live on Wednesdays, or whenever it works best for you.

Social photo by dusan jovic on Unsplash