Self-Care in Just 5 to 15 Minutes a Day

Living the juicy starts with NOTICING. With being aware of what you would like to create for yourself - right now. Not in Neverland or whenever land or when I get around to it land but NOW, TODAY. It's about taking a small step to start living the juicy. Self care is just that - caring for the self. You do care enough about yourself to take care of your self care don't you?

Some mornings you leap out of bed full of energy and enthusiasm. You just feel very alive and can't wait to get started. It's a feeling we wish we could put into a bottle. How often does that happen for you?

What's your natural state first thing in the morning? Sleepy, groggy, grumpy? No, you don't have to make like one of the Seven Dwarfs... except maybe Happy. A juicy start to the day can really set you up to appreciate the miraculous machine that gets you through the challenges of the day. And I am talking here about the freshly squeezed energy force that your very own body can create by consciously choosing to move into vital wellbeing.

What changes have you already made to your health and wellbeing that now give you more of that feel good morning mood? What stops you from deciding that this is going to be your natural morning state from now on? What stops you having a great experience of living the juicy every day?

If you are a busy human living a packed schedule, first thing in the morning can be the time when your mood might be low. When you're in that state of anticipation of the busy-ness ahead. That's especially true if you have conditioned yourself over the years to want extra duvet time. You can let go of that need by spending your first few waking moments saying thank you to your healthy body, mind and spirit. Treat it like a morning meditation and focus especially on the parts of you that now feel vital and luscious where maybe they once felt cranky and sluggish. If it's a bit of a reach to feel vital and luscious then act "as if." Give yourself the gift of 5 minutes of juicy morning inspiration and then throw off the duvet and go dance into your day!

So if those 5 minutes have paid off for you, are you willing to invest in another 10 - 15 minutes to really get your day flowing? Good! So, S-T-R-E-T-C-H is the name of the game. Remember that we are simply a ball of energy- atoms and molecules buzzing and bizzying about. So a juicy cure for any lingering morning lethargy is to get those atoms and molecules getting up and busy! So tomorrow morning, as you wake from your slumber, try this:

While lying down, stretch your body from the top of your head to the base of your feet. If you have room in the bed, stretch out like a starfish. Feel the stretch in every toe, every finger and even in the follicles in your hair. Do this for about a minute. Leap up out of bed and stretch onto your tiptoes, raising your hands above your head. Come down so that your heels and soles of your feet are flat on the floor, then hang from your waist like a rag doll. Let everything flop for a second or two and then place your hands in front of you on the floor whilst bending from the waist. Stretch up again and rotate your arms to the front and back in a windmill motion. Feel the air passing through your arms, through your fingers. Now shake a leg! Stand on one leg and shake out the other one (hold onto something to keep your balance if you need to) then change and shake the other. Stretch up as far as you can to the sky, stretch out as far as you can to the sides. Take 3 deep breaths and energize your inner body with clean breath.

Before you take a shower, use body brush to brush long smooth strokes up the legs, and up the arms always working in strokes towards the heart. This helps to release the toxins in your body and invigorates your senses. If you don't have a body brush, use a facecloth or a rough towel. When you have finished showering, run the shower at the coldest temperature you can take - all over the soles of your feet and on your back. This will set you up for the day and all in all takes around 15 minutes, including the quick shower.

Your body is the vehicle in which you experience the joys and challenges of each day. This investment of 5 or 15 minutes to juice up your morning will have you smiling from the inside as you connect with yourself and really start your day in awareness.

---

For more resources to help you live your best life, follow Marie at http://marietayloronline.com/ and download her self care tips a set of free resources there too. See http://marietayloronline.com/free-resources/