april self care resource roundup
here's this month's roundup of meditations, resources, and exercises that i've been trying out! feel free to try them out and lmk how they resonate with you. what have you been trying out this month?
guided meditations
✨ Reclaiming Your Energy From Worry by Keziah Gibbons
I really like Keziah. This meditation is gentle, simple, and supportive.
✨ ADHD/Hyper Meditation by Samuel C. Sanborn
I love this meditation! It pairs a simple 4 count in & out breath with movement of the fingers and feet, tapping along with the rhythm. Honestly I think all meditations should start out this way!
It’s a great way to get out of your head and into the moment. And a lovely way to start meditating, if you’re new to meditating in general I think this is a great technique to help you get into it. (I’ve been meditating for years now and I wish I would’ve been introduced to this at the start!)
I really resonate with movement, and through EMDR, have learned that bilateral movement/tapping on the body is great for calming the nervous system and bringing you into the present moment. So this felt fantastic for me!
✨ 5 Minutes To Self Belief by Kim Newing
✨ Breathing In Presence by Tay Evans
(unfortunately this meditation is no longer on the Insight Timer app, but here’s the gist of it)
I enjoyed these affirmations, they weren’t what I expected! So simple, yet I think that’s exactly what I needed! Sometimes I scoff at affirmations because they feel so out of reach. These ones were a really great starting point to tuning into something completely believable and really anchoring me in the present.
As you breathe in, affirm “I am breathing in”
As you breathe out, affirm “I am breathing out”
Continue this with your breaths for a few minutes.
✨ Ground And Ease Into Support by Asha Gozzelin
short and simple for when you need something quick.
Tbh I could barely stay awake for this 5 minutes the morning I tired this so I’m glad I didn’t try to do something longer 😉
other exercises
🎾 Movement instead of stillness
Today is day two of movement instead of stillness. Instead of meditating after my journaling practice, I’m doing some movement. Yesterday was tennis and today I’m going back in for tennis.
Yesterday I felt more awake, the sun was shining. Today I feel more tired and it’s a gloomy rainy day (feels harder to get going). I just wanna stay sitting here. And also if I did a meditation I know I’d likely fall asleep!
update: i’m now 1 week into doing a short movement practice in the morning in place of my meditation and i’m really loving it. i’ve been sticking to basement tennis because it’s really easy for me to go down there and do it (i don’t have to change my clothes or leave the house or anything - i just do it!). it helps me feel more awake and pumped for my day. even on low energy, tired days, even if i still feel tired after the tennis, i know that it helped me get my body moving and ready for the day.
