august self care resource roundup
here's a new month roundup of meditations, resources, and exercises that i've been experimenting with! feel free to try them out and lmk how they resonate with you. what self-care have you been experimenting with lately?
this month i’ve been diving into nervous system regulation, practicing presence, dialectical behavior therapy techniques, and joyful sex.
enjoy!
[this is a snippet of the resources I shared this month in the Patreon community. click here to see the rest!]
guided meditations
✨ Short calming practice by Linda Hall
“Calm your body and mind with this short, mindfulness-based practice for stress relief. Suitable for both beginners or advanced any time of day, also conducive for sleep.”
I enjoy Linda Hall’s meditations. There’s something about the audio quality that makes me feel like I’m listening to an old radio broadcast, yet in the present, like it’s some kind of future wisdom message coming to me now 😉
This meditation helped me feel much more grounded and calm - something I really needed.
✨ Practicing Presence by Dora Kamau
I love Dora’s gentle calming voice. And I really enjoyed the drum beat in the background of this one.
Personally, my brain was all over the place when listening to this so I didn’t feel very present. But, it was still a practice and I feel more connected to myself and my body afterwards. And that counts!
podcast episodes
✨ Real, joyful sex with Emily Nagoski on We Can Do Hard Things podcast w/ Glennon Doyle
Emily is an author and sex educator and her books Come as You Are and Burnout have completely changed my life. I could listen to her talk about this stuff all day. And I think everyone should have a listen so all our lives can be better changed as well.
✨ We love a good origin story on Safeword podcast
Safeword is hosted by queer sex therapists Casey Tanner and Kamil Lewis. Each week they tackle a theme related to sex, relationships, gender and more.
Their relationship, conversation, languaging, and viewpoints are everything I’ve been missing from sex & relationship conversations/podcasts. I binged all the episodes and can’t wait for the next one!
other resources
✨ Here are a few resources from therapy that I have been experimenting with lately that have been helpful:
DBT (Dialectical behavior therapy) Opposite Action Skill: “All emotions activate us to respond and the type of activation is biologically wired. The Opposite Action Skill allows us to choose to respond opposite from what our biological response would activate us to do. They get us ready to act.”
Behavior chain analysis: “The idea behind behavior chains is that your behavior is the culmination of a whole chain of events and feeling. It was started by something that triggered emotions which triggered body sensations and actions and so on and so forth. It’s a bit like dominoes in the way that one tipped domino leads to the tipping of the rest. The goal is to learn how and where to step in to stop the rest of the dominoes from tipping.”
DBT acronym DEARMAN (or DEAR MAN): “to remember the steps — in order — to outline an effective way to ask for something or say no.”
✨ Dealing with a feeling of despair: EFT tapping with Brad Yates
Years ago, tapping was part of my regular self care routine. I got away from it for awhile, but it’s been popping back up in my awareness and felt like the time to bring it back. This particular video subject felt quite timely.
Here’s to feeling more well-resourced, nourished, and supported heading into the new month.
Let me know which practices and resources resonate with you! 🖤✨
