I got sick on Thanksgiving. Icky sick. And then felt yucky all weekend and until, really, Friday.

Bob, the beloved boyfriend, pointed out, lovingly, as he is wont to do, that I don’t like to admit I’m sick. He is, yet again, right.

I don’t like to admit I’m sick because it doesn’t fit my picture of myself — I’m strong! I’m healthy! Plus, it just feels hard to believe.

Silly perhaps but I’m don’t think I’m that odd in my reaction (I’m not saying I’m not odd, just not that odd in this case). Even if you are fine with being sick, perhaps you don’t allow yourself time to be sick; you have to keep going.

Whatever the reason, the result is the same– we don’t get to the rest and nurturing our bodies, and often our hearts and souls, need.

We get the poopy part of being sick but not the sort-of good part,

the chance to pause, be still, curl up, and then reemerge, thankful for our health, with a renewed perspective and gratitude. And if there are lessons to be learned from being ill–  say I’ve fallen into my pattern of making things harder than they need to be and perhaps, just perhaps, I’ve gotten sick because I’ve been pushing myself too hard– I don’t get a chance to see that pattern and release a little more of it unless I let myself pause.

Okay, enough said, on to a few tempting self-care tidbits

1

Remind yourself it is totally okay if you don’t take care of yourself. No one is going to make you. You are in charge of your life and your time and your choices. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. (You might want to stamp your foot while repeating this little reminder.)

2

If there was one thing you could do right now to feel better, what would it be? (You do not have to do it but it might be nice to know what it is and you might see it probably isn’t such a big hairy thing to do something that would make you feel a tiny bit loved.)

3

Perhaps you truly can’t stop to be sick: the show must go on, the surgery must be performed, the speech given, the drowning child rescued (okay, I’m being dramatic but still, you must do what you must do today – we’ve all been there.)  Try relaxing into the fact that you feel the way you do and you can’t do anything about it. Instead of pushing away what you’re feeling in your body or being resentful that you have to do X when you feel Y, just be with where you are. If thoughts of “Oh poor pitiful me” come along or “It’s always this way, I can never take time off,” let those thoughts be there without getting caught up in them or, if you do, come back to the space of noticing you feel like shit and there is nothing you can do. Keep noticing how your body feels and that right now, you can’t do anything about it.

4

Ask yourself, “What would the Dalai Lama do?” I know, he would have somebody to take care of him but if he didn’t, he would probably think something like, “I am going to stop and put my feet up and drink some tea because I possess Buddha-nature (essential goodness, everybody does and yes, that means you) and thus the sane way to treat myself is with gentleness and regard for my self.”

5

Ask yourself, “If I had the most nurturing and loving person in the universe taking care of me right now, what would she / he do for me?” Then imagine how good it would feel to be taken care of right now, in exactly the way you would want to: the words that would soothe you into pausing , the cool hand on your forehead, the kind of drink that would make you feel a little better, the way the fresh flowers by your bed would look, the crisp, turned down sheets…

6

Is there one thing that you just imagined you could give yourself right now? One thing? Just one tiny thing?

7

If you were going to take care of yourself, you could make a pot of Traditional Medicinal Gypsy Cold Care or Throat Coat tea, steeping the bag for 10 minutes to get the full benefits. Or you could steep a cinnamon stick in hot water, add honey if you’d like — and sip at it, adding more hot water as needed.  Cinnamon has anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, analgesic, and anti-bacterial properties.  Honey is also great to soothe the throat and stop bacterial activity.

8

Call or email or text or instant message or Twitter someone who loves you and tell them how sickly and terrible (or slightly rotten and green around the gills) you feel.  Throw yourself a pity party (on Twitter, you only get 140 characters so you have to whine succinctly). Then ask for one suggestion to ease into taking care of yourself.

9

Press firmly (just short of wincing) where your nostrils meet your cheeks. You can press firmly, release, and then press again. Take some deep breaths.  Great for sinus congestion and when you feel a sore throat coming on.  Also doing this tiny thing for yourself might encourage you to go drink some tea or rest. Or not. That’s okay, too!

10

Read this sweet tidbit by healer Hiro Boga about how she resisted being ill and then her wonderful dialogue with Mr. Flu.

What do you do to take care of yourself when you are sick?  Especially when you can’t or don’t want to be? I’d love to hear and so would the other cool people who hang out here.

Related posts:

1. Sick
2. Comfort During Fearful Times: Fear Reflects How Much You Care
3. Ways out of Fight or Flight
4. The Poetry of Self-Care
5. Self-Care Minder Comments about August 29th