Love Yourself First

Love Yourself First

“So-Hum” and Sing

We are givers.  We give our careers all of our daytime energies.  We give our families all of our love and support.  We give our significant lovers a listening ear and open heart.  We give dharma (destiny) our drive and passion. So, when do we have time to give to our self?

Over time, this neglect to love and care for our self wears and tears at the mind, body and soul.  We grow tired and weary.  We lose interest in the tasks, people and things we once loved before.  We become irritable and restless because something is missing.  Love is missing.

I, too, have fallen into this “always giving” category.  Whether it was skipping lunch to meet a potential client to now prolonging a shower until my infant naps, I put the needs of others before my own.  By the end of the week, I’m emotionally drained, crabby and making poor eating choices along the way. 

Practicing yoga, all aspects of yoga not just the physical postures, helps remind me to tune in and tend to my inner house.  Meditation is a powerful tool, and I read countless articles on how it calms the nervous system, rejuvenates the mind and soothes the soul.  Speaking from personal experience, meditation helps “file” my thoughts and emotions in my mind.  I feel refreshed, organized and grounded when I begin my day with as little as 5 minutes of quiet time.

Try “So-Hum” meditation.  Begin by sitting comfortably with your spine tall and long and turning off any distractions.  Draw your breath slowly into your nose while thinking or quietly saying “So.”  Release the breath slowly as you repeat the word “Hum.”  Allow the breath to be steady and even repeating “So-Hum” on each full breath.  If your mind wanders, bring it back to “So-Hum.”  Try practicing this meditation for 5 minutes and add to it as time allows.

Notice the peace and quietness it brings to the body.  Open your eyes and radiate your love.

“Love is in the air everywhere I look around.

Love is in the air every sight and every sound.

…Love is in the air, in the rising of the sun,

Love is in the air, when the day is nearly done,”

Tom Jones