How I Took Care of Myself in the Waiting Room

Quick announcement before we begin: 

The Courageous Self-Care 1/4 Year Review is coming up this Saturday. It’s an excellent opportunity to 

>pause 

>collect yourself and ground 

>see what’s working for you

> identify areas for improvement

>acknowledge and celebrate your progress 

and then to look forward with all that great information and energy so that you can head into the next 3 months feeling fresh, clear and uplifted. 

I absolutely love doing these reviews and I hope you’ll be able to join us. 

Click here for more info and to register

Now, let’s head over to the waiting room. If you missed why we ended up there, check out this blog. 

Zoe (my daughter) had her elbow surgery last week (thank you to everyone who sent good vibes her way) and so Paul and I got to wait and wait and wait some more. 

Although there was a part of my mind that wanted to worry, I chose to do other things instead. In fact, it ended up being a full day of self-care. I thought it might be helpful to share my activities and practices with you in case you find yourself in a situation where your mind would rather worry too.

1- Mindset

Our day started out at the crack of dawn. Right away, my mind tried to get me to contemplate a startling variety of worst-case-scenarios. Each time, I shut it down asap and said to myself, “Part of me that feels scared, I love you. I get why you’re here. We love Zoe and we want the best for her. I accept you and I’m pouring love into you.”

Same thing for all the other parts of me that showed up. This practice happened all day so I got to pour a lot of love into myself. 

I’m also big on setting intentions so I set the intention for the day to be pleasant, productive and as enjoyable as possible. 

2- Meditation

I brought my mala and did my japa practice (reciting a mantra while moving my fingers over each mala bead). I found this particular meditation to be very soothing. I’ve poured a lot of high vibration energy into my mala and so just having it helped anchor and ground me. 

3- Embodiment

I have a few embodiment/movement practices I do every day. We left too early for me to do them at home so I did them in the hospital. 

Did I look weird? Probably. 

Did they feel amazing? Absolutely. 

Did they help keep me energized and positive? For sure. 

My trick when I do weird things like that in public is to close my eyes and stay in my own energy, pretending no one can see me. 

At one point, a doctor walked by and said, “Boy, I wish I could stretch like that!” So, obviously my trick didn’t work, but that’s okay. 

4- Breathwork

Whenever I’m waiting, I see it as an opportunity to do a variety of breathwork practices. I really like Central Channel Breathing and Chakra Breathing Patterns, as taught by my mentor, Dr Sue Morter, so those are my go-to. I do Central Channel Breathing as often as possible every day. 

It helps me stay out of my mind and in my personal power. 

I also like a practice where you inhale for 7 counts, hold your breath for 7 counts, exhale for 7 counts and hold again for 7 counts. It’s like square breathing but deeper and longer. I also use this one a lot on plane takeoffs. 

5- Asking for Help

Asking for help didn’t used to be my forte but I’ve been working at it and I’m getting better! Hooray!

I asked for help from all sorts of humans, asking them to send positive energy Zoe’s way and they did. That felt amazing. 

I also asked for help from Heavenly Helpers. I hired a masterful surgeon and team members to infuse their human counterparts with clarity, focus and exceptional skill. 

I called on some spirit guides to help Zoe have a powerful sacred experience while she was under anesthetic. (Guess what! She did!)

I hired some more heavenly helpers to help me and Paul stay calm, empowered and positive. (And we did!)

I’m telling you… those Heavenly Helpers are phenomenal. We just have to ask. They are standing by, ready to help in whatever way is needed. 

6- Fuel and Movement

As I’ve heard over and over from another mentor, Brendan Burchard, the way you feel today, including your mood and energy, is the result of the choices you’ve made over the last 72 hours. 

I tend to be quite tenacious when it comes to making excellent choices (it’s taken a lot of practice to be sure) and so the 72 hours leading up to Surgery Day were on track to ensuring a great experience body-wise. 

I got up early so I could prepare our usual morning drinks (hot water with ginger, lemon and honey, celery juice and a detox smoothie). We also packed some healthy snacks (fruit and veggies - we eat as much live food as possible).

At lunchtime, Paul and I took a walk outside and I also did lots of wandering in the surgical unit. 

We have a wonderful water filtration system at home so we filled our waterbottles and brought those along as well. 

Despite our best-laid plans, this is where 2 of the fatal errors came in. 

Fatal Error #1 (but not actually fatal)

We didn’t really know how long the surgery was going to take when we left the house and it ended up being WAY longer than we expected, what with the recovery time and all. 

As a result, we didn’t bring enough water so I did get a little dehydrated before I realized that I would have to go buy some. 

Fatal Error #2 (again, not actually fatal - more annoying)

I’m quite particular when it comes to food and so most places don’t meet my high standards (especially the hospital - what a surprise…)

Even though we brought some food, we didn’t bring a lunch so I had to settle. That made me a little grumpy but I got over it and made a mental note to think a little more ahead next time I know I’ll be away from home without access to what I would normally eat.

7- Being in Service

Since we only found out about the surgery time the night before, I didn’t know if I would even be able to go because I did have some client sessions scheduled that day. As it turned out, I was able to do all the sessions from the hospital - perks of working mostly online!

I noticed that it felt really beneficial to be in service while I waited. 

I also made a contribution by sending love and healing energy to everyone who was in the surgical ward that day. I really like that we can always do something to make a difference.

Fatal Error #3

Since I knew there would be lots of downtime, I had planned to do some writing and other work while we waited. However, I neglected to charge my laptop overnight. I assumed that I would be able to plug it in and work at the hospital but the way things were set up, that wasn’t possible. 

Mental note: charge laptop and phone overnight!

8- Conscious Consumption

Even after all those self-care practices, there was still more time. Since my laptop was out of commission, I decided to listen to something on my phone. I tend to be very mindful about what I listen to/watch so I chose something uplifting. 

I could have watched the cooking channel that was playing in the waiting room but since I was so hungry that didn’t seem appealing. Plus, pretty much everything that was being cooked was brown so I wasn’t really on board. 

Instead, I chose to listen to a course I had previously purchased. I did this really handy thing that you might find useful too. 

Bonus Tip (if you’re someone who’s enrolled in a lot of courses or listens to a lot of podcasts/audiobooks)

In my planner, I made a list of all the calls/content/courses that I’d like to listen to. Then when I have some time, I just look at my list and see what feels appealing. It feels so good to have them all down on paper rather than just this nebulous, ominous sense that there are a lot of calls still waiting for my attention. 

Not rocket science but, boy, it has sure made a difference. Plus, there’s the deep satisfaction of checking off a call from my list whenever I complete one. Never underestimate the power of checking things off a list.

So that’s how I took care of myself in the waiting room. I hope you found something in there supportive for the next time you find yourself waiting. It doesn’t even have to be in a waiting room; it could be in traffic, in line somewhere… it seems like there are many opportunities to wait and it feels wonderful to have some sense of how to use that time to your benefit. 

May you have a week filled with all sorts of nourishing self-care.

Oh - Zoe gets her cast off today. She’s very much looking forward to scratching her arm :) 

With fulfilling love and rising courage,

Christina

>Creator of Courageous Self-Care

>So excited to have spent the weekend taking my Spiritual BEST training… more on that soon

>Although not inclined to partake in most Western medicine, feeling very grateful for the skillful way acute injuries can be remedied

The Courageous Self-Care Quarter Year Review 2024 is coming up this Saturday.

Do you feel like:

• you’re always on the go 
• that your life is very busy and stressful
• there don’t seem to be enough hours in the day 
• you kind of have that ‘wind-blown look’ 
• your inner critic is running rampant
• you could improve your ability to be kind and loving toward yourself
• there’s room for more celebrating in your life?

If yes, the Quarter Year Review will help you get a handle on things.

One of the key teachings in Courageous Self-Care is to create a better relationship with time, and one way to do that is to look to the past with gratitude (rather than regret, doubt or criticism) and toward the future with anticipation and excitement (rather than fear and worry).

During this 90-minute workshop-style call, you’ll get practical experience in honouring what has already happened so far this year, and then we’ll set some intentions for the next quarter of 2024 so that you know what to do next. 

You can expect to leave the session with: 

• Increased clarity (so you can make plans that align with your values and thus feel more fulfilled)
• More energy (because we’ll be doing fun things like dancing and celebrating)
• A sense of refreshment (because we’ll be taking a break from all the go-go-GO!)
• The realization that you’ve had more success than you gave yourself credit for

You’ll also feel so organized and proud of yourself for taking action towards the life you really want to be living.

For more details and to register, click here

*If you’ve already registered for Soulful Time Management - 1 Year of Reviews, you’re already in and should have received details by email. You’ll get another reminder prior to the event. 

How about a little Coldplay? There are so many Coldplay songs I love so much that it can be hard to choose just one but this one popped in today and it’s great for dancing. How about you give yourself the gift of a few minutes of glorious movement with an energizing song?

I like how Something Just Like This makes me feel heroic and inspired. 

Listen to Something Just Like This by Coldplay on iTunes

Listen to Something Just Like This by Coldplay on Spotify