How do we soothe ourselves?

I've been thinking a lot about what things we do to soothe and settle ourselves. Mostly because I have been calling on my basket of techniques to do exactly that. We had to say goodbye to our lovely cat Fibo last week, so it has been essential to use the tools that help me feel resourced. Really the first step with all of this is just noticing how I feel. Do I feel tired? Is it a mental or physical tiredness? Do I feel like I need more or less contact with people? And then once you have a sense of how you feel it is easier to take steps forward. Maybe seeing a friend. Or going for a walk. I sometimes like to choose a small project that has been lurking in the background and tackling it (the key here is small project!). Then once you have tried something, check in again, how do you feel now? Has it helped or do you need to try something different? The goal with all of this is to get yourself back to a sense of being grounded, resourced and able to take on what you need to in your life. It may be what you need is to take a pause and intentionally rest! Here are some options for what might bring balance to you. On Saturday December 2nd is the last Restorative Yoga session of the year. It is often hard to let ourselves drop into rest in the busy-ness of life. My intention with these sessions to create a space and practice where you can really find rest away from distractions. Someone one the last session told me afterwards they had the best sleep! Book here. We are coming up to a year of having strength training classes for women at the studio and I'm truly blown away by what the women involved have achieved. Beyond just seeing how their strength physically has grown, it has been amazing to have so many moments of these women recognising that getting stronger has affected them mentally and emotionally. This has been the case for myself as well. As I get stronger I feel more able to take on the stresses in my life. The next course starts November 30 (only a couple spots left) and the course after that will start on January 4th.