Three Self-Care Exercises That Changed My Life

While self-care comprises so many things, diet, exercise, intellectual development, etc., I am going to focus solely on what I believe is the most disregarded and most needed component of self-care – the care of our minds. This is pertinent to all coaches and leaders (or anyone) but even more so in challenging, complex times like we are experiencing today.

Not sure why most everything above the shoulders has been historically taboo but it was and to a great degree it still is. However, I see growth happening and EcSell Institute along with EcSell Sports is placing greater emphasis on the development of the mind as a way to achieve not just greater performance and growth, but perhaps even more important, greater happiness. We are doing our part by bringing experts and science in this field to those with whom we work. Among those we work with and have learned from include Canadian Olympic sport psychologist, Dr. Peter Jensen; high performance consultant and sport psychiatrist, Dr. Larry Widman; peak performance and athletic consultant, former Navy SEAL Commander, Jack Riggins. Personally, they have all been huge contributors to my growth.

My self-education in this extensive field will never cease because the more I learn the more I understand how the mind impacts everything. All dreams, change, development and more starts there, which is to say all growth begins in the mind. And, after all, I am growth obsessed.

Given all the above, the three self-care routines that have changed my life and the results of them are as follows:

Meditation: this began in June of 2017 and the impetus was enduring over 30 years of chronic back pain. I was looking for a way to rid my body of the pain and had hit a point where I was willing to try anything. I started with meditating a couple minutes in the morning while sitting in the shower and has since evolved into 15-30 minutes, Sun-Thurs (no longer in the shower). I use guided meditation, manifestation meditation, soft music meditation and complete quiet and still meditation. Don’t confuse this with doing things that are meditative, for example a long walk is very meditative but doesn’t serve the same purpose as focusing on breath and quieting the mind. I have found that only occurs in some form of quiet, guided, or still meditation.

Brain download: this daily exercise was added sometime in 2018 at the suggestion of my coach (she likes the title better than “journaling”). Every morning (except for my current quarantined time) is spent at a local coffee shop. I arrive at 6:00, grab my coffee, open my computer, close my eyes and begin to type. I begin each session by typing a mantra that reads “Mindful. Meditate. Manifest.” as a reminder to continually do the things that matter the most. After that I simply type into my word document what is on my mind – how I feel, what is creating that feel, what I am going to do, what I am not going to do, etc. I spend about 5-10 minutes on this exercise.

Gratitude: this began about the same time of the brain download and while it sounds like the easiest and less time-consuming exercise it is the one that creates the most challenge. While obviously grateful for many things, it can be challenging to continually articulate them. I do my best to focus on gratitude that creates an emotion or feel. The smell of freshly baked bread, the coo of a dove, the feel of Aspen’s head resting on my leg, are all examples of gratitudes that create a feel. The second part of this exercise is, when done listing three things for which you are grateful, go back and read a page of gratitudes written previously. The combination of creating new and acknowledging the past creates a very strong emotion of thankfulness.

About one year after I added all of these exercises to my daily routine, I had my annual physical exam. Below is the outcome:

·       The previous five years I had ever increasing blood pressure and was about to be placed on high blood pressure meds. In just over one year my blood pressure dropped to normal levels (average about 120/76) and has not increased since.

·       My cholesterol and tryglyceride levels dropped substantially and my Doc no longer believes I am a candidate for meds.

·       I lost over 20 pounds more than two years ago and weight has stayed off. While some may say this is what caused the lowering of lab results, I believe the weight loss to be a result of my new daily routines.

·       Began work with two different personal trainers a year into my new mental routines who quite literally reshaped the way I looked, which would never have happened had I not reshaped the way I thought.

·       30 years of chronic back pain gone. This is arguably the most dramatic outcome. Prior to meditation I was in such bad pain I could not walk for more than 100 yards without having to sit. Three bulging discs was what I was told was causing the pain, but this much pain?

·       What I hear from others is I am more calm, less responsive to negative stimuli (like someone cutting me off in traffic or bad news at work), more open-minded, more in touch with my surroundings, etc.

All told, these three mental exercises comprise about 30 minutes of my day (about 2%), five days/week. If someone said you would receive the above benefits, would you find the 30 minutes? You will if you believe in mental self-care.