Real Self-Care: Music

This post is part of a month-long series on Real Self-Care for world-changers. It’s about the experimentation: figuring out what works for you and following your heart. Simple, messy and everything in between. Self-care should be custom, intuitive, feasible and kind – to serve your actual life.

Music

I’m not a musician or much of a singer. So I didn’t feel prepared to comment on the way that music can be a part of self-care. But music has been a huge part of my self-care over the years, and it’s a big part of my yoga teaching practice. My students have raved about my playlists and music choices. I can see, in myself and others, how music can take us places that even our own minds can’t.

In fact,  I have a playlist on my computer for every mood; for every type of yoga class or practice; for every type of journey in my car. (I even shared some of my favorites in the resource guide that went out to my list earlier this week. If you’re not on my list, hop on now: those bonuses will come back around at the end of September.)

Music is just huge for me. It guides my yoga practice, gears me up on my walks, lifts my spirits in a traffic jam. It helps me recall memories, or even experiences in my body, that are positive, affirming and love-filled. It inspires me to get up and shake my body. It allows me the space to cry, if that’s appropriate.

A great song allows us to connect with ourselves, a necessary and sometimes forgotten piece of bringing self-care to the forefront.