When Self-Care Doesn't Work

What do we do when our self-care practice doesn’t work? I take a bath in Epsom salt once a week, it’s my most habitual self-care practice. Bathing essentially allows me to wash away all the toxins from the previous 7 days and emerge with a fresh start. I use the bath as a time to recalibrate my mind and focus on being present and to ready myself for peaceful sleep.

For whatever reason, last night, it just did not work. I did not want to get out of that tub! I did my meditation, I took deep breaths, and I even drank two glasses of a Shiraz. Even still, it took me forever to get it together. I was restless, and it felt like the soaking was useless. I was in the tub blowing bubbles, y’all. I had to ask myself what was going on.

I realized that I had gotten into yet another routine and was maybe not honoring my bathing ritual in the best way possible. I was just going through the motion of taking the bath, maybe not even fully listening to my body/mind/spirit.

So, I checked myself and got present. Not fake present, but the hard kind of present where you have to keep wrestling with your mind to... ”just shut up already!” I did what I could and got out of the tub. I still think I reemerged prematurely, but I was hot and ready to eat my wings. Better luck next time?

Sometimes our rituals don’t seem to work, so what do we do? (Lol at those of you who came here thinking I had the answer. Nope!)