How do you help your clients to ground their goals and balance their health with their personal and professional success? And how do YOU stay focused, energized, and tuned in with yourself and your clients so you can ask the right questions at the right time?

These are all questions that an embodied self-care practice can help you answer so you can stay grounded in your body and remain focused on supporting your clients to create transformative results.

“Self-Care” and “Embodied” are buzzwords that have many definitions in the mainstream

…So let’s start by honing in on what I find essential about these terms.

Self-care

1) Self-care – Merriam-Webster defines “self care” as care for oneself. Practicing self-care is orienting our awareness and attention to taking care of our well-being and happiness. It is a recognition of “as within, so without.” If we want to be changemakers and transformational leaders, we must start with how we care for and support change and transformation within ourselves.

Embodied

2) Embodied – Merriam-Webster defines “embodied” as being an expression of or to give a tangible or visible form to the spirit in a body. I expand on this definition to include “Being Embodied” as a state of being at home in your body. It is the process of the mysterious “soul/spirit” part of you that animates and gives life to your body. Embodiment tools consciously guide us to honor, listen to, and connect to our bodies as a home for this journey of life.

Embodied self-care

I think of Embodied Self-Care, therefore, as a mindset of orienting our attention and energy towards partnering with our bodies to create health happiness, and to pursue the most in-depth, soul-level expression of our life.

As a coaching tool, practicing embodied self-care and coaching clients to practice embodied self-care enables everyone to maximize their potential and lead from their highest level. And this is the primary goal of coaching as defined by the International Coach Federation – To partner with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.

Tools for embodied self-care

Here are my top 3 strategies to get started with an embodied self-care practice as a coach:

1. Spend at least 3-5 minutes a day doing some simple meditation that quiets your mind, connects you to the sensations you feel in your body, and your breathing, and guides you in intentional movement. You can find one here if you want to get started with a simple embodied meditation practice.
2. Check in with yourself at least once daily and ask, “How are you feeling?” Use this as an opportunity to practice acceptance and self-compassion towards your feelings.
3. Ask yourself every morning, “What is the one action I can take today that will have the most significant positive effect on my health and happiness and promote the health and happiness of others?” You will be surprised what comes up if you practice this!

Adding these three embodied self-care practices daily will help you quiet your mind, connect to your body, practice self-compassion, and take daily action toward your health and well-being. It will also help you to show up for your clients grounded in your body to help them navigate their own embodied path for health, happiness, and fulfillment.

Cheering you on,