There's a gift that I give myself too rarely. It costs practically nothing but it gives me great benefits.
Somehow it just falls out of my mind at the times that it would do me most good. Instead of which I carry on writing emails, or thinking, or talking to people on the phone. Or else I immerse myself in some game that requires me to shoot people or solve puzzles or feed some imaginary beast. Or I decide that what my already tired body needs is just a bit more exercise or what my tired mind needs is to organise that pile of things over there, just do a little thing.
A friend used to say to me "don't just do something... sit there!" as a means of encouraging me to stop and slow down to deal with what was going on around me, feel my feelings, remind myself of my own happy place, instead of leaping into action again in an effort to make the feelings go away.
The gift is called "a long hot bath with no distractions".
It needs to be long - this is not about a quick dip to get clean, this is about slowing down and immersing myself, preferably with no time limit at all except to get out when it's time to eat or something.
It needs to be hot - yes there are all sorts of benefits of a cold plunge and cold showers. I get it. But for this time at the end of the day with muscles tired from moving stuff around all day, the run I did this morning, the boxes I had to get down from the attic, the immersion needs to be hot almost to the point of being too much. After all, I'm going to be here a while aren't I?
And NO distractions. Phone in another room, door closed, other people excluded.
Nothing but me and the water.
