I have talked about self-care here numerous times over the years — and even in recent weeks, I’ve talked about shifting our perspective to view self-care as a sacred practice. And then yesterday, while working on the companion planner to my book, I found myself staring at the Sunday block, trying to come up with a word cue.

The word I was stuck on was Devotion.

No matter how I twisted it, turned it, or tried to come up with something else, that was the word I kept coming back to. And it got me thinking.

In a world where we are celebrated for prioritizing others, for over-performing, over-producing, and continuing to give even when it is to our own detriment — or when we are already running on empty — I’m going to propose a radical idea:

What if we started celebrating Devotion to Self?

What if our self-care became sacred acts of devotion?

And even if the world doesn’t celebrate it — what if we did it anyway?

Devotion by definition is a deep, strong feeling of love, loyalty, or commitment to someone or something. So Devotion to Self becomes a commitment to deeply loving yourself — body, mind, and soul. It is nurturing and caring for yourself in all the ways you need, including the ones that aren’t particularly glamorous or Instagram-worthy.

It means listening to what your body, mind, and soul need — and choosing to honour those needs. Now, I don’t mean abandoning everything else we need to do in order to prioritize ourselves. I mean setting a boundary around continually putting ourselves last.

Fill your cup ... Put your oxygen mask on first ... Make showing up for yourself a priority.

And trust me, this is one of the greatest gifts you can give your children: showing them, by example, what making yourself a priority actually looks like.

When they witness your devotion to yourself, you help shape their own beliefs around self-care. They learn that they don’t need to feel guilty for taking time for themselves. They learn how to say, No, or Not right now, I need to rest today.

Hopefully, caring for themselves becomes something they naturally carry with them as they grow and move out into the world. And then maybe they model it for their children, too.
Suddenly, shifting your perspective toward Devotion to Self isn’t just about you. It has the potential to ripple through generations.

What an incredible gift that is.

Through the lens of Devotion to Self, it becomes a whole lot easier to prioritize ten minutes to meditate, thirty minutes to meal plan, or forty-five minutes for a walk outside.

The guilt — and many of the excuses — begin to lose their grip because you understand how important it is to devote time to caring for yourself.


Rest as Devotion

Rest becomes a sacred act of devotion.

It means listening to and honouring your body and giving it what it is craving. It means creating space to replenish your energy before you hit completely empty.

It means allowing yourself time to pause, experience stillness, and reflect.

And it means recognizing that rest isn’t only about physical replenishment. We need rest mentally, emotionally, energetically, and at a soul level, too.

Rest isn’t just sleep or having a nap — although both are absolutely essential when that is what you need.

Rest can be pausing long enough to breathe.

Drinking an entire cup of tea while it is still hot.

Going for a walk with a friend.

Wandering alone through the woods.

Watching a full movie — or two, or three in a row — because what you need right now is some quiet space to simply be.

Rest creates space for the integration of experiences, healing, insights, and energetic shifts.
Rest as an act of devotion helps us step out of constant doing and into a place where we can receive.

And receiving is necessary for replenishment on every level — physical, mental, emotional, energetic, and soul.


Nourishment as Devotion

Nourishing your body can become a beautiful experience — something worth taking the time to prepare and savour.

Every meal can become a sacred act of devotion. A celebration. A way of honouring the nourishment your body needs to thrive while bringing yourself fully into the present moment.
Pull out the good dishes. Set the table. Use the fancy glasses. Maybe even add a pretty seasonal napkin.

Choose ingredients that nourish your body and soul. Turn off your phone notifications. Sit down. Be present in your devotion.

And spoiler alert: even mac and cheese can be savoured and made sacred with a nice table setting. 😂


Honouring Your Cycles as Devotion

Living in alignment with the shifting seasons can also become an act of devotion.

Nature moves through cycles of rest, growth, fullness, and release — and so do we. We can see these same rhythms reflected in the seasons, the moon, the course of a day, and within our own energy.

Winter | Dark–New Moon | Night | Rest
This is the inward part of the cycle, when energy is quieter and asks for more receiving and less output.

Rest. Dream. Listen. Restore. Receive.

Spring | Waxing Moon | Morning | Grow
Energy begins returning with curiosity, movement, and an urge to begin.

Awaken. Begin. Explore. Create. Build.

Summer | Full Moon | Midday | Bloom
This is the peak of outward-moving energy — visibility, connection, expression, and experiencing what you have created.

Shine. Connect. Express. Celebrate. Receive.

Fall | Waning Moon | Evening | Release
Energy begins drawing inward again. This is the time for clearing, completing, and letting go as we prepare to return to rest.

Harvest. Integrate. Complete. Release. Soften.

Devotion to Self means honouring where you actually are in the cycle instead of continually demanding that you remain in summer.

You were never meant to bloom all day, every day.


Meeting Yourself Where You Are

Devotion to Self means meeting yourself exactly as you are, right now, in this season of your life — and holding grace for that person.

It means honouring that your needs today are different from what they were five years ago. And they will probably be different from what you need five years from now.

It means deeply loving yourself in this phase.

I think looking at self-care through the lens of Devotion to Self makes all the practices of self-love and self-care easier to prioritize.

The act doesn’t have to be profound.

It doesn’t have to be beautiful.

It doesn’t have to look spiritual.

It doesn’t even have to make sense to anyone else.

Your act of devotion might be spending an entire day watching a season of a show you love while knitting a cozy sweater and drinking tea.

And yes, that counts.

Because showing up for yourself is what matters.


So, Where Do You Start?

​Start by making a list of the things you love about yourself — body, mind, and soul. Then try writing yourself a love letter.

You could even write a thank-you letter to all your past selves. Be brave enough to make it raw and honest. I’m certain your fourteen-year-old self did some pretty awesome things that helped set you on the trajectory toward who you are today.
​
Next, make a list of what you are needing and craving right now — body, mind, and soul. Beside each need, add an Act of Devotion that could honour it.

Some might meet your deepest soul-level needs. Others might simply make your Tuesday afternoon a little softer. Both matter.

Finally, as you drink your morning tea, set your intention for the day and ask yourself:

What act of devotion can I offer myself today?

Choose one.

Big or small.

Quiet or bold.

Ten minutes or an entire afternoon.

And then make it a priority.

Not because you have earned it.

Not because everything else is finished.

Not because everyone else has been taken care of first.

But because devotion isn’t something you give yourself only when there is time left over.

Devotion is how you choose to show up for yourself — body, mind, and soul — each and every day.

And that is beautiful.

I think most of us see caring for ourselves as just one more thing on our to-do list. And let’s be honest for a second — it’s usually the first thing dropped when time is limited. Laundry, groceries, chauffeuring kids around, and all of the other tasks of daily life you have to do all take priority. And at the end of a long day, we’re simply too tired. 

I don’t want taking care of yourself to become just another item on your already long list of things to do every day. Frankly, it’s exhausting trying to fit it all in when that’s how you approach self-care. Caring for yourself shouldn’t feel like one more task you have to squeeze into an already full day.

So what if we changed our perspective, just a little, and started looking at caring for ourselves — body, mind, and soul — as a sacred practice?

Could it change from something you have to do into something you actually look forward to doing?

Could taking care of you take priority over your everyday, never ending to do list?

Now, I know things like laundry, groceries, and cleaning still need to get done. But what if they became the secondary tasks instead? What if you found ways to automate some of them, simplify them, or get your family on board with helping?

Would it really matter if the dust sat on your TV stand for one more day? In my world, not taking care of me is far more detrimental in the long run than a little dust on my TV stand.

What if we stopped thinking about caring for ourselves as another collection of things we have to do and started seeing them as sacred acts? Acts of gratitude. Acts of devotion. Acts of unconditional love toward ourselves.

Instead of starting your day by poring over your to-do list, what if you began by choosing one sacred thing you can do today to care for your body, mind, or soul? Then wrote it down. Blocked off time for it. And let the rest of the day fall into place around it.

Go into the woods not because you need to get grounded, but because you love being there. Because being among the trees allows your soul to exhale and your shoulders to relax.
You’ll probably come home grounded either way — but the second perspective warms the heart and lights up the soul a little differently.

Go for a wander in the woods — then tackle the grocery shopping.

Nourish yourself with a wholesome breakfast — then plan some dinners while you leisurely finish your tea. Or better yet, enjoy the entire cup of tea, while it’s still hot, before you start planning anything.

Your kids want to play games after dinner? Guess what? The dishes can wait. Or get everyone involved in a quick tidy-up first. Some amazing — and hilarious — conversations have happened in our house while washing dishes with my kiddos. Either way, games together or dishes together, we are fostering connection. And connection fills my heart with joy.

Sometimes the Ordinary Things Are Sacred Too.

Seeing self-care as sacred doesn’t mean every practice has to involve meditation, candles, crystals, yoga, or wandering barefoot through the forest.

Sometimes sacred self-care looks remarkably ordinary.

Take meal planning ... Planning ten dinners ahead of time becomes much less torturous when I recognize that those thirty minutes are actually caring for myself in several different ways. First, it helps make sure we’re eating nutritious meals, and some yummy lunches as well if I'm lucky enough to snag the leftovers. Second, taking the time to plan allows me to add some variety instead of rotating through the same five dinners over and over again. And third — perhaps most importantly — it means I don’t have to make a dinner decision at 4 p.m. on Wednesday when dinner needs to be prepared, cooked, and eaten before I start work again at 6.

Thirty minutes of planning becomes an act of caring for myself all week long.

Scheduling my sacred self-care for before my other tasks revitalizes me, too.

If I wander in the woods before I go grocery shopping, I know the walk will actually happen. It won’t get lost in the busyness of the day, and I won’t reach the end of everything else too tired to go.

Make Space for What Matters

Another trick for making sure your sacred self-care actually happens?

Auto-booking.

Pre-scheduling things like my acupuncture appointments means they are no longer something I have to somehow 'fit in.' I have intentionally made space for them — every month, for the entire year. And those appointments are non-negotiable for me.

You can also look for ways to make the less-sacred tasks of life a little easier.

Ordering groceries online, for example, can save time — in theory — and frustration if you really don’t love shopping. Personally, online grocery shopping actually adds stress for me, but I know plenty of people who swear by it. For them, it frees up time and energy to care for themselves in ways that feel much more meaningful.

The point isn’t to do things the way someone else does them.

The point is to intentionally create space for the things that nourish you.

So, How Do You Start?

Grab some paper or a notebook and a pen. Sit quietly, place your hands over your heart, and take a deep breath. Then, one at a time, bring to mind the things you already do to care for yourself.

Think about why each one matters to you. How does it care for your body? Your mind? Your soul? What does it allow you to keep doing? How does it make you feel? Then write it down.

Here’s one of mine: I don’t strengthen my muscles simply because exercise is something I’m 'supposed' to do. Strengthening my muscles allows me to continue doing the things I love — hiking mountains and trails — and supports longevity in my career. And it will help me keep doing those things for a long time to come.

Strength training also gives me a quiet space where all I have to think about is the next rep. And, if I’m being completely truthful, there’s something incredibly satisfying about knowing I can lift heavy things. That sense of strength and accomplishment matters too.

Need another example? I don’t just eat food. I nourish my body — and sometimes my soul — with food that is delicious, gives me the energy to do the things I want and need to do, while also providing the nutrients my body needs to be strong and healthy.

Looking at food through the lens of nourishment rather than simply as something you need to eat shifts something. Choosing foods and meals that support you starts to feel less like another obligation and more like an act of care and devotion.

Choose One Sacred Thing

Once you have your list, choose one thing from it that you can prioritize today as a sacred practice of caring for you.

Write it at the top of your planner or stick it somewhere you’ll see it.

Then decide where it fits into your day.

And remember to set yourself up to succeed.

Don’t schedule an hour-long powerlifting class at 7 p.m. if you know you’re not a night owl. And maybe don’t sign yourself up for 6 a.m. yoga if there is absolutely no chance you’ll be awake, dressed, and rolling out the door at that hour.

Sacred does not have to mean difficult — and it definitely doesn’t mean perfect.

There is no such thing as failure here — only feedback. So, if your day goes sideways and your practice gets lost in the shuffle, that’s okay. Take a deep breath. You can begin again tomorrow.

This is actually why I intentionally use the word practice.

Practice leaves room for you to be human. It leaves room for life to happen, plans to change, and things to occasionally go completely sideways without completely derailing you from your sacred practice. But it also leaves room for you to evolve, experiment, learn, and grow along the way too.

We aren’t aiming for perfection. The intention is simply to consciously choose to see caring for yourself as sacred. To recognize that tending to your body is sacred. Protecting your energy is sacred. Nourishing your mind is sacred. Making space for joy, rest, connection, movement, creativity, and the things that make your soul exhale, is sacred.

And showing up for yourself first will get easier the more you practice. 

In all honesty, I’m not sure I ever want my practice to become perfect. Because perfection would mean there is nothing left to learn, nowhere left to grow, and no new version of myself waiting to be discovered. 
​
I’d much rather keep practicing, wouldn't you?

Now, I will tell you that not all of our past vacations have gone smoothly. In fact, there have been a few moments when we found ourselves travelling down some seriously bumpy roads — both literally and figuratively. But really, does any trip ever go perfectly according to plan? And maybe that’s exactly why intention matters most.

Because if you set the intention of having a perfectly curated, Instagram-worthy vacation, what happens when it pours rain, plans go sideways, locations are closed for the season, and everyone gets just a little too much together time? Chances are, you’re going to end up disappointed and likely even a little irritated with your travel companions.

So, for the first time ever I chose to set an intention for our trip. 

My intention wasn’t about deciding exactly minute by minute how I want the trip to unfold. It was about deciding how I wanted to move through my vacation and how I wanted it to feel in the end — even when it unfolded differently than I imagined.

I decided to set a more generalized intention for this trip, with the aim to avoid disappointment and irritation returning home with me. My impression of the trip would no longer be tied to everyone enjoying themselves, or everyone getting along and being happy, or how successful we were at checking things off our list, or how excited people were about things I wanted to see, or had found to do, or making sure that there was something for everyone to experience. It created space for people to be in a bad mood, or be tired, or hangry, or need a little time to themselves, or to choose not to go on an adventure.

Really my intention created space for us to be human. And anything that happened beyond my intention was either icing on the cake or had no bearing on the experience.  

​And let me tell you, that it made a huge difference! 

​What was my intention?

And guess what ... that's exactly what happened. But also so much more! 

We didn’t always do things together or agree on what we should do — and we certainly didn’t completely escape the occasional irritation. But we did stand in awe together, completely out of breath with our legs burning, at the end of a ridiculously hard 0.8 km hike to a waterfall and then again to a mountain lake viewpoint. We hiked a mountain, 10km one way, going up 580m in elevation to the lookout near the top together. We cracked up laughing together at my nine-year-old niece’s tour guide commentary over the walkie-talkies. We ran together to capture the mountain reflections on a calm turquoise lake. We tested the icy waters of glacier runoff together. We played Canasta together, collected stones together, and sat quietly by the fire in the evenings together.

It wasn’t about doing everything together as a group of 11 + 1 dog. It was about being present enough to recognize the moments we experienced, whether it was 3, 6, 9, or 11 of us together on an adventure — and then sharing or reminiscing with the rest of the group over dinner.

​Setting the intention the way I did, almost made our vacation fool proof. The weather didn't matter, what we did didn't matter, who we did it with didn't matter — because it was all time spent in the mountains and tall trees with my sister, parents, and a few other crazies, and nothing could take away from that.

So before your next vacation, maybe spend a little less time thinking about how you want everything to go and a little more time thinking about how you want to feel while you’re there.

What do you want to bring with you? More presence? More connection? More laughter? A little more patience when everyone has spent way too much time together?

Set an intention for the trip — not as another expectation it has to live up to, but as something you can come back to when the plans change, the rain starts, someone gets cranky, or the ridiculously short hike turns out to be ridiculously hard.

Because intention won’t make your vacation perfect. It can, however, remind you to notice what’s happening in between all those imperfect moments — the laughter over the walkie-talkies, the race to catch a reflection on the lake, the stones tucked into your pockets, and the quiet evenings around the fire.
​
And sometimes, those are the moments you end up bringing home with you.

Most of the time breathing just happens.

In & Out ... an average of 22,000 times per day. (lung.ca)

Breathing is one of those amazing things that can be controlled automatically by the autonomic nervous system OR it can be controlled by you voluntarily.

For this post we are going to focus on a breathing exercise that can have a profound effect on your nervous system. 

​This is something that Yogis have know forever, but science and research are only just catching on to.

Just so you are better able to follow along when I get further into how the breathing exercise affects your body, I feel I need to give you a little background .... it's short I promise.

Your autonomic nervous system has 2 parts ... the sympathetic - fight or flight - triggers an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate ... and the parasympathetic - rest and digest - which triggers a decrease in heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate.

Most parts of your body have nerve fibres for both the sympathetic and parasympathetic parts of your nervous system ... including your nose.

And a large number of us are running around with our sympathetic nervous systems firing like crazy!

​I was actually blown away by the number of research studies that I was able to find on the effects of left nostril breathing on general health and the nervous system.

And guess what ... my research supported what I was taught about moon breath!

In yoga teachings, when you breathe in through a nostril the qualities of that side will be activated and when you breathe out the through a nostril the qualities will be sedated. 

The left nostril being connected to the lunar energy channel, brings cooling and nourishing energy ...and the right nostril being connected to the solar energy channel, brings warmth and fire energy.

There are actually 3 breathing exercises you can use to embrace these energies ... Moon breath or left nostril breathing, Sun breath or right nostril breathing and alternate nostril breathing (which we well learn about in the next post).

Although there is a time and a place for sun breath, my research actually focused on moon breath because what I see most in the clinic is people whose nervous systems that are stressed and just need to be soothed.

With Moon Breath ... you focus your inhale through the left nostril and your exhale though the right.

When you have left nostril dominance you generally feel more restful; locomotion activity decreases; heart rate decreases; blood pressure decreases; respiration rate decreases; and body temp decreases. Your parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system is activated and the sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system is sedated.

From the yogi perspective ... moon breath is very nourishing and calming, and will sooth your nervous system. It is helpful before bed if you have trouble sleeping; if you need to physically cool your body (like if you are blessed with hot flashes); and when dealing with stress, jittery or anxious feelings or when you just need to calm an overactive mind.

Out of all of the breathing exercises that I have learned, I find that what I need most is moon breath ... and I use this exercise regularly throughout the day when I am feeling stressed or anxious and my nervous system needs a little help to calm down.

So my challenge for you ...

Give Moon Breath a try ... observe what you feel immediately and in the time after practicing.

Start with 22 breath cycles - inhale + exhale = one.

Counting like this ......... Inhale, exhale, one .... inhale, exhale, two .... inhale, exhale, three ....
or counting off beads on your mala or meditation bracelet (find the special bead, count off 22 beads and then with each breath cycle move backward towards the special one)

Aim to try this breathing every day for at least 2 week ( just to give it a fair shot) and see how you feel. Most of the research studies allowed for 6 weeks of practice before reassessing. 

​Regular practice will help your brain and body learn the exercise and the effect so that when you need it in an emergency or stress crisis you aren't trying to learn it on the spot.

So pick a quiet place and time of day when you can consistently practice.

And Just Breathe.

​Namasté

PS. For more breathing exercises click here.
For guided meditations click here​.
​Stay tuned for information on the benefits of alternate nostril breathing.

For most of my meditation history I did not have a set place to practice. Which meant that I was very sporadic in my meditation, practicing whenever I could find the time or clear a space.

This often meant that I was only surface meditating because I was never really able to train my brain and body to fully sink into my practice.

Maybe the floor was too hard, or there was too much extra noise, or too much chaos in the house, or the place I had decided on for that particular day actually caused my anxiety to ramp up rather than calming and soothing my nervous system.

But I did not really realize any of this until the beginning of the pandemic.

At the beginning when my clinic was shut down, I had the heartbreaking reality of having an empty clinic and not knowing when I would be able to begin practice again. I could not look at the clinic, set up as a clinic, and not have sadness wash over me. So I packed it up ... and took the opportunity to bring calm to myself amid the chaos and turned my treatment room into a meditation/yoga/dance studio.

See ... just a little space in the middle of our living room.
​
Then I had to start to set my meditation stage, so to speak, and create my very own sacred space.

I hope you are inspired to create your own sacred space for meditation ... even if all you start with is something lovely to gaze at.

If you need inspiration please let me know, I am happy to help guide you. 

Be Well!

Namasté

PS ... don't forget to check out all of my guided meditation recordings
as well as my Malas, Meditation bracelets & Essential Art collection.