I recall when I was younger and wanted to be an actress some people would say “Be practical” you need to have a roof over your head, food on the table, and shoes on your feet. I am a dreamer so that never really occurred to be a problem for me but I did fall prey to the Practical Need going unnoticed. What happens when our Practical Needs are met they are not in the forefront of our awareness, when they go unmet it’s all we can think about and can cause us to become frozen.
Here is an example of our Practical Needs not being met: loosing our jobs, not knowing how we are going to pay for our debt, maybe we are fighting with a loved one and therefore our relationships are suffering. When situations like these take place we can get knots in our stomachs and can’t stop thinking about it.
What can we do? The good news is our Practical Need does not stand alone, we have the other two as support structures. We go into our Foundational Need by exploring meditation, positive thinking etc. then our structural support comes in to play because we have a healthy body to pick us up and move forward. The time to worry is when all three are out of balance and none of the needs are being met. Self-Care helps to keep us engaged in our life beyond our external life and bringing us in touch with our inner life both physically and metaphorically speaking.
Here are some Self-Care options for you to choose from, I ask you to try one for a week and then let me know how you feel if you notice anything different.
- Meditation – Sitting in silence for 3 minutes a day
- Lay in a Restorative Pose for 5 minutes a day. Description below.
- Breath Awareness – In hale 1,2,3,4 Ex hale 1,2,3,4 count up to 10 breaths.
- Take a Yoga class – Beginners or Basics even if your advanced student.
- Fitness – run, take a Zumba class get moving
- Wash your feet before bed or after work
Try one of these for 7 days and journal what happens in your life even the most simplest of things may shift. Be open to receive some of your needs being met.
*** Restorative Pose: Prepare with yoga mat, two blankets and a pillow. 
(If you don’t have a yoga mat it’s ok. Use your blanket.) First lay the yoga mat/blanket on the ground then sit with both legs straight in front of you have the second blanket folded and placed behind you so you can rest your head on it. Lay your self back so you spine is resting on the floor, grab the pillow and place it on the top of your thighs or on your belly. Place your arms along your side palms facing up, if you have an eye pillow place it over your eyes. Breathe…
