Give Comfort – The Perfect Gift for Everyone: a Self-Care Kit
Do you have a Self-Care kit? You probably do, without even realizing it.
I’ve assembled an essential collection of things to use when anxiety gets out front. My Self-Care kit comes in handy when I need to:
feel less anxious
feel more calm
feel ready to face the world again.
I recently organized my Self-Care Kit so it’s ready for me whenever the newspaper, the TV, the mail, or any other event gets to be too much.
Actually, the trigger doesn’t matter. What’s important is that the anxious is getting out front.
My Self-Care Kit comes to the rescue!
These items are now all in one easy place so I can get to them whenever I need to calm my body and slow my racing thoughts. Overall, they don’t take a lot of space. Square inch by square inch, these things are priceless.
My Self-Care Kit is actually in 2 parts. The first part includes:
my favorite blanket/throw.
a hot water bottle
a generous-sized heart pillow
my favorite essential oil
a neck pillow I can heat in the microwave
aromatherapy pillow
incense
coloring book
my affirmation journal
My Self-Care Kit is in a drawer in my bedroom. But, it could be anywhere. The important thing is that, when I find myself becoming anxious, I go to my Self-Care Kit, and find a selection of things that will help.
That can only be a good thing.
Taped on the wall next to my computer is My Backup List.
The items on this list are a selection of things that I know will help when I need them. They include names, locations, emails, and phone numbers to schedule
a yoga session
a Reiki session
a reflexology session
a massage
So, for me, my Self-Care kit comes in two parts. I know that, between the items in the drawer and the list on the wall, there are options for being calm.
Then, tucked away for me to find when I need them are a guided meditation and a scented bath bar to use with a relaxing and calming bath.
We are each different, on our own special paths. Each day is a new opportunity. One thing this new year has taught me: A Self-Care Kit is ready and waiting for me when I need it.
Ahhhhh.
Calm
Thanks for reading this post.
Please forward this article to your favorite social media network and share it with your friends and neighbors. Everyone needs calm these days.
Thurman Greco
thurmangreco@gmail.com
Find your Tribe in 2025
Recently, I put out the call for a Reiki practitioner to be a guest in my booth at the Mower’s Meadow Flea Market.
A bit of history here: I’ve had a booth at the Mower’s Meadow Saturday Sunday Flea Market in Woodstock for several years. I began the booth as a fundraising project for an area food pantry.
After a few years, I began reading Tarot Cards and selling books at the market..
The bottom line was that I was using about 30% of the booth space and felt that I could add a healing table. But, since I didn’t think I could offer Reiki and read cards at the same time, I put out the call for a Reiki practitioner to be a guest in the booth.
The flea market hadn’t had a Reiki practitioner in years so this was going to be a whole new activity – a startup, really.
I felt that what I needed to do was invite a practitioner every week. Well, I was certainly off the mark there. .
Susan responded to my call immediately. She ‘s a Reiki Master Practitioner who I hadn’t seen in years.
Susan has fulltime employment in Kingston. She’s looking to begin her new career as a Reiki practitioner. Susan had a lot of training to offer her future and she was looking forward to practicing Reiki.
When I contacted Susan, I expected her to volunteer to work at the booth once or maybe twice at the most. Well, I was wrong there.
Susan arrived at the booth on the agreed-on date and time. She brought her own healing table, business cards, and a chair.
When I showed her the area, she set her table up under a large tree which was offering shade and protection.
Susan set out a small table at the front of the booth with some business cards and she placed a chair nearby.
“I’m ready to begin offering Reiki. I’m looking for my tribe.”
What a statement to use at the beginning of a new venture! As things turned out, it was an accurate description for her.
Susan set up her table every flea market day for the remainder of the summer. Each flea market day Susan positioned her table under the welcoming tree. Her chair and small table for business cards were right up front where Susan could see every person shopping at the market.
By the end of the season, Susan had given Reiki sessions on most market days. But that wasn’t the remarkable thing. The amazing thing was this: every person receiving a session from Susan became a client.
Susan found her tribe!
I was impressed as this whole process unfolded in front of me. I saw it all.
And, really, I don’t know why I was so astounded. After all, Susan did what she came to do at the market.
She set her goal. She focused in on what she was going to do to reach her goal. She thought about what she needed to do to get where she was going.
While Susan did this work to find her tribe, she set an example for the rest of us. Susan didn’t just say she was looking for her tribe and then wait for her goal to reach itself.
Susan mapped out and defined what she felt she needed to do to reach her goal. And she did all the things she felt she needed to do to find her tribe.
Susan found success in a way that none of us expected.
The message of this article is this: When you begin a new project in the future, include finding your tribe in the process. Decide what you need to do and then do it.
Good luck to Susan! You are a Reiki Practitioner who is mapping success. In the process, you taught all of your neighbors in the Market a few things about reaching your goals: find your Tribe!
Thanks for reading this article.
Please share and forward it to your friends, family, and your favorite social media networks.
Remembering Alan Hans, DVM
angel with bird
We gathered at the Woodstock Jewish Congregation last Sunday and grieved together. Not really. We were, actually, each in a separate bubble, remembering Alan.Hans
The Rabbi sang prayers a capella. The crowded room included family and friends, community members, employees, and others.
We each felt special. We each felt a unique connection to the memory of Alan Hans. Several individuals spoke – each person relating what she felt was a “secret” experience shared with Alan Hans..
These short, shared stories made the guests feel more comfortable with the person who had a larger-than-life connection to his community. Guests felt a sense of togetherness in the moment.
This energy shift was important to the grief experience.
Really, Dr. Alan Hans was much more than the father, uncle, friend, veterinarian, employer. He gave character, strength, and color to a group of people who call Woodstock, NY, home.
Throughout his career in Woodstock and Port Ewen, I don’t think Dr. Hans sought his place in the community. He just settled into this spot…through his daily connections with people in the community.
During the service, a few people sat alone, on the back row or along the wall. They were as close to invisible as they could get. The grief was overwhelming.
I think that happens in situations like this. .People are recognized – family, friends, neighbors.
But, when the deceased honoree is a person of the community – an entirely different group huddles together individually or collectively.
The situation cannot be avoided. Unless the person or persons go to the family and identify themselves, not much can be done.
They are outside the circle of family and friends but inside the circle of the community. Though often unidentified, the grief is just as deep, just as disturbing, and just as captivating.
Grief offers us an opportunity to hold and comfort each other more closely. Our remembrances are shared as treasured thoughts.
To those sitting outside the circle and along the wall, let us reach out from our hearts to yours with love, with sympathy, and with caring.
Our hearts and minds are thinking of you at this difficult time.
Thurman Greco
Thank you for reading this article. Please share it with your friends and forward it to your social media networks.
angel with cat
