Today in Company we took the annual polling of those things that we can do as people and as artists to take care of their mind, body and spirit.
The assignment was simple. They were asked to choose one simple, tangible, behavior that they could practice every day. They were asked to chose one activity to nurture the spirit, one to nurture the body, and one to nurture the mind. I always find this an interesting excercise in that everyone assumes they know what it takes to “take care of themself.” But the normal teenage meaning of “taking care of yourself” equates to simply getting more sleep. This may be a big factor but I do think that richer self care can come from being fully awake and active in your life.
On Friday, we shared these various ideas and here is what struck me from the conversation.
1. A few said that they had thought that self-care would mean spending more time with their music, but they realized the opposite. They found it was a lot MORE healing to pull the ear buds out of their ears and just experience silence as they biked, or walked or did chores. They found a bit of silence more beneficial.
2. A few said gym time – – and not in a cliche sort of “don’t we all need to spend more time in the gym” – but this time in a realistic expression they they DO feel better when we fully exercise in Company. They hate it but they do feel better. AND perhaps this ”feeling good” might happen more often if they broke a sweat more often.
3. Many mentioned that they just needed to touch more. They needed to hug their friends and family more. They needed to lay on the floor and spend more time spooning with the family dog. They needed to hold hands more. They needed to tend to there epidermis!
As I mentioned to the class in closing, I am not sure what you will exactly take from this class when you graduate in a few months, but if all you get from me is that an artist must constantly and deliberately tend to the nurturing of their mind, body and spirit, I feel I have done my job!