Doctor C J's Blog

Balance. Breathe. Believe.

This week as I was watching the blades of grass grow toward the sun, in my much need to be cut yard. I started wondering what else could I be doing, during this Global mandated pause? That’s when I remembered ‘Pause with a Purpose’. Years ago when I taught at a community college in Griffin, Georgia, I would give my Psych 101 and Abnormal Psych students extra credit if they would write a response to a question, quote, or statement that I made. It was called ‘Pause with a Purpose’, I wanted to give them a break from their class work. And back then students loved getting extra credit!

“It’s amazing that something we can’t see is showing us a different way to BE.”

So, what if we paused with a purpose? What if, we looked at this Universal mandate to stay home – as an unwrapped gift? What if, we can finally carve out time, space, and energy for guilt-free self-care?  What if, the unwrapped gift is you feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and renewed? I know “self-care” has become a billion-dollar buzzword/business for so many companies. BUT not for us, let’s keep it real and personal. You don’t have to spend a whole lot of money to practice guilt-free self-care.

Here’s 10 ways to Pause with a Purpose:

1. Meditate – Mystical Cord (Dr. Michael Beckwith) – Change Gonna Come (Michael McDonald Brian Owens) – Dearest Body (The Reach). All of these can be found on YouTube.
2. Move – walk in Nature be curious and open to what Mother Nature wants to show you, dance as if no one is watching, pull out your favorite exercise DVD
3. Sing – as if your voice is award winning, sing as if it will improve your attitude, sing as if you’re getting paid to entertain loved ones
4. Write – your favorite childhood memories, make up a fun character, rewrite the ending to one of your favorite movies.
5. Read – ‘Mary Magdalene Revealed’ by Meggan Watterson, ‘Wombology: healing what your grandmother’s daughter gave you’ by Dr. CJ Johnson, and ‘Your Holiness’ by the late Debbie Ford.
6. Sew – embroidery, make face mask to donate those in need, aprons to give to your favorite cooks
7. Create – something in the kitchen, something from your craft/junk drawer, create a self-care routine
8. Appreciate – create and maintain a gratitude jar, tell someone how much you appreciate them, show the world that you appreciate what you do have, instead of whining about what you don’t have
9. Joy-fuel – you bring the joy to a situation, you be the sparkle to someone’s shine, you will feed your soul every time you are the joy-fuel
10. Inhale and exhale – find time to appreciate the space and time that is in between the two essential breaths. When we come into this world the first thing, we do is inhale. When we leave this world the last thing, we do is exhale.

BTW: Stay out of the kitchen. One of my friends said, “I swear my refrigerator door just told me, please try leaving me closed for the next hour.”  (LOL) One of my nephews said, “This quarantine 15 lbs. is for real y’all.”  My mom said, “Oh Lord, I think I’ve gained about 20 lbs I’ve got to start moving more outside of this house.” Yep, now is a great time to create a new type of stay-n-shape routine.

Come back for another cup of comfort!