If you are involved in the healing arts or work in a profession where you help others, it is really important that you take care of yourself. You cannot help anyone until you help yourself!

This is an issue that is near and dear to my heart because everything that I am involved with (and it is a lot!!!) is about helping others and usually helping others who are in a bad situation (i.e., abused/neglected animals). And while I certainly have times where I do not provide enough self-care to myself, as time goes on I realize that if I am not energetically balanced, I cannot help anyone else. Depleting oneself is being a martyr … and that’s not a good thing sweet pea!

No matter how busy you are (and I’m not immune to 15-hour days, working on one of many projects 7 days a week and then landing face first into my computer), it is important to take a little time for yourself every day … or at least a few times a week. If you do not, you will deplete yourself beyond recognition and it will take 20 times the energy to get yourself back. When you are depleted and energetically out of balance, you cannot maintain a healthy body and mind, you cannot help your children, family and/or companion animals, and if you are in the healing arts like me, you are not helping your clients.

So here are some of my favorite quickie balancing tips for you to try at home or even when you’re on the road:

• Always have a crystal (or a bag of crystals) on you at all times. When you are feeling depleted or out of balance, any crystal will help bring you into balance. The good ones to carry are Clear Quartz, Amethyst, Citrine. I always carry a little bag of chakra crystals with me. No matter where I’m at, if I can find a place to lie down, I will give myself a mini-chakra balancing treatment. And yes, I have sprawled out in some very interesting locations.
• If you have essential oils, inhale a deep breath of goodness! Whatever oil you have on hand will help, especially Lavender, Peppermint, Sandalwood and Patchouli. You will always find me with my Young Living Peace & Calming and Grounding oils. I even travel with them!
• Take a hot bubble bath (even if the weather outside is steamy). When I was traveling last week (in the most magical place of Disney World), I was frizzled after a full day of teaching. I could barely drag my body to dinner. So rather than push myself, I took a bubble bath followed by a crystal chakra treatment. It did the trick!
• Whether you are a consistent meditator or not, take a few minutes (even just 5) to put yourself in a quiet and peaceful place (indoors or outdoors), close your eyes, and just focus on breathing fully and completely. You can even invite crystals and/or essential oils to participate.
• Go outdoors and put those pretty little feet on the ground! Many of us live in a concrete jungle and wearing shoes had disconnected us from the healing energy of Mother Earth. Ground yourself and connect to healing energy by walking or sitting directly on the ground.
• If you are near water, or if you can even find a YouTube video of a waterfall or the crash of ocean waves, spend a little time with the healing sound of water. Or if you have a desktop water fountain, just tune everything out and focus on that for a few minutes.
• Find some soothing new-agey music and play it! A few of my favorites are HemiSync Gaia, Schumann’s Resonance, and Wayne Dyer’s I Am meditations. After 5 minutes, I am down right Buddah-like!
• Take a technology break. For one evening (or an entire day or weekend), unplug from the matrix. E-mail, Facebook, Twitter and even television can zap your energy. We are not built to be bombarded with so much information. Give your brain a break and spend the time resting, reading an uplifting book or doing any of the above options.
• And lastly, get yourself to an energy healing session! If you are attuned to healing energy, give yourself self-treatment. But even better, let someone else give you a treatment. This is a must-do for anyone in the healing arts. A healing session is like getting a spiritual massage. It is an excellent way to rebalance your energy and kick Dr. Depleted out the door!

And remember, give yourself permission to take a vacation or stay-cation once or twice a year. Go to a place that inspires you, or rejuvenate by staying at home and doing things that you never get to do (and no, that does not mean checking off your to-do list).

Everyone is busy … I know because I’m not immune to it. But there is no excuse for us to neglect ourselves. A to-do list is just that … something to do when you have time. So take the time to take care of yourself and everyone around you will benefit. Just give it a try and notice how easily you can work this into your schedule. So if I practice what I preach, will you?

Join in on the fun!