Wellness Minutes
Designed by an Indian Clinical-Community Psychologist in the US, this podcast is designed by -and- for people who know stress, burnout and overwhelm but also long for sustainable ways to cope and be well.
Short episodes, full of guided practices and short descriptions of why these wellness strategies work.
This podcast is designed to get you thinking about ways to make wellness strategies a part of your everyday life. Each episode is an invitation to pause and take a deep breath.
Wellness Minutes
Self-Care Before Service: The Oxygen Mask Principle
Ever noticed how your most depleted moments often follow periods of caring for everyone but yourself? That's no coincidence.
Drawing inspiration from the flight safety instruction to secure your own oxygen mask before helping others, this episode explores the essential practice of self-care as the foundation for sustainable compassion. After experiencing how depression and anxiety often follow prolonged periods of neglecting personal needs, I share insights from a mindful walk where I deliberately chose not to multitask or plan - just to be present with my thoughts and surroundings.
We've all done it - systematically chosen others' needs over our own until we're trying to pour from an empty cup. But what happens when we finally give ourselves permission to prioritize our own wellbeing? This isn't selfishness; it's necessary maintenance for continuing to show up meaningfully for others.
The episode challenges us to consider a different approach to life: focusing on our own actions and integrity rather than trying to control others. When we ensure our own cup is filled, our authentic actions naturally radiate positive influence without depleting us.
As this month dedicated to kindness comes to a close, remember that compassion begins with how you treat yourself. What small act of self-care might you prioritize today? Your future self - and everyone who depends on your kindness - will thank you.
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Opening Music by Jeremiah Alves from Pixabay
Closing Music by Aleksandr Karabanov from Pixabay
Thank you for listening,
much metta,
Dr G
Day 27. The month is coming to an end. Kindness, compassion and all that stuff is going to stay beyond the month. Only the context in which I talk about it might change. Today I went for a very, very long walk and I promised myself that the walk was only to take care of myself and I was not going to use that walk to productively make lists or think about what I'm going to discuss on this podcast. So this episode was not scripted on my walk. So this episode was not scripted on my walk.
Speaker 1:This episode has come out of the realization that we really, really need to find ways to do things just for ourselves, because we can't offer people anything from an empty cup, so we need to fill our own cups before we offer anything to anybody else. For those of us who have ever flown and I know, for those of us who have flown from India to the US and now live here we have definitely flown. There is always this instruction in the flight safety instruction thing where they tell you to always make sure that you put on your own oxygen mask first and then try to help others. The past two days that I've been talking about depression and anxiety have also been a very important reminder for me that periods that I have been most depressed or most anxious have really come close, after long periods of taking care of other people and forgetting to take care of myself. To take care of myself not so much forget as much as not prioritize. Essentially, if I had to choose between things, I would invariably end up choosing things that would help other people and me, but if I had to help just myself, I would kind of shy away from those opportunities. So I think I ended up giving away my own cup and absolutely forgetting to refill it.
Speaker 1:So today's walk was a very interesting exercise in taking deep breaths, walking slowly and just enjoying the colors, the sights, the sounds, the sky because that's my thing and noticing just what it's like to have different thoughts arise, different feelings arise, and then I slowly put those thoughts and feelings to rest, notice them and let them float. Notice them, let them float. It was just really interesting to give myself the permission to not think about anybody or anything else, just what's showing up for me and how I can just let it be, just focusing on my own breath, focusing on my own walk. And it got me thinking what if we actually led our life this way, ensuring that we focused on our own actions and ensure we did right and let our actions radiate to others, instead of trying to control other people's actions. Just thought until we meet again. Take care.