wonderful Self-Nurturing thread

[Mayflower1]

One way I found to really help fight self-injury is self-nurturing. We need to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God because our body is the temple of the Holy Gohst Himself (1 Corinthians 6:19). When we accept Christ as our Savior our bodies then belong to Him because He bought us with His blood. We are so important to God as His children and when we cut it just hurts Him to see our pain. By using different alternatives though and trying our best to do what we know is right, by God's grace and mercy we can pull through and be free from the bonds of Depression and SI.

Many ways I use to self-nurture instead of hurt my body is to curl up in my bed in a soft, cozy blanket, rub lotion all over my body, take a warm bath or shower, make a cup of warm milk, listen to soothing music, take a walk outside... There are just so many things that we can do rather then cut. I have been trying these this week and I just find that it is better to learn and love yourself because we are in it a long time!!!!

Everything becomes easier though when we are serving God and turning to Him. The more we praise God and count our blessings, even asking for increased faith and strength, the more we will be able to win victory over satan!!! Remember that life is only temporary and we need to make the best of it as possible!!!

So I end with that thought and my power verse which I am definitely fixing to add to my signature. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Phillippians 4:13 True verse for both the weak and strong at heart. Best Wishes, Lily00

 

[goldenviolet]

lovely wisdom lily

it isn't just self soothing. it's caring for yourself. we all need to care for ourselves to keep a good balance on our days.

 

[s_gunter]

One way I found to really help fight self-injury is self-nurturing. We need to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God because our body is the temple of the Holy Gohst Himself (1 Corinthians 6:19). When we accept Christ as our Savior our bodies then belong to Him because He bought us with His blood. We are so important to God as His children and when we cut it just hurts Him to see our pain. By using different alternatives though and trying our best to do what we know is right, by God's grace and mercy we can pull through and be free from the bonds of Depression and SI.

Many ways I use to self-nurture instead of hurt my body is to curl up in my bed in a soft, cozy blanket, rub lotion all over my body, take a warm bath or shower, make a cup of warm milk, listen to soothing music, take a walk outside... There are just so many things that we can do rather then cut. I have been trying these this week and I just find that it is better to learn and love yourself because we are in it a long time!!!!

Everything becomes easier though when we are serving God and turning to Him. The more we praise God and count our blessings, even asking for increased faith and strength, the more we will be able to win victory over satan!!! Remember that life is only temporary and we need to make the best of it as possible!!!

So I end with that thought and my power verse which I am definitely fixing to add to my signature. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Phillippians 4:13 True verse for both the weak and strong at heart. Best Wishes, Lily00

very wise post...

 

[iwillfollow]

Beautiful post!

 

[NinadeDios777]

i am glad that you are finding safe and healthy alternatives to cutting. not a lot of those will work for me. i think eachperson has to figure it out for themselves whats best for them...
for me i guess it'd be listening to music or reading.

 

[texannurse]

I wish I could find that way to self nurture. It is just such a struggle - day by day to feel so alone, with this intense cross to bear.

 

[Mr.Cheese]

I wish I could find that way to self nurture. It is just such a struggle - day by day to feel so alone, with this intense cross to bear.

Whereabouts in Texas are you?
My wife and I live in Temple.

 

[goldenviolet]

Self-Soothing:
Self-soothing is taking deliberate steps to calm oneself while facing a stressful situation. Often this can involve traditional stress management techniques such as relaxation, deep breathing or healthy self-talk.
Besides just the goal of outwardly handling a situation appropriately, self-soothing has a deeper purpose that can be different from traditional stress management: to calm oneself enough in the anxious situation in order to do the self-confronting.

Self-Confronting:The idea here is to ask yourself why you are upset and learn what this tells you about yourself. Specifically, what is your growth issue in this situation? One example of this can be, "Am I depending on someone else to validate my sense of self-worth?", "Do I have my sense of myself too heavily invested in this situation, so that when it changes I may lose myself?". Once you've identified where you need to grow, the next step is to figure out what the "hard thing" is that you need to do to grow, and make yourself do it. Make yourself respond to the situation in accordance with your core values and beliefs and depend on those for your self validation.

Distraction:Distraction is simply doing other things to keep yourself from self-harming. substituting activities and experiences that change your current feelings; tasks (like counting the colors you can see in your immediate environment) that don't require much effort but do take a great deal of concentration, and volunteer work.
Improve the Moment: focus on ways to make the present moment more bearable. It differs from distraction in that it's not just a diverting of the mind but a complete change of attitude in the moment.

Focusing on building your resiliency/ self-soothing:

• prayer & scripture
• calling a friend, therepist or phoning a crisis line
• soaking in the tub
• planning day, activity or career
• collecting things
• vacation
• recycling or cleaning
• going out
• movie
• walking
• listening to music
• recalling a good memory
• getting around postive people
• laying outdoors to just relax
• volunteer
• help others with something
• read a book
• hobbies
• snack
• excersize
• bycling
• swimming
• playing with pet
• poetry
• art, crafts, or scrap booking
• sports
• camping or slumber party
• flying kite
• singing
• fishing
• feeding the ducks or going to the zoo
• going to the library

 

[texannurse]

Self-Soothing:
Self-soothing is taking deliberate steps to calm oneself while facing a stressful situation. Often this can involve traditional stress management techniques such as relaxation, deep breathing or healthy self-talk.
Besides just the goal of outwardly handling a situation appropriately, self-soothing has a deeper purpose that can be different from traditional stress management: to calm oneself enough in the anxious situation in order to do the self-confronting.

Self-Confronting:The idea here is to ask yourself why you are upset and learn what this tells you about yourself. Specifically, what is your growth issue in this situation? One example of this can be, "Am I depending on someone else to validate my sense of self-worth?", "Do I have my sense of myself too heavily invested in this situation, so that when it changes I may lose myself?". Once you've identified where you need to grow, the next step is to figure out what the "hard thing" is that you need to do to grow, and make yourself do it. Make yourself respond to the situation in accordance with your core values and beliefs and depend on those for your self validation.

Distraction:Distraction is simply doing other things to keep yourself from self-harming. substituting activities and experiences that change your current feelings; tasks (like counting the colors you can see in your immediate environment) that don't require much effort but do take a great deal of concentration, and volunteer work.
Improve the Moment: focus on ways to make the present moment more bearable. It differs from distraction in that it's not just a diverting of the mind but a complete change of attitude in the moment.

Focusing on building your resiliency/ self-soothing:

• prayer & scripture
• calling a friend, therepist or phoning a crisis line
• soaking in the tub
• planning day, activity or career
• collecting things
• vacation
• recycling or cleaning
• going out
• movie
• walking
• listening to music
• recalling a good memory
• getting around postive people
• laying outdoors to just relax
• volunteer
• help others with something
• read a book
• hobbies
• snack
• excersize
• bycling
• swimming
• playing with pet
• poetry
• art, crafts, or scrap booking
• sports
• camping or slumber party
• flying kite
• singing
• fishing
• feeding the ducks or going to the zoo
• going to the library

What great advice. One of my friends (who knows I cut)made me a little "emergency kit" - a box in which she put chocolate, prayer cards, a little journal and pen and a stuffed animal. Whenever I feel the urge to cut, I open my box. sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't but it is a nice thing to have.

 

[goldenviolet]

What great advice. One of my friends (who knows I cut)made me a little "emergency kit" - a box in which she put chocolate, prayer cards, a little journal and pen and a stuffed animal. Whenever I feel the urge to cut, I open my box. sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't but it is a nice thing to have.

firstaid therephy kits are great! we have talked about that too. you can also add a list of these things customized to you, plus phone numbers of peeps that support you. when your mind is spinning around, sometimes reading your list is very thereputic

 

[newyorknewyork]

What great advice. One of my friends (who knows I cut)made me a little "emergency kit" - a box in which she put chocolate, prayer cards, a little journal and pen and a stuffed animal. Whenever I feel the urge to cut, I open my box. sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't but it is a nice thing to have.

what a wonderful friend you must have! that is a fabulous idea!!

 

[goldenviolet]

what is an emotional or therephy first-aid kit?
it is a box or bag filled with a bible, or scripture cards, your fav pictures, bubble gum, books, art supplies, a snuggly stuffed animal, a list of activities to help you focus, a list of phone numbers you can call... or something like this. all customized to fit you. put all together you have something to open up when your thoughts or emotions are spinning. it's a personalized helper... helping you to practice managing your thoughts or emotions.