Self-Care and
the Medicine Wheel
By: Christine
Smith (McFarlane)
First Nations
peoples have a way of envisioning the world that involves incorporating the
teachings from the Medicine Wheel in their everyday lives. This is especially
important when it comes to knowing how to take care of you, physically,
spiritually, mentally and emotionally.
The Medicine
Wheel is an ancient symbol used by almost all the Native people of North and
South America. The way it is understood varies nation to nation, because each
nation views the concept of the Medicine Wheel according to their own teachings
and what has been passed down to them through their Elders and medicine people.
According to the
book “The Sacred Tree,” written by
Phil Lane, Jr, Judie Bopp, Michael Bopp, Lee Brown and Elders “there are many
different ways that this basic concept is expressed: the four grandfathers, the
four winds, the four cardinal directions, and many other relationships that can
be expressed in sets of four,” and the medicine wheel can be used to help us
see or understand things we can’t quite see or understand because they are
ideas and not physical objects.” (pg.9)
The Medicine
Wheel teaches us that we have four aspects to ourselves: the physical, the
mental, the emotional, and the spiritual. Each of these aspects must be in
balance and equally developed in order for us to remain healthy, well balanced
individuals. It is said that by living by the teachings of the Medicine Wheel,
we as individuals will learn to develop vision of what is possible and that
this vision will bring us closer to our vision of being a happy, healthy human
being.
Each direction
of the Medicine Wheel deals with certain aspects of us as individuals, and I
find that the concept of self-care when it comes to the Medicine Wheel can be
explained best when it is looked at it via the four directions- The North
(Spiritual) deals with connection and the following feelings; faith, virtue,
respect, love, selflessness and prayer. The Eastern (Physical) has to do with
movement and the following behaviors non-smoker, non-drinker/drugs, balanced
diet, rest, fitness level, lack of disease and safe sex. The Southern (Mental)
aspect of the Medicine Wheel has to do with thinking and your ability to do the
following-decision making, ability, judgment, reading, creativity, stress
reduction, education and enhancement. Lastly, the Western (Emotional) has to do
with feeling- how you express yourself, how your self-esteem is, the ability to
cope, having a positive attitude, having healthy relationships and feeling
adjusted.
Staying balanced
is integral to good self-care. I remember in the early stages of
my healing journey, a therapist brought forth the concept of self-care. She
said
"Christine, when it comes to recovery and healing, don't be afraid to put yourself first. Take time for yourself, do what you need to do in order for you to feel good about yourself.
I remember looking at her and saying "but self care that's being selfish!"
My therapist smiled, shook her head and said
"No, that is what you have been raised to believe by some people who don't know themselves and what healthy boundaries are."
"Christine, when it comes to recovery and healing, don't be afraid to put yourself first. Take time for yourself, do what you need to do in order for you to feel good about yourself.
I remember looking at her and saying "but self care that's being selfish!"
My therapist smiled, shook her head and said
"No, that is what you have been raised to believe by some people who don't know themselves and what healthy boundaries are."
It took me awhile to digest that thought, and to really
start adopting that into my daily life. I was afraid of upsetting people, and
them being angry with me. I thought the worst of myself because instead of
putting others ahead of myself, I was taking the time to pay attention to
myself first, and the feedback I sometimes got was not always the greatest.
When I got
negative feedback from people who did not like me putting myself first, I had
to learn how to build myself up and keep myself strong. Turning to the Medicine
Wheel was one thing but acting on what I learned from it takes a lot of work.
When it comes to taking care of yourself spiritually, it is important for you
to be gentle with yourself, and because it has to do with connection, think
about yourself and what will help you to be or stay connected. Does it mean
making time for friends? What about volunteering or going to ceremony and/or
seeing an Elder?
In order to
function in a balanced way, we all need proper rest, a balanced diet, exercise,
a lack of disease, which is difficult when a large number of the First Nation
population has to deal with the rising levels of diabetes in their families and
communities. Another important aspect of the physical when it comes to
self-care is not dabbling in drugs or alcohol. Smoking is another thing, but I
cannot speak to that, because this is something that I still have to work on.
The mental
aspect of the Medicine Wheel involves your thinking and your ability to do the
following- good decision making, ability, judgment, reading, creativity, stress
reduction, education and enhancement. For me, I love having time to
myself to read a good book, watch my favorite television show, paint my nails
or be creative in one way or another whether that is through writing, painting,
beading or sewing.
People use various techniques to help themselves mentally I
have listed a few that you might consider, but do what works for you. Lastly,
when it comes to the emotional side of ourselves, we need to have a positive
outlook, express ourselves in a healthy manner, be able to cope well and have
healthy relationships. So, the next time that you are feeling particularly
stressed out or feeling low about something, try to think of the top ten things
that you can do for yourself, in order for you to feel at the top of your game
again and do them
Listen to your self talk, if you hear yourself repeating things
that hurtful people have told you in the past, stop what you are doing and tell
yourself "this person is wrong," and "I'm going to turn my
thoughts into positive thinking."
Having healthy self-esteem is important, and being able to
maintain it can be a regular workout, but it’s worth it. Next time you find
your self esteem suffering, sit down, tell yourself "I am going to be
okay," and say it over and over again. Eventually you will start to
believe it and your self-esteem won't take such a blow with whatever
experiences life throws your way.
Remember the number one thing is that being gentle with
yourself is of utmost importance and self-care can be anything that makes you
feel good, as long as it is safe.
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