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Welcome to this week’s Salty Hair Self-Care Conversation. This is the first podcast of 2020. In the midst of so much happening, for me, it hasn’t felt right to say, ‘Happy New Year’.It feels flippant and doesn’t reflect what I’m feeling. Yet I wanted to say something to mark the beginning of a new year and a new decade.And I guess that is this:“Thank you for being here. I am deeply grateful to be in this community with you, sharing ideas with you. I send you my blessings. And whatever happens this year and this decade, know that we are not alone.”What I talked about:- I acknowledged the original custodians of the land, and gave respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the first people of Australia. I support the Uluru Statement from the heart and hope that this year, massive leaps are taken towards this happening.- I reflected that 3 or 4 years ago, I was challenged to meditate for 10 minutes every morning for 10 days.- At that stage my daughter was a year or so old, and it felt impossible, but I did it- The effect of 10 minutes of silence with myself at the beginning of each day was profound.- It was a pivotal moment in my ideas around self-care- I came to understand the act of self-devotion. I learned the importance of starting the day by putting myself as the top priority- It forms one of the pillars of the self-care I talk about, of starting the day off doing something, even for 2 minutes, for yourself- The act of self-care first thing in the morning is an act so powerful that it says to myself, to my family and to the universe that I matter. That I count- In contrast, I found that, having little children, when I didn’t start the day with self-care, by afternoon I’d have done nothing for myself and everything for them, leading to resentment and a feeling of claustrophobia.- Putting Peppa Pig on for my daughter at 6am so that I could have some time for myself had a huge impact on the trajectory of my day- I believe that the two most important questions that we can ask ourselves, particularly at the beginning of the day are ‘How am I?’ and, ‘What do I need?’- At the start of the school holidays I was often choosing sleep over self-devotion, and it didn’t feel good. I felt grumpy. Short tempered.- I noticed this and started rising at 5.20am to go to the beach.- It has been beautiful and profound. It has deepened my devotion to self-devotion.- One day at the beach I cried for 20 minutes. It was a great release- Another day I released my frustration and sadness through journaling (20 pages!)- I came to realise I was depending on going to the beach like my happiness depended on it. I didn’t want this action to become fear based. I realise there are other ways to devote time to my own well-being- What does self-devotion in the morning look like to you? Share with me via my social mediaConnect With Clare:InstagramFacebookMembership