All of our clothes have them–tags that explain exactly what is needed to take good care of the cloth.  A beautiful activity, created by my good friend Tajali Teresa Toland, co-founder of the Children’s Global Peace Project (www.cgpp.org),  includes creating your very own self care tag.  Imagine exactly what you might need to take extra good care of yourself.  What helps you stay in balance?  What supports you in feeling peaceful and relaxed?  If you were able to tell someone else, even yourself, exactly how to care for yourself so that you felt wonderful all the time, what would the instructions be?  Use this activity to help your children to remember to take very good care of themselves, to do something each day that feels good and supports feelings of wellbeing and relaxation.

In my girls group at school, one of the very first things we do at the beginning of our time together is to write our self care instructions on paper hearts, share them with the group, and then post them in our journals for reference, particularly in times of  stress.  We design one for the entire school year and then create one for the day, recognizing that each moment is unique and that we need different care at different times. 

Here is an example of my self-care tag for the year:

Handle with care, Give hugs often, Smile at me, Send me kind thoughts, Speak to me using soft words, Don’t iron out the wrinkles, Lay me flat to dry when feeling stressed, Sit me in soft light in a quiet space when I feel overstimulated, Send me lots of love and positive energy daily, Hang me out in the sunshine and fresh air often, Stretch my limits, Give me loving thoughts and repeat them often.

We discuss in our group that each of us is in charge of making requests to honor our self care and to get our needs met.  I remind myself that this is a tag for me, to remind me to treat myself with loving care and to give myself beautiful attention and love every day.  It can also be a tag that I can share with others when I want additional support.   Referring back to my self-care tag renews within me a sense of beauty and feels good.  I remember also to refer to my self-care tag to practice moments of relaxation.  Self-care tags help me to effortlessly infuse relaxation practice into my daily activites.