We are open from 10:30am-5:30pm today! 

  

The snow has been a bit of a welcome distraction from the news today, but I know many of us are feeling unsettled, among a host of other emotions. 

I was reminded, talking to a good friend this weekend, that the best thing we can do in uncertain circumstances is focus on the things we can control. 

We can control how we choose to care for ourselves and our communities. Here are some practical suggestions for ways to do that! Let’s use our collective grief, anger and unease to move us into kind and caring action.

Love and courage to you all.  

Good morning! 

We are closed today, February 3rd, due to snow. We will generally be following the school board's decisions, however they have pro-D days today and tomorrow, so we will be assessing for ourselves. 

We will post here and on social media to let you know whether we are open. Our main priority is the safety of staff and members. Thanks! 

Each of our main self-care spaces is designed for drop-in use, but you might be wondering how to get started! 

Here are a few suggestions for how to use the Body Room to practice self-care:

If you don't already have a particular body-based practice that you enjoy, there are cue cards and instruction sheets with a variety of somatic and mindfulness exercises for you to explore. Jessica and Savanna are happy to answer questions or walk you through a practice if you prefer more hands-on learning. 

If you do already have a regular body-based practice, like meditation or yoga, feel free to bring your routine down to My Inner Harbour and practice in a new space!

Rest isn't just about sleeping. Our bodies need to be able to return to a peaceful, calm state periodically through the day--often called the "rest and digest" response that our parasympathetic nervous system controls. We can activate this response in lots of different ways: taking a few deep breaths, sitting quietly with a cup of tea for 5 minutes, getting outside for a 10 minute walk, doodling, working a few more rows on a crochet project, or popping into the garden to weed. Any activity that helps your body get to a place of feeling safe and relaxed. 

If rest doesn't actually require a lot of time and is great for both our mental and physical health, why do we find it so hard? The big picture answer is that the systems we live in aren't built to support rest, but the particulars of how this plays out are different for everyone. 

Maybe you have young children and this season of life is so all-consuming it's hard to carve out pockets of time for yourself. Maybe your finances are tight and the stress of constantly monitoring what you can afford makes it hard for your body to feel safe and relaxed. Maybe you feel guilty sitting down and "wasting time". Maybe you actually don't know what helps your body feel safe and relaxed. Maybe your thoughts get really busy every time you slow down and that's uncomfortable. 

These are all real barriers. And yet. Your health and well-being are so valuable and vital that you deserve to prioritize your rest. It might take a lot of courage, or a lot of re-parenting or changing the narratives and patterns you're used to. It might mean asking for more help, which is undoubtedly hard. In the long run, though, it's worth it! 

What's your biggest barrier and how would you like to begin practicing rest more often?

These three words are at the heart of what I want to create here at My Inner Harbour: a well-rested, thoughtful and connected community. 

A community where members values themselves so lovingly that they prioritize their time to support their own rest, reflection and reconnection. 

Imagine the impact on mental, emotional and physical health! Imagine the ripple effect on the wider community!

Playdough? Paints? Dress-up and long imaginative games with your siblings? Fort building? "Cooking" with whatever ingredients you could find in the backyard? 

My sister and I were definitely in the dress-up and imaginative games category. We wrote plays and performed them for our parents regularly, roping in our little brother and neighbour friends as needed. 

Do you remember how it felt to make something just for fun? The concentration and energy, the thrill when it turned out the way you hoped, the frustration when it didn't. The determination to try again. 

Where do you experience this as an adult? Maybe you bake or crochet or make mandalas on the beach. Maybe you create fabulous theme parties for friends or are getting into ceramics. 

Tell us in the comments about your favourite forms of play - then and now! 

My Inner Harbour is a community self-care space. You might be wondering what that even means and how you would use it. 

Picture a gym, but for your mental and emotional wellness. At a gym, you can go and use equipment anytime for your own workouts or you can attend a scheduled fitness class. 

My Inner Harbour has four different rooms (Body, Mind, Spirit & Community) with a variety of materials and prompts that you can use anytime to engage in meaningful mental, emotional and social self-care. We also host regular events if facilitated self-care works better for you. 

Just like having a gym membership can make it easier to actually take care of your physical health, my hope is that My Inner Harbour will make it easier for members to actually care for their mental, emotional and social health. 

And you can use it just like a gym! Schedule it into your day. Come first thing in the morning while your baby is between naps, on your lunch break, while you're out running errands or right after work. Figure out what frequency works for you: 1x a week or 3x a week. Come for a quick 15 minute "workout" or plan to meet up with friends for a longer session on the evenings we're open late (Mondays and Tuesdays we're here until 9pm). 

Gym memberships can help keep us accountable and can provide inspiration. As a therapist, so many of my clients knew that self-care was essential to their mental health, but also felt really alone in their journeys. When we see others doing their inner work, it can give us energy to keep doing our own. 

Come and get a free tour anytime! We'd love to show you around.

There's some really good research out there on the importance of connection to both our physical and emotional health. (Check out Barbara L. Fredrickson, John Gottman and Jeffrey Rediger's works.)

Connection doesn't have to be long or intense to benefit us. It doesn't even have to be with someone we know well, like a parent, spouse or friend. It could be as simple as giving someone in line next to you a compliment on their coat, asking your librarian what they read recently and loved, or being intentional about small kindnesses to others like holding the door open, smiling and greeting someone coming the other way on your walk, or letting a parent with small children go ahead of you in the grocery line up. 

Not only do these few minutes of connection benefit you, they also benefit the other person! 

Want to challenge yourself? Aim for 3 moments of connection a day and at the end of the day take a moment to reflect on how those interactions felt. Practice gratitude toward yourself for being intentional about moving toward health and happiness.

Can we talk about this logo for a minute? (Shout out to my dad, Mark Wiebe, for the gorgeous and thoughtful design! Find him on IG @coastscape).

Logos are a basic building block for any organization and I love the foundation this one lays for My Inner Harbour. I love the serenity of the full moon over the water, the playfulness of the colourful boats, the sense that everything is calm and quiet and tucked safely away. 

That's how I want My Inner Harbour to feel when you come in: serene, calm, quiet, and safe, with a hint of playfulness. 

Even the words underneath add to the harbour image. Boats come into dock, take down sails, turn off engines and rest. They reflect on what's needed: repairs? supplies? They reconnect with the land and then when they're ready they reconnect with open water. 

Harbours are essential for boats the same way self-care is essential for living beings. We all need time to rest, take stock and then return renewed and refreshed. 

My hope is that you find the tools and the supports that best help you come into harbour regularly and that by practicing regular rest, reflection and reconnection you find your mental and emotional wellness deepening.