What are your small comforts?

I found an interesting post from Leo Babauta about small comforts.

In a nutshell, small comforts help to overcome some difficult moments in the day, e.g., being physically exhausted or intellectually drained.

There are few side notes from Leo’s perspective.

Keep the small comforts small

It’s good to have an approach to keep the small comforts small and occasional. Be aware of not overdoing it. Especially the ones that are not healthy, per se. Having a cube or two of chocolate is fine. Having the entire bar is not.

Small comforts ≠ escaping

The purpose of small comforts is not to avoid facing the uncomfortable situations in our lives. Babauta states there is a time for recharging (AKA comfort oneself) and a time for learning about oneself. We cannot all the time do the one thing. The clue is finding the balance. He strongly advises learning how to be.

Let go of the guilt

Having a small comfort shouldn’t lead to the feeling of guilt. It’s not the weakness, it’s rather the sign of common sense and self-awareness.

Simply enjoy it

Small comfort is also about being present and aware of that comfort. Being distracted or in a rush while having this small comfort is far away from enjoying it.

My list of small comforts

Here are my small comforts:

1. Listening to relaxing music + reading
2. Having a hot shower when I’m cold, and a cold shower when I’m hot
3. Having my favorite peanut butter bar
4. Having peanut butter + jelly + toasted bread
5. Walking in the park
6. Nordic walking in the park
7. Jogging
8. Riding bicycle
9. Cooking
10. Having super pumped (nuts, raisins, dates, some hot spices, etc.) oatmeal
11. Lying down on the couch with my eyes closed and legs up
12. Having a nap
13. Having couple (dozens?) of deep breaths
14. Having short meditation session
15. Having a sauna session

I tried to select the ones that are rather safe and hard to overdo.

What are yours?

Written in Difree | Graphics thanks to #dalle