How can I treat myself versus how can I celebrate myself

Jan Normanton • February 27, 2025

There is a vast difference in meaning between the two statements, one predicating a helpful state, the other an unhelpful one

Listen to this article

click to watch this article
If you are stressed, consider somatic massage or somatic coaching and know that your body has a whole set of inbuilt ways to help you manage your inner states.

The next time you find yourself asking the question “how can I treat myself”, reframe this and ask the question instead “how can I celebrate myself”.


There’s a vast difference in the energies of these two statements. How can I treat myself can come from a victim mentality, where we might have worked so hard, gone the extra mile, done too much in an overgiving way, in a people pleasing way, in a way that says we’re not enough, so I have to overgive and overdo and show up more, because showing up as myself isn’t enough.


In this way we can exhaust ourselves, run rings around ourselves and the question at the end of a long week of that for instance, working all week really hard, going the extra mile, can leave us exhausted, depleted, discombobulated and shattered and not knowing ourselves because we’ve pushed ourselves out of our normal area of energy levels, time levels, focus levels.


The difference between that and working at our own pace, connecting with our bodies, being in tune with ourselves and working in alignment with our mind, body, spirit is that we come from a place of abundance, from feeling enough, from feeling that showing up is great and that we’re doing everything we are doing in alignment with who we are, our energy levels, our time capacities and our focus capacities.


So the difference here is vast. Coming from a place of abundance where we say how can I celebrate myself this week and look back and reflect upon all we’ve achieved for instance and celebrate ourselves, being in connection with ourselves and attuned to ourselves and meeting our needs along the way.


Versus how can I treat myself because I’ve flogged the proverbial dead horse, I’ve worked myself to the bone and I’m feeling now a distinctive lack because I was already coming from an area of lack, place of lack and now I need to treat myself – these are very different.

By janetnormanton January 15, 2026
Explore what it means to be an embodied therapist and why presence, not technique, is the key to truly transformative bodywork. Learn how The SOMA Massage Method™ helps therapists connect with themselves and their clients for deeper healing.
Emotional Healing Starts with Safety
By janetnormanton January 9, 2026
Discover why true emotional healing starts with feeling safe in your body. Learn how chronic stress affects your nervous system and how practices like Soma Massage can support deep, body-based healing and recovery.
The Massage That Moves More Than Muscles
By janetnormanton December 31, 2025
Trauma and stress aren't matter in the muscles; it’s physiology imprinted in the nervous system.
Soma massage - a powerful antidote to the hurriedness of life.
By Jan Normanton December 10, 2025
SOMA Massage is a powerful antidote to the hurriedness of life. It offers a space where anxiety, stress, and overwhelm can dissolve, where you can simply be yourself, free from expectations
Understanding the Nervous System: Beyond Rest and Digest
By Jan Normanton October 26, 2025
A resilient, robust nervous system is key to healing and wellbeing, allowing you to manage life's challenges effectively while enjoying periods of deep relaxation.
Safety is the cornerstone of healing.
By Jan Normanton September 14, 2025
Creating a safe environment is essential to reduce anxiety and stress, and encourage a sense of control and agency in clients
Does it feel like a hustle being on your healing journey?
By Jan Normanton September 11, 2025
May you remember when you’re on that hamsterwheel of healing, feeling it’s like a hustle to just slow down, breathe and drop into who you are and make peace with that and enjoy yourself!
Connection is key to a contented life
By Jan Normanton August 31, 2025
Connection to self, others, life itself offers safety and can provide the cornerstone of contentment and love. Whilst disconnection to self, others, life poses threat and so can cause the opposites – unhappiness and fear
Change can be challenging to a nervous system that seeks safety
By Jan Normanton May 25, 2025
Leaning into a change process that feels safer, planned, paced, can offer a smoother journey into what we do want, whilst tempering and taming the fears, doubts and sense of regression that may present themselves along the way
Why consider a bottom up approach to healing rather than a top down one
By Jan Normanton May 7, 2025
Whilst talking therapies have a significant role in healing in their own right, we can end up inadvertently holding up our healing process by getting invested in talking ABOUT our issues rather than dealing directly WITH our issues via the body – the place of trauma
Show More