Let’s chat self-care!
Self-care is any activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Although it’s a simple concept in theory, it’s something we very often overlook. Good self-care is key to improved mood and reduced anxiety. It’s also key to a good relationship with oneself and others.
Most of you have probably heard the term self-care. It is popping up quite a lot on social media and when I did an Instagram poll on topics YOU wanted to see on the blog, SELF-CARE was the popular choice. What that tells me is so many woman are burned out, feeling overwhelmed and desperately craving some alone time. For most of us, practicing self-care makes us feel guilty. We put our all into others, forgetting that our own lamps need filled up as well.
As a Type-A, get it done, say “yes” to everything & everyone kind of person, it was extremely hard to start incorporating this into my life. I could always find something else that needed done or would give in to that guilty feeling telling me that it was selfish to take some time for me or to say “no” to a particular thing. Sound familiar? But the more I started incorporating self-care into my life, I realized how well it was serving me! Better attitude, motivation, added strength and overall a much relaxed person!
Let’s quickly talk about what self-care is not.
Knowing what self-care is not might be just as important. It is not something that we force ourselves to do, or something we don’t enjoy doing. Each of you have your own story around self-care and the role it plays into your life. It might look different for me than it does for you. Don’t compare your routine to others. Find what energizes and refuels you, not what drains you.
Things to consider
- Practicing self-care is a process. You may have to learn what fuels you and it may take several “attempts” to figure that out.
- Schedule it. Life is busy so pencil it in if needed.
- It might be different for different people. There’s no right or wrong. As long as you are truly practicing self-care (fuels us, not drains us), it doesn’t necessarily matter. It may also be different activities at different times.
- Embrace it. Remember it is NOT selfish to take some time to refuel.
I want to hear from you! Is self-care something you practice? Do you secretly feel guilty if you do take the time? What are some of your favorite ways to nourish YOU?
