Self-Care
What will self-care actually do for you? It almost seems like a mystery, some fanciful idea that sounds good and doesn’t really do anything, or perhaps it sounds like an excuse to do whatever makes you feel good, or to do whatever you want under the pretense of “self-care”
Let's be direct here, we typically treat others better than we treat ourselves. How often do we collapse on the couch or in bed from exhaustion and swear to ourselves we are going to make more time to”relax”. I don't know about you, but I do this more often than I care to admit.
Self-Care is setting aside time to take care of yourself and making it a priority. It has to be a priority, otherwise everything else will be more important and the idea of actually doing self-care will be left far behind. I'm not talking about a week-long vacation here, I'm suggesting 15-30 minutes of time every day, to do whatever lifts your spirits and rejuvenates your being.
Healthy Living
Diet, exercise, routines that invoke well-being – sound boring and seemingly limit freedom. Do they though? If you felt better, had more energy and your thinking was faster and more efficient, wouldn’t that be a new freedom?
Exercise
An active lifestyle or just getting down to physical involvement with a gym or body-weight exercises at home helps with so much, it has a profound impact on sleep, self-esteem and can be all the difference in confidence and certainly, that trickled down into relationships and the energy available – even emotionally so that you can do more, more effectively.
Meditation
If you are not familiar with meditation, then it’s probably not what you think. I thought I was familiar with meditation, even before I tried it and I wasn’t. Meditation as it relates to self-care is simply being quiet, being still and giving yourself the time and space to relax and simply be – without confusion or doubt or any outside pressure. It takes only a little practice, and even the practice has its noticeable benefits.
Yoga
Yoga perhaps isn’t for everyone; however, I believe everyone can do it and there is much to be gained from it. Don’t trick yourself into thinking this has to be a crusade to forge your physique into some sort of fitness temple. This is another simple practice that offers time and a place for your body to relax and simply be in helpful use.
Therapy
I thought, if I am not in a crisis, if I am generally pleased with my life and have an understanding of what I could be doing to make it better, then therapy would be a waste of time and money. It didn’t occur to me that an outside perspective was so valuable. Someone hearing me, and hearing myself say things out loud to an objective 3rd party has a powerful influence and gives me the opportunity to change my perspective and better understand where I, and others are coming from and its often not what I think.
