Self-care is this popular word that has been thrown around for a while now, a supposing tool to help you feel good. It’s meant to help you find that balance within your life right? Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for it! Looking after yourself is a priority. However, Self-care can become very overwhelming and can truly put a burden on yourself. You need to be mindful of this term and find ways to make it powerful within your life.
Reframe Self-care
The truth is that we all know how important it is to take time for ourselves. But being aware of this makes it often harder. The voice in my head often goes “You haven’t stopped today, remember self-care is important.” You can just imagine how this isn’t working in your favour right. That’s why we should reframe self-care! Self-care for me is just a synonym for pause. All we need to do is a pause and how you pause? Well, that will be different every day. Imagine that at the end of the day you look back and you can say, YES I did look after myself today. While all you did was a pause for 5 minutes. Every day, once I park the car, I just sit for a little while. Depending on my needs, I either message someone, put on my favorite song, or take a breather. This is self-care ladies and gents!
The Self-care Trap
There are always 2 versions of yourself, the true you and the version you’d like to be. This can often be a trap! Especially when we talk about Self-care. All these books and articles will give you all these amazing ideas such as meditation, cook a healthy meal or do a face mask. Some of these suggestions might sound good to you, so you plan to incorporate them into your self-care routine. Well, I did this, and what a fail! I added cooking something new to my taking care list. You might not know, but cooking is just not my thing! I won’t go into detail why but as you can imagine, it just added more stress. Even though I knew that cooking isn’t for me, I still considered it, why? Well, I’d love to be this kitchen queen but once I realized that it was part of “The dream me” I moved it to the “Challenge myself list”.
Self-care Review
Now you are aware of this trap you can mindfully choose activities that can work for the true you. It is important to ask yourself the right questions. “What do I really need?” “Is this true to me?” “Does it fit with my values?” I know this last question can be tricky. Why have values something to do with self-care? Let me explain. When “connection” is one of your values, you will need to make sure that some of your self-care elements are connection boosters. For example, going for a walk with a friend. When your values are not present in your life, you won’t feel fulfilled. So to kill 2 birds with one stone, add some elements of self-care to your list that are in a relationship with your values. In the resource library, you can find a thought sheet that will guide you on your self-care review!
Take away
Taking care of yourself, which everyone interpreted in a different way, is a daily must. However, how you do this, how long you do it for, is up to you. The one thing I do suggest is to often tune in with yourself. When you tune in, ask yourself, how do I feel? How do I want to feel? What do I need to do to feel this way? Answering these questions will give you an insight into what aspects of self-care are needed at that moment. Use the Ultimate Self-care Strategy or have a look at my Pinterest board to find some ideas for self-care. Be at peace with yourself. You are the only person that knows what you really need but you are also the only person that can take action. Keep this in mind, work through the self-care thought sheet and don’t be too hard on yourself!
Self-Care Means Giving Yourself Permission To Pause
– Cecilia Tran
I like your self care tips Evi