How do you take care of you? Do you practice self care? Do you believe you need to or deserve to? Self Care is something you actively do deliberately to take care of your mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health. I started practicing self care many years ago when I worked in social services. Self care was an important and necessary action for anyone working with people who are vulnerable, sick, traumatized, marginalized, individuals carrying deep pain and hurt, because the work was difficult and challenging. Most often, secondary or vicarious trauma can lead to burn out or what I call compassion fatigue. So my self care consisted of Yoga and Meditation but not regularly. I also went to the gym, drank wine and ate processed foods a lot. It definitely was not balanced. Deep down, I knew that self care was extremely important, but it wasn’t something I mindfully practiced or fully integrated in my life until much later after I left the field and moved on to another career. One thing that helped me a lot was getting a massage. Massage was my go to perfect relaxation treat. I started to realize the many benefits of massage, and it’s not just to relax but it has also helped me connect to my inner self. Massage helped me realize that I was carrying energy that blocked my flow and it promoted a sense of balance within me.
Sometimes we get very busy with life or maybe we are not mindful about our health and so self care is not on our list of priorities. Maybe this is the year- 2020 is when you begin to realize that you come first, and that you deserve to care for you. You are in need and deserving of me time. Self care can be anything to lift your spirit, make you feel better, restore your balance so that you will continue to lead a happy, productive life.
Self Care Ideas
1- Breathe -I mean deep breathing. Count inhale 4, hold 7 and breath out 8 seconds. Repeat 4 times. Hold as much as you can for up to 7 seconds. If you can’t, that’s ok too.
2- Stretch your body. Your body will thank you.
3- Meditation- Don’t worry if you can’t focus, that’s normal. Just focus on your breathing. Try guided meditation.
4- Take a walk. The body needs to move. So move it!
5- Hydrate, eat- fill your body with good food. Body needs energy for you to function properly.
6- Self massage- gently press your temples (both fingers on the side and middle of your forehead- the third eye), put pressure on your palms as well as the top of your shoulders. That should help ease some tension.
7- Take a yoga class.
Let me know which ones you did and which ones you like. Feel free to share other self care ideas/tips that works for you.
Take Care…
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