How To: Self Care
I recently blogged on self care for National Self-Care Day and it made me realize how much self care that I talk, speak, write, and teach about! As a stress expert, I’m all about self-care!
When people are overwhelmed by stress and anxiety, the first thing to do is to get them out of that crisis moment. Then we work to find ways toward a lower stress lifestyle. It’s sometimes an unexpected journey! Long-term stress management comes down to taking care of yourself on a regular basis.
The phrase “self care” has really increased in usage recently. But what does it mean? I don’t know about you, but when I see or hear “self care” I associate it with luxury spas and other expensive indulgences. According to advertisements I see, if I’m going to take care of myself and manage my stress, then i’ve got to shell out tons of time and money and live up to a certain lifestyle?!
I talked about what self-care ISN’T in a recent blog. Check it out!
So how do you actually take care of yourself? What is self care that actually works? I mean, like really, there’s scientific research to back up the self care?
If you’re looking for me to tell you that if you just shell out a bunch of money for a massage and all your stress will be gone, I’m very sorry… I can’t do that. Real self care requires work. You have to care for yourself. And it’s hard. We get tired and we wish that someone else would take care of us.
We make hundreds of decisions each day… many of them on behalf of others at work or at home. We take care of other people, animals, things, places. It can be hard to put our self in that mix. Who takes care of you?
Imagine that you are both an adult and a child. The child in you has needs and wants and craves care. The adult in you can make responsible decisions to take care of that child. Who is in charge?
The adult you needs to take care of the child you.
Self care can come in very inexpensive versions and be very impactful.
Below I’ve listed a number of self care concepts. These are fairly generic recommendations that can be found in many places, but take a few minutes to actually read this list and think about which of these feel reasonable and which feel out of reach. Do some of these seem like indulgent luxuries? Why do they feel that way? Each of these can be achieved at any budget point. Reflect on what self-care really means to you and how you can take better care of your self.
I blogged about 15 FREE ideas for self-care in this blog.
