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Self Care

I cannot even tell you how many times a week I say these two words, Self Care. Between working 3 days a week and trying to remind myself to practice what I preach it’s at least 5 times a day. But what is self care? One definition is “the practice of taking an active role in protecting one's own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress.” Makes sense; so what’s so hard about that? I believe it’s the active role that needs to be taken. There’s 24 hours in a day and we live in a society where we would need 48 hour days just to accomplish our to do lists. By the time we sleep, eat, work our jobs, go to school, care for children, pets, others and meet our basic needs, is there any time left? I know that I myself struggle with time. Working part time, caring for Caleb full time, caring for the animals and managing a household, it’s a lot. I always say to people, “If I get to eat more than 1 meal a day, that’s a good day.” People laugh and so do I, but the sad reality is it’s true. Most days it’s 10pm, Caleb is finally asleep. I take time to do dishes, clean up and sometimes have a snack. By the time I actually make it upstairs it’s 11pm. I usually shower after Caleb goes to sleep too, so by the time I actually make it to bed it’s midnight. So when do I do self care? Part of me, as a new mom says a shower is my self care. NO! That’s a basic human need, not self care. For 2021 I told myself that I was going to make a genuine effort to practice more self care. Legitimate self care, not a need that feels luxurious because I don’t do it enough. Examples of my true self care: meditation, i’m on a 14 day streak on headspace right now. I try to meditate at least once a day, usually at night because it relaxes me and helps me fall asleep. I try to get out of the house at least once a week. I can’t wait for nicer weather so I can go for daily walks with Caleb. I did it when I was pregnant and it was so nice. I avoid my computer on days I am not scheduled to work, it’s so tempting to check my email every night but I’ve stopped. I’ve also started more mindfulness practices during the day. Self care is hard to do, we have a million other things we can be doing at any given time. But going back to that definition it says for “protecting one's own well-being and happiness.” That’s why self care is so important. It is a direct link to our happiness and well being. So I challenge you, find something for your own self care and do it every day. Here are some great examples of things to do for self care! 

• meditation

• coloring or other art forms

• reading 

• spending time with nature

• listening to music or podcasts

• feel good tv or movies 

• eat feel good food mindfully

• take a break from your phone 

• go social media free for a period of time (an hour, a day)

• practice self compassion

• exercise daily

• shower everyday - for all my mom friends who know dry shampoo all too well! 

• gratitude journaling or any journaling really

• clean through clutter (junk drawers, closets)

• random acts of kindness (buying the coffee of the person behind you, and knowing that the other person carries that same act out, over and over again) 

• attend therapy - I firmly believe everyone needs a counselor at some point (even counselors)

So find something that calls to you and take that active role in doing it, for yourself mostly. But remembering that we set examples for little ones, family members, friends, even strangers. When everyone practices self care, everyone wins! Okay! I’m going to meditate now! 



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