Selfcare: what does it mean to you?
First a definition: selfcare is the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health.
Or
You could think of it as, the practice of taking an active role in protecting one’s own well-being and happiness, during periods of stress.
In practical terms though, what does this mean and how does it manifest itself for you?
There are many ways of approaching selfcare, and the act of preserving or improving your health. From ensuring you get the right amount and quality of sleep, that your nutrition is right for you, that you relax – your mind, your body and your spirit or emotions, that you have a positive mindset, and to ensure you keep moving. The levels of all these areas is individual according to our abilities, our drive, our personal reasons for wanting to maintain our good health. For example, some people need and cannot function without their guaranteed 8 hours sleep, whilst others need more, or others need less. There is no one size fits all in selfcare.
The problem with the holistic world focusing on selfcare is that it seems idealistic to many people, “something for others with more money, more opportunities, more time” you might think. But is this correct? Clearly I’d say not!
Selfcare is often about choice. Choosing when we go to bed, what we eat – the choice between a piece of fruit or a chocolate bar. A simple choice, we know the fruit in the long term will do us more good, packed with nutrients but that chocolate bar satisfies a craving in the moment and will do us ‘good’ right now. Instant gratification. We live in a world where we want to feel good immediately, looking for that quick fix. But how often do we (or you) make that choice and feel disappointed, disheartened or even angry about it soon after.
In fact, of all the things that can disrupt our good intentions on selfcare, instant gratification is the devil that disrupts!.
Do you ever start a week, month, or a year with great intentions to look after yourself? Only to sabotage it within days or even hours. Did you really want to follow through with those intentions?
Before embarking on any selfcare changes, you have to know why you want to a healthier lifestyle. You have to understand the impact of what you have been doing to yourself and what the impact may be if you continue before you commit to change. Once you understand the impact of lifestyle and selfcare, you will find a way to make it happen when you really want to, regardless of money (it costs nothing to go for a walk every day), regardless opportunities (could you walk to the shop instead of jumping in the car), or time (when you have more energy and feel better about yourself its incredible how much time you find to do the things you enjoy and that make you feel great!)
Some handy tips my clients have used to improve their selfcare and ultimately take action to improve their health and wellbeing are included in the Radiance Lifestyle Program:
having more FUN: weird one to start with? I truly believe that if we are not happy with our action’s life can be miserable leading us into downward spiral of poor habits that do not show we care about ourselves. Happy doesn’t mean skipping around all day, smiling all the time, laughing every day – this is the real world. However, by including fun ‘stuff’ – meeting friends, chatting online, arranging trips, going on the trips, having shared experiences are all times when our soul is enhanced, and we feel the warmth and connection with others. This is an emotional support for our wellbeing.
Think of a time you had a fun day out – who was there, what made it fun, where did you go?
improving your FITNESS: don’t be scared off by this one. Fitness to me is about movement, at whatever level that is for you. When we move our body, we naturally feel physical strength and resilience, mental clarity, our emotions are much more balanced and in our control. Venting your anger on a sports field, or a focusing on walking a bit further every day are great ways to improve your fitness. This is an all-round support for our wellbeing.
better NUTRITION: or rather good nutritious food – is essential. The more we understand how our bodies function – the better. Over the recent decades we have become more reliant on processed foods, even those of us who think we don’t, probably eat more processed foods than past generations. Unless of course you are growing your own wheat, producing your own bread, and milking your own cows! You know food is your fuel, it provides you with the energy you need to function, and its important to get the fuel right. Some people have restricted diets – by choice or by design – and they are often the ones who understand their nutrition needs the best, because they have had to. Many of us are lazy when it comes to food. That instant gratification when we are hungry, unplanned with meals or short on time can be detrimental to our long-term wellbeing. When we get the right balance in nutrition we sleep better, we focus better, we feel better, we even heal better when sick.
This is an emotional and physical support for our wellbeing.
improve the quality of our REST: aka sleep, and much more. Sleeping is the obvious choice when we think of rest, but rest can be many things. From lying on the sofa listening to music or a favourite podcast, to spending time in nature, or even doing absolutely nothing!
When was the last time you did nothing? Nothing of importance, starring into space, daydreaming…
This is emotional, physical, and mental support for our wellbeing.
lots of RELAXATION: its hard! Right! Relaxation is supposed to be easy, but anyone with a busy life (aka everyone) knows relaxation is not easy. I wish I had a £ for everyone who has said they can’t relax, don’t have time to relax or don’t even know how to relax. It’s a skill that takes practice. Many people say they only relax on holiday, how sad (and bad for your body) is that.. only relaxing once or if you are lucky twice a year. Its crazy. Imagine if you said you only slept or ate twice a year – you wouldn’t survive. Fortunately lack of relaxation won’t kill you off if you miss it every now and then, but never relaxing – now that does have a detrimental effect on your body!
This is an emotional, physical, and mental support for our wellbeing depending on which type of relaxation you choose.
living with a positive MINDSET: ending with the glue that holds your lifestyle changes all together. I started with reminding you that knowing your why you want to practice better self-care and that you should know why you want to. You may have known why, but what drives you to make the changes. Having a positive mindset helps, knowing you are responsible for your wellbeing, that you really can have an impact on your mind, body, and emotions, means you will stick to new habits. In no time those changes are just that, habits –good ones.
This is the glue that binds your lifestyle changes together, it’s the one thing that get it right and the rest will naturally slot in place.
Selfcare to me means understanding your body and soul, so that you never get to the point of overwhelm or burnout – because you know selfcare is essential and not a luxury. It means knowing what gives you peace, joy, contentment, balance in life, nurturing your body physically, emotionally, and mentally.