I was already going to write this post and then, interestingly, my friend Yvonne posted something along the same lines early today. It isn’t exactly the same as what I was thinking about, but similar. Same, but different.
Her post was called Self-Care and basically summarized her day to day and the demands of being a stay at home mother to two young girls. She says she is exhausted and based on what I read, I believe it.
Though we live totally different lives, sometimes I feel exhausted, too. I get it. And it’s on those days that I am getting better at prioritizing myself and fulfilling my needs which, in itself, is an act of self-care.
This is a classic scene/episode from Parks and Recreation. While it’s important to treat yo self, I don’t think it’s always necessary to spend money or to hit up a spa. Sometimes it’s something small or something quiet that does the trick.
I’ve been thinking about what self-care means to me and it’s often different depending on the day or circumstances, but I have one constant:
Being alone.
For me, this is huge. I have to have time alone to maintain my sanity. On a recent episode of Spiritualish podcast, the hosts were talking about a weekend they’d spent together with some other girlfriends and they laughed about one of them, Laura McKowen, needed to spend time alone. In the breakdown of the weekend, she said something along the lines of, “and sometimes we’d go off and have a little alone time.” The other host replied, “I think that was just you” and she laughed again. Laura, also laughing, said, “I don’t know how you guys do it. Doesn’t it start to hurt after a while?” She was talking about spending time with others. She was joking, of course, but sister, I felt her.
Some of my other, more common self-care solutions include:
- Moving my body
- Meditating
- Sleeping
- Drinking water
- Reading
- A long bath (I’ve tried to make this a Sunday night routine, but I’ve been minimally successful)
All of these things, at different times, make me feel nourished in ways that aren’t only physical.
Some random acts of self-care to which I’ve resorted:
- Writing/journaling
- Calling or having coffee with a friend
- Working with my tarot cards
- Face/eye/lip masks
- A super healthy smoothie
- Video games (when I really just need to check out)
No matter what it is, I try to be deliberate in my self-care any time I’m feeling overwhelmed, impatient, short tempered or just plain old run down.
Today’s act of self-care? Soup.
Whenever I’ve thought about eating lately, this is what I’ve envisioned. Finally, tonight, I got it together and collected the ingredients then threw it together while I tied up some loose ends at work.
What are your secrets to self-care? How do you treat yo self?
