The power in active self-care. It’s an act of self-love
Does this sound familiar; You want to include more exercise but get side tracked with other tasks and then feel too tired. You know you need to take some time out, and then realise you’ve worked for several weeks without a period of proper rest.
Founders can be particularly prone to this pattern, as are those in stressful and demanding environments. I see this often with clients, and in my earlier career this was a regular habit; prioritising business demands over self-care. I refer to it as a habit. It’s a habit we have the power to change, instantly. With some practice and discipline we can turn passive self-care, (the idea of needing to take better care of ourselves), into active self-care, (actually doing self-care).
In todays demanding world, it’s easy to get caught up in responsibilities, obligations and constant connectivity. Amidst the chaos, we can often forget the most crucial aspect of our lives; ourselves!
Self-care is not a luxury, its a necessity for maintaining our overall well-being and achieving a balanced and fulfilling life. We will explore the significance of self-care and the reasons why you must prioritise your own needs, to nurture your mind, body and soul.
Understanding self-care:
Self-care refers to the deliberate actions we take to improve our overall physical, mental and emotional well-being. It involves making conscious choices that prioritise self-nurturing, stress reduction and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Its is essential to remember that self-care is not selfish, its an act of self love that allows us to show up fully present across all areas of our lives.
The importance of self-care:
Enhances overall wellbeing - Engaging in self-care activities has a positive impact on our physical, mental, and emotional health. It reduces stress levels, boosts mood and increases resilience. We need a certain level of resilience to better navigate some of life’s challenges.
Restores Balance - Self-care allows us to restore the delicate balance between work, family, personal life and leisure. It enables us to recharge and rejuvenate, preventing a potential burnout. It can promote better health over the longer term.
Strengthens Relationships - When we take good care of ourselves we have more energy. We are then better equipped to cultivate and nurture healthy relationships. By meeting our own needs, we can give our best to others, fostering deeper connections.
Cultivates Self Awareness - Self-care practices provide valuable moments of reflection and introspection. Allowing us to connect with our inner selves, to gain more clarity, insights about our desires, dreams, values and goals.
Overcoming feelings of guilt for taking time for yourself:
Feeling bad for taking time out, or thinking you don’t deserve time out, or putting hard conditions on self-care (I can only enjoy a day off once I’ve reached X goal), can be a destructive repeating pattern. Over time this impacts stress levels and can then lead to other problematic situations.
These patterns fall into passive self-care. Knowing you need to do something for yourself, but find it difficult to create the right boundaries that you need to actually do something for yourself.
Sometimes a reframe in these situations can be helpful. By embracing self-care as an integral, daily part of our lives, we empower ourselves to live more authentically. On a biological level we function better as human-beings. It helps us to better regulate our autonomic nervous system. When we allow adequate time to rest and recharge, we have overall more energy, for everything.
Send yourself an appointment for self-care by adding it to your schedule. By adding this time to your daily activities, you make time for the most important person in your life everyday, you!
In the next post we will will look at self-care techniques.
If you are interested in knowing more about self care, or have questions, please write to me at hello@isabelzaistyles.com