Word Of The Week – Self-Care

Self-care is never a selfish act—it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others.

Parker Palmer

One of the most common misconceptions that we have in our society is probably the concept of taking care of yourself. A lot of the time, we mix remaining vaguely functional with taking good care of yourself – and this is something that reflects on your life.

If you are feeling low on energy all the time if you feel like you have lost the will for creating your own damn magic, are you really taking care of yourself, or are you doing the bare minimum to keep yourself going?

What Is Self-Care?

Self-care is any sort of activity that you devote completely to yourself and addresses your needs. This is a very loose definition of self-care, which basically tells you that self-care is unique to every person, and it’s different from day to day.

The truth about self-care is that to be able to properly take care of yourself you have to have a certain level of consciousness for your own needs, and self-awareness. To take good care of yourself you need to understand yourself and your needs so that you can satisfy them.

There are days I drop words of comfort on myself like falling leaves and remember that it is enough to be taken care of by myself.

Brian Andreas

An easy way to take better care of yourself is to develop a habit of asking yourself at least twice a day – what do I need now? Depending on the day, the mood, the energy levels the answer to that question will vary from day to day. Some days, your self-care could be going out with friends and reconnecting with them. Other days, self-care could be getting some extra sleep or reading a good book at home.

Sometimes, self-care can even be taking a walk or giving your pet some extra cuddles. Some days it’s the courage to make that annual phone call to all the doctors you need to visit and schedule those appointments – no delays! Yes, self-care can be easy, or tough on some days, however, it’s very necessary to do it every single day.

The challenge is not to be perfect — it is to be whole.

Jane Fonda

Taking good care of yourself should be one of the very first skills that you learn, however, it’s often the most overlooked one because we often take taking care of ourselves for granted, or we identify it with the ability to get out of bed and remaining barely functional during the day.

When you take proper care of yourself emotionally, physically, and spiritually – that’s when the magic happens.

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.

Anne Lamott

Tune in to our blog to learn more about taking better care of yourself!