A Formula For Self Care

The topic of self care has come up a lot in my life recently, it seems to be one of the themes of this year for me. Often we put ourselves last in the care for column, we make sure that those around us are cared for and don't worry about ourselves until we absolutely have to and don't have a whole lot of energy left to spare. I am definitely guilty of this! so, I decided to do my best to take care of myself, and to put self care as a priority in my day to day life. So if this is something that resonates with you, here are a few things I did to help make it easier for me:

- Take some time to write a list of things you love to do for yourself - I love food, so eating a good meal is something that I love (even if its not super healthy!), meditation, writing, having a nap, catching up on tv that I really like, reading a for fun/self empowerment/personal growth book, walking/being in nature, giving myself permission to be entirely unproductive for an evening, are a few of the things on my list. A lot of these are things that I can do that help me recharge and relax.


- Set a reminder in your calender/phone to remind you to do something for yourself, and make sure you put it at a time in the day where you can do something about it.


- Check in with yourself and see what feels right, and be really honest with yourself! Just because you haven't meditated in two days, and you feel like you should, but you feel restless, means that a walk may be better for you! Or maybe you really want to eat a bowl of ice cream, do it and don't feel guilty about it!


- Sign up for a weekly or monthly class that is something that love to do, pottery, dance, yoga. It helps to keep you committed to yourself. 


- Have support from your friends, family, partner, children, coworkers. Let people know what your up to and get their help to keep you accountable, or have them join you on the self care journey. Talk about what you're doing, and included those you love connecting with in the things that you can (sharing a meal, going to a class together) 


- Give yourself permission to throw out the things that aren't working for you, or change things up if you stop getting enjoyment out of it. 

So that's it, that is what I do to take care of me. It really is true, that the more you take care of yourself, the better you can care for everyone else.