Self Care -- Starting the Conversation

I recently asked my Instagram followers about self care. What does it mean to take care of you?

I was so interested in a few things….

1. Did they know what self care means? (One year ago I had no clue)

2. If you do know, what do you do to take care of yourself?

3. Do you have a consistent-ish schedule for self care?

This year has been the year of self for me. I am going to declare every year, the year of self. I started working with a Life Coach and Reiki Master. She really has helped me see how important this is. At first I was embarrassed to say I needed this and now I am recommending it to everyone I love.

BEFORE moving on, you first need to commit to NO negative self talk. Be kind to you. If a thought enters your mind. Kindly ask it to leave and say something nice to yourself. Start replacing all negative thoughts and words with a positive one.

DAILY

She has helped me with some basic skills I never knew I needed. One being self care. She has me do something for myself everyday. 5-30 minutes a day for just me.

1. Stretch before my feet hit the ground. Warm up my body to start moving.

2. Drink 36 ounces of water. (sometimes I wake up late and have to take more time drinking)

3. I wake up and ground.. This is a great way to start my day, everyday.

4. Prayer. If you are not religious there are many forms of prayer. But basically I asked for the intuition and strength to take care of myself so that I am ready and able to take care of others properly. SO IMPORTANT to me in my life is to take care of the people I love.

5. Move. Get my body moving for 5-10 minutes first thing. Recently, the weather has turned so I have been jumping on the treadmill and listening to a book. Which moves me to my next one.

6. Reading, 5-10 minutes of reading. Even if you have a book of thoughts, quotes, affirmations and you read one.

If I have to get up early to do this or adjust my schedule I do. I am not saying it happens perfectly everyday, this is a life long process and it is the most difficult commitment I have made in my life and I have been married for 30 years.

WEEKLY

Weekly self care is something you commit to giving yourself. This can be something fun or something you do already but reframing your thoughts to bring some gratitude to what you are already doing. Weekly date with friends or loved ones, grocery shopping by yourself, creative time, it could be anything. The key is the gratitude and thought you give it. This is what I have been doing.

1. Weekly appointments with my Life Coach/Reiki Master

2. Movie/TV night with my husband

3. I choose one meal on our weekly meal planning that I like to eat.

4. Paint my nails

Monthly

I am still working on this one but some of my friends to massage, facials, hair dresser appointment, weekend get aways, going out to eat, something that you save all month to do. Something that you look forward to doing.

1. I have been having monthly guided mediations. I love my meditation time with a guide. She designs the meditation to my needs and she also teaches me a few things each time.

2. I am adding a monthly massage to my list.

Self Care is a commitment. If you do not have the money, don’t worry, design your list to match your budget and your time. Make the time. This will pay dividends in your personal growth.