I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that self care seems like the latest buzzword and something that you don’t have the time to tackle. That even if you did try to give yourself some self-care you’d fail, or that you’d feel guilty for even trying. That’s why I’m sharing 7 secrets to self care and why it matters.
Here’s the interesting part, self-care is vital for living a healthy and abundant life. I finally understood that after attempting to “do it all”. Yep, that’s right, I tried to do everything from being a great wife, mother, daughter, sister, in-law, friend,volunteer, boss all at the same time and I left myself out of the equation.
If you’re like me and have a long list of what you are attempting to do and be there’s a catch. It’s kinda like when you’re on an airplane and hear the announcement that we’re supposed to put on our own oxygen mask first before helping others in an event of an emergency. I don’t know about you but thankfully I’ve never actually faced the whole put on the oxygen mask situation. But I do suspect if I did, the mamma bear in me would ignore the directions and help my child (or whomever I’m next to) first. That’s just how I’m wired.
It’s the same thing when we’re trying to live an abundant life and fulfill several roles. The trick is to engage in deliberate activity in order to take care of our physical, emotional and mental health. The key is to engage in deliberate activity!
Key Decisions
Most of our roles involve making very deliberate sets of decisions. We make thousands of decisions daily. In order to get on the path to a healthy and abundant life you must decide to take care of yourself. You must also decide not to feel guilty about taking care of yourself. Easier said than done, but important decisions to make and keep!
As if that’s not enough, a huge secret to self care is that we need to engage in deliberate activity in three arenas. The physical, emotional and mental health arena’s. This includes eating well, resting well, exercising well and even playing well.
Self Care Fact Sheet
Check out the infographic which highlights the 7 secrets to self care.
Why it Matters
In order to make these secrets work you’ll have to engage in deliberate activity. It matters to yourself and those that you love the most to do so. The challenge is that you’ll need to be strategic in which activities you’ll deliberately engage. This is so as to actually stand a chance at forming new habits.
You see, many of us set out to make lasting changes in our lives and we fail through no fault of our own. Dr. Rosane Oliveira from the UC Davis Department of Integrative Medicine shares that one of the most common errors is that we try to change too many habits at once. Check out the full article here to learn how to avoid the trap of trying to do too much at once.
Choose Wisely
Since life is a series of decisions, do yourself a favor and choose one or two of the secrets to aging well to start out with. Like many things in life, self care is a journey. All journeys begin with a decision and first steps. Take a moment to decide to take deliberate action in an area that you know you need to work on and give yourself permission to start slowly. The key is to begin and then to continue to take deliberate steps to increase the activity.
Give Yourself a Break
Starting anything can be challenging. Same thing with self care. Give yourself permission to make changes to your routines. Establish new routines and celebrate when you’ve done so. Be kind to yourself, take care of yourself first so that you’ll be able to help others.
I know that when I finally stopped feeling guilty about the self care that I began to engage in, I felt like a whole new person. The heavy burdens that I placed upon myself were lifting. Growth began from the inside out and I became a better person for all of the roles that I play in my own life and the lives of those I love.
Drawing back to the airline metaphor, self care is just like putting on your own oxygen mask first. It might seem selfish to do so, but you’ve got to take care of yourself first before you’ll be able to help others. It can be done!
Is part of your deliberate activity to adopt a plant-based lifestyle and you’re not sure where to start? Check out our getting started section to learn how.
If you’ve already begun your plant-based journey and are looking for a place to learn and gain some support and encouragement, join our free private Facebook group called She Builds Healthier Habits This group will help you to learn to take charge of your health and stay the course with the whole food plant-based lifestyle.
No matter what area you choose to focus on, best wishes on unlocking the secrets to self-care. It’s a journey worth taking!