Listen to your body's call to Self-Care

 

We have a good impression to someone who is active, a type of person who says yes to everything and those who multi-task either it is on personal or professional lives. We see this person as dependable, responsible or whatever good qualities we may add to it however the more we take a lot of commitments and tasks to our plate whether it is for ourselves or for others, what we failed to notice are the following, we spread ourselves too thin, we lose sometimes our authenticity and eventually we lose our ability to look after ourselves.

For those who practice Self-care, some people perceived it as selfish, it is for the weak, having a narcissistic tendency, avoidance to escape responsibilities or an excuse for other people to be indulgent to their vices and addictions.

We have lots of misconceptions about Self-Care however a genuine Self-Care is all about your body's way of regulating and protecting it from stressors whether it is physical, emotional and mental aspects. When we ignore the need to Self-Care, we cannot function to our best, it also affects our relationships and our way of life.

Each one of us have our own set of needs, values, priorities and commitments and before we even follow the self-care practices of others that are trending, we have to carefully assess ourselves, our boundaries and limits. The goal of doing self-care is to do things that we enjoy as we try to nurture our bodies. It has to be attainable and practical. For example, eating healthy foods is your approach to self-care however if you are consistently breaking the bank for you to attain it, then it will only leave you overwhelmed and frustrated. That's not anymore self-care but self-pain.
Personally, I keep my self-care practices simple and easy to do. Let me share to you my 5 Self-care practices with a bonus that you may also benefit from it.

First is "Walking," we have read lots of articles about the health advantages of walking but some of us tend to ignore it and simply prefer to take transport for travel even on short distances however for me, walking helps me regulate my mood especially if I am having a stressful day, low mood and bored. It also helps me find my inspiration and creativity and there are times that I have to make a decision or solve the problem, walking helps me gain clarity and solutions starts to pop up for me to make an action.
For those who wants to practice Walking as their way to Self-care, my suggestion is to start from 30 minutes and as your body becomes adjusted with the time then it is time to increase it 1 hour or 2 hours or increase. You may also incorporate it to your daily activities for instance, when going to work instead of commuting and spending money for it then walk. If you have a dog or taking care of a child then bring them to park and walk with them and as you walk enjoy the simple beauty of the nature you are in.
Make sure that you perform breathing exercises, stretching, warm up and cool down when you walk. Walking is a simple physical activity that doesn't require you to pay for gym subscription, it is free!

The second Self-care practice is healthy eating. I do believe that what you eat consistently does have long term effects to your body for example, during your youth, you love eating Barbecues that is grilled on a charcoal so as you grow old, your body system starts to deteriorate and you easily get Cancer as compared to those who eats less of it and what more if you family have a history of Cancer.

There lots of diet fads that are roaming around the health and wellness magazines and online and we are attracted to people shown some results from obese to slim using those diet fads however as we tried to apply the said diet for ourselves and it didn't go well as we hoped we become frustrated and with this before we apply those kind of fads, listen first to what your body truly needs. It doesn't mean that works for others, it will also work for you.

Notice your symptoms and ask yourself if do you feel sluggish, anemic or have medical conditions either you are unaware of or having any existing ones? From there, have a laboratory examination of what nutrients you are lacking and seek consultation with health professionals about your diet plan. For those who doesn't have any health conditions, always eat a balance diet. Note, which foods gives you the boost of energy or have any effects. 
Having health supplements and medications are great however healthy eating on a daily basis helps us to prevent severe health conditions in the future.

Next in line for Self-care is the importance of rest and sleep. Let me share you my experience when I was working as a Carer in one of the Nursing homes in the UK, there was one occasion where I work for long day shifts from 6 am to 9pm for 6 consecutive days and then one of my Filipino colleagues invited me to attend one of the Filipino parties and told me to come after work so I went there and when I was about to open the door, I couldn't even do it and I even asked somebody to open it for me! It was embarrassing but that's where I came with a realization that working for several days without proper rest and sleep will truly lead your body to exhaustion and thus affects your performance.

There are some people who take 2 to 3 days off and try to get as much of a quality of sleep is a no joke. When you have that 6 to 8 hours of quality sleep you will notice that your body seems to be fully recovered from that exhaustion and you are again in top form. Having a period of rest and stillness is important to regain your strength. This is why we also need to make good use of our break times.

For working people and those who are bombarded with commitments, they have lesser time for rest and sleep so no wonder that rest and sleep are considered to be our intangible luxuries that nurture our bodies, and we need to include that in our Self-care goals.

The fourth one that I considered as a valuable Self-care practice is to practice intentional living and what do I mean by that? It is by setting our day with intention and a purpose with positivity.

There are instances in our lives that we felt that we are anxious for no reason, we felt that we are overthinking and all over the place however if we are doing intentional living, you are becoming mindful on the things that serves you for good and which isn't. You have your goal and formulate tasks such as creating "Things to do List" that serves you a direction towards that goal and in that way, you have gain control of what you want to become and be productive as the day progresses.

On a spiritual sense having a good intention and purpose deepens your relationship to yourself and others and importantly to God who has the full control of all things and helping you endure any hardships that is beyond your control.

Then lastly, is to learn how to be grateful and appreciate either small or big blessings that happened to your life. Why is being grateful connected to Self-Care? When a person learns to be grateful, he or she appreciates the value of life and accepts and has a deeper understanding about people.
This person is contented, doesn't complain or blame no one and is focus on the present in which attracts positivity and develops resilience especially on tough times which is easier for them to bounce back and continue with life seeing the bigger picture. Those people who doesn't practice gratefulness according to some studies exhibits the high levels of stress because they look for happiness from the outside which are short-lived rather than from within.

Then for the bonus part is practicing Self-compassion. We live in this world that in order to thrive and be accepted, we have to comply with the expectations from the society. This can begin from our family, friends, colleagues, neighborhood or to the whole community which sometimes cause us a lot of pressure and if we fail to deliver their expectations, we lose our self-worth and self-confidence, or the main enemy could be ourselves with our "All or None mindset" that as we fail there are no second chances around. We begin to get stuck with our mistakes from the past making us doubt ourselves by unable to try new things and take risks for the fear of failure however if we always think negatively of ourselves, we will never change for better. Although there are some people who are available to help you out, but the real help will start from you that you accepted that this situation happened, and you are now ready to change it.

Self-Compassion is another form of Self-Care in the sense that even though there is a mistake and imperfections happened, it doesn't define you as a whole person, but it serves you as learning opportunity for improvements. You are enjoying the process of your journey rather get focus on the result you are expecting.

We understand that generating Self-compassion is not easy for some because we have the tendency to Self-criticize and the All or nothing mindset gets ahead of us however if we put Self-compassion into practice whatever disappointments and negativity from others will not affect us because we know ourselves more and we focus more on our strengths, our present and what could possibly go right for you to be able to move forward and allowing ourselves to be healed.

Never underestimate your body's calling for Self-care and if your body is now experiencing it then remind yourselves about the different Self-care practices that I mentioned and have thorough assessment your needs and identify what the things that works for you and gives you the purpose to manifest something and enjoy life. If in any case that you are requiring trusted professional help to release the burden that you are carrying, then don't hesitate to do it because it is also a way that you are ready to change something about yourself positively.