Self- care
Self care is very important. Without it we can not take of others nor ourselves. Taking that extra time to de-stress and do something for yourself whether it be exercise, a walk, reading a favorite book, talking with a good friend, crocheting, karaoke, or just going for a joy ride can help us to regather our thoughts and feelings. We can breathe and close our eyes for a minute and let the normal everyday stress we experience, just float away.
If we do not take care of ourselves when we should then we are taking a big risk that can ruin so much. By not paying attention to minds and bodies we are more apt to make mistakes; ones like saying things we don’t mean, messing up our responsibilities at our job, increasing the likelihood that we will get sick, increasing our chances of depression or aanxiety, having more aches and pains, subjecting ourselves to feeling like there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
I know from personal experience that when I do not take care of myself I feel terrible. I often will become very aggravated, exhausted feeling, I find myself being snappy to anyone that talks to me. I get aches and pains, it becomes a chore to do anything, because I need a break and I failed at taking one, so now my body and mind are letting me know that I’m boiling over. I try to use my ride to work as time I can “escape” from all my duties and I just turn up the radio and sing and have fun. I put everything else to the side for 30 mins each morning and I do the same every evening on my drive home. That is my “me time”. I’m sure once my kids get older I’ll have more “me time” but for now I have an hour a day, Monday through Friday. I consider myself to be lucky since a lot of stay at home mom and dads do not get that. I know this because I was a stay at home for 9 years.The sad part is, this world is so busy all the time and everyone is rushing around like they are late for everything. No one is getting proper amounts of sleep so we feel tired all the time. Some people take medicine to sleep and then take medicine to stay awake. We rush to get ready to go to work every morning, then rush home, rush to make dinner, rush to eat, rush to run errands, rush to get kids in bed, and then we are so exhausted and we still have more to do before bedtime. It is like a neverending cycle. I also have a tendency to feel bad for taking time for myself if I do. I think about well… “I should be doing something with the kids or my husband, I should be washng clothes and dishes, the house really needs cleaned up…”. I will talk myself out of any downtime I may have had planned. I think a lot of us do this. Our daily schedules are so packed with things to do and there just aren’t enough hours in the day.
Things we can do in order to regroup and charge ourselves back to 100% are:
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Walking
- Running
- Reading
- Visiting with a friend
- Going on a weekend getaway
- Go on a long drive
- Listen to your favorite music
- Go out for karaoke
- Eat healthy balanced meals and snacks
- Drink plenty of water
- Take the scenic route to work
- Focus on your breathing
- Take a longer hot shower or bath
Listening to our bodies is the key to staying healthy and energized. Energy shots or drinks will not help, they only make it worse by overloading your body with sugar and caffiene and then dropping us into exhaustion like a star faling from the sky. The right way to achieve energy and balance is to eat right and get the right amount of sleep. Getting between 7 and 9 hours can do a body good. Try to at least do some stretches in the morning to get your body unstiffened and ready for the day, make a balanced meal for lunch, a lite dinner and try 20 mins of exercise like yoga. Take that last hour before bed to relax your mind and body. Read a book, watch a show, write in your journal. Those are all great ways to keep yourself from drowning in the pool of stress. Even though for some of us this sounds much easier to read then actually do, we could at least give it a shot and do our best because it is important. It really makes a difference to ourselves and those around us. We all have people who count on us whether it is a spouse, our kids, our family, our patients or clients, and most of all we need ourselves.