Are you practicing enough self-care?
5 reasons why everyone should have a practice of self-care!
Are you practicing self-care?
And by self-care, I mean taking care of your entire self:
Nurturing your body
Nurturing your mind
Nurturing your entire self!
Most of us lead such busy lives that we are constantly moving from one task to another, from one event to another. But this kind of 'busyness' frequently affects our self-care and our overall health!
You may argue, that I do exercise thrice a week. Or, that I am eating my greens regularly. Or I am keeping my mind more calmer with a regular practice of meditation.
That's great and yes, all of the above are part of self-care.
However, my conversation about self-care is the holistic nurturing of the entire self and giving time, energy and attention to all aspects of you that need you!
Here is an example that will help explain this:
Neena is a busy working mom also taking care of three young kids. She tries to feed her children nutritious meals and wants to expose them to different activities.
In the process of doing all of this, she finds herself sleeping late and getting up very early. She also is more stressed at work and ends up having an underlying anxiety because there is always so much to do.
When Neena attended a self-care class, she discovered the magic of mindfulness and learnt to pause between activities. She relaxed her tight schedules and found that when she was doing a little less, she was actually getting far more done in terms of quality and satisfaction. She slept better and was more available for her children.
In Neena's example, her self-care practice was not just about exercise or diet. It involved giving more space to herself and allowing herself to relax. In doing so, self-care incrementally increased the quality of her life.
Another example:
Harsh is a diligent son and a super dad always making time for his son's baseball practice games and also making time to visit his parents. He does yoga every day and tries to cook and eat healthy.
Is Harsh practicing self-care? Well, let's look deeper!
Harsh tries to make himself available for his family and his parents. In the process, he doesn't have time to practice his piano which is his deep passion. He is unable to say 'No' to others and say 'Yes' to himself. His lack of boundary setting eats into his soul-space and makes him unhappy and resentful.
In this example, Harsh would benefit from practicing self-care in the form of setting loving boundaries and making time for his music which is actually nourishment for his soul.
Here are 5 reasons why you should be practicing more self-care:
1) Self-care gifts you more energy to do all the things you love to do in a way that brings more satisfaction to your life.
2) Self-care moves you from a quantitative movement through life to a more qualitative acceptance and understanding of life. You move from 'I have to do more tasks, more activities, more exercise' to ' Doing these tasks were so fulfilling'.
3) With increased self-care you find the joy component in your life increasing. It might even feel odd that by doing 'less' you are getting 'more'. More joy, more time, more energy!
4) Your health and vitality increases enormously. You feel a sense of vibrant energy that you may not have felt for a long time.
5) With greater happiness because of self-care comes greater fulfillment in relationships. You are able to make deeper and stronger connections with people. As you learn to love yourself better through self-care, you are able to love others more deeply!