The Importance of Self-care…

I believe almost everyone can relate to this and many are saying now: I know but I have no time!

Exactly this “I have no time” is the crucial starting point!

Why do we all have no time?

I’m a mom and I can easily put my child in front of me and have the answer, plus being a full-time employee, so any more questions?

The thing is, it won’t help. It won’t help myself nor my job when I find excuses. I need to approach it differently and find time.

Time for myself, time for my sanity, time for self-care!

Now one of the questions will be, but what is self-care?

Everything that feels good and is lasting!

A glass of red wine in the evening may feel good for some but will it leave a good feeling? I don’t think so (which doesn’t mean that you should not drink it, it’s just not the solution to anything).

What is lasting (for me) for instance is reading a book – it’s giving me a good feeling in several ways. I do something just for myself, I read something which has an effect, it’s maybe funny or thoughtful or even life changing, books can have many effects. I will remember how I felt when I was reading a particular book simply because I built memories. It’s lasting.

Another example is sports (whatever you like), in this case for me Yoga. I roll out my mat, I’m standing bare-feet and grounded and I’m breathing before I start to move. Now you ask why this is lasting? Because my body is gaining strength, flexibility, my muscles ‘remember’ it, my brain is focusing only on one single item and has not “hundreds of tabs open” like a browser. This is sustainability for my body and health and even mental health. It’s lasting.

What else is self-care in general?

The word itself is the explanation. To care for one self!

Many tend to care for others and would give everything to make them happy which is a wonderful thing but it’s also dangerous. Dangerous because if they forget about themselves while focusing on all people around them they may lose themselves along the way.

Surely I care for my family, for my friends, for strangers even from time to time but to have the ability to care for others I need to be cared for and who can do this better than me?

I know myself better than anyone else would be able to so there is the point to start.

What do I need to feel happy, to be healthy, to de-stress, to CARE about me?

There are thousands of examples to be found on the internet which is a wonderful inspiration – important is that out of these you find what suits you best.

Not everybody likes to go in a downward facing dog or do a head stand and feels great afterwards.

YOUR way is the way you should find. It may be that you need an hour per day where you just sit on the front porch doing nothing – any this doing nothing for you means everything (so it’s not nothing!). It’s lasting because this doing nothing contains so much we don’t see as an outsider – it calms your body and mind, your whole system slows down and get’s rest which serves your health after a busy day, you have time to breathe deeply and just be with yourself. So this is exactly what you need? Great, go ahead and “do” this nothing!

Each morning you start your day with 15 minutes just for yourself – that’s self-care!

You need your daily soap for half an hour because there your thoughts are quiet and you just watch TV – that’s self-care!

You dance like crazy to your favorite songs for a while – that’s self-care!

You shower each evening before you go to sleep – that’s self-care!

You buy a chocolate and eat it all alone – that’s self-care! 🙂

You write a diary and this is your daily habit before dinner – that’s self-care!

You walk each weekend an hour alone through nature – that’s self-care!

You sit 10 minutes per day and meditate – that’s self-care!

Self-care has thousands of faces and that’s good.

There’s no ultimate guide, the rule is that you start to be mindful about yourself!

Learn what you need, learn who you are, treat yourself minimum as good as you would treat others.

What do you like most to care about yourself? I’d love to hear your stories <3

Take (self-) care!