What is Self-Care?

Self-care is taking care of you! It involves anything you do to take care of you physically, mentally and spiritually. 

And no, that is not being selfish - it is caring for yourself, which is how you care for others.  In order to be the best you can be for others, you need to be at your best.

In these days of technology and instant access to information people are expected to always be working, and available - to always be productive.

Sadly, this busyness is counterproductive. There is a cost to trading self-care for productivity. That cost includes, fatigue, overwhelm, burnout, depression, anxiety, and resentment. 

A discussion with women at a a recent women's group turned to how they are so busy that at times they go into overwhelm. 

"What do you do when you find yourself in overwhelm?" I asked. 

One woman told us, "I know about self-care. I take time to bath, rest, eat well, and even exercise. And still I feel overwhelmed." 

What came to mind is that in our busyness what often gets missed is our mental and spiritual self care. This is our inner self. We have to take time for certain aspects of self-care like physical, and even social - and we do. Sadly, it is our inner self that is the one area that is out of sight and out of mind. It may even be the most important aspect. 

The busyness of two jobs, two children, and a partner caused my own burnout and depression. I was one of those women who didn't really know what I wanted from life. And I did not speak up because I did not want to make waves. I felt that I had very few rights. My biggest problem was that I felt like I was never good enough. I did not feel that I deserved to be spoken to with respect. and I never gave myself permission to feel what I was feeling, to express what I was feeling. Nor did I give myself permission to stand up for what I believed or wanted. Depression is a lack of expression. Burnout is mental, physical and emotional exhaustion.

These are things that started my quest for what I want in my life and in my future. I want to look forward to the possibilities in my future. These break downs are what lead me to finding ways to increase self-confidence and self-esteem. And wanting that for others as well is what led me to Life Coaching.

I find that clients often need to be given permission to feel what they are feeling. From personal experience, one holds in their emotions, be it sadness, resentment, even anger, because they fear the results of expressing themselves - afraid their emotions will be dismissed, or any resentment and anger will be turned back onto them.  "Shake it off! You can't feel that way! You are imagining things!" Sound familiar What else?

Emotions are an integral part of who we are and they must be acknowledged and dealt with or they will have a negative affect on us. Many women, even today, were raised to take care of others, to put themselves last. That's not working for them because the continual productivity and caring for others is draining their mental and physical selves.

As women, we need to care for ourselves so we can care for our loved ones, our jobs and careers, and our friends and family.  That's why I started my Dare to Dream Retreats and that's why you need to consider attending Dare to Dream Encore November 29 to December 1st. The doors are closing soon. 

Don't miss this opportunity. Book you spot today!