Tag: self care

what self care REALLY is…

 

A while back – maybe earlier this year, maybe before that – I started to notice is that there seems to be some confusion about what self care really is.

Self care includes any intentional actions you take to care for your physical, mental and emotional health.

It’s as simple as that, which means it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive, and it doesn’t have to look a certain way.

(The paragraph above that’s in bold is a definition I came across in a pdf put out by the Student Affairs department at the University of Kentucky.)

Self-care will vary from person to person – and for any one person, it will be different at different times.

Self care can mean being mindful of your diet, getting some exercise, getting enough sleep. It can be going to a meet-up on a favorite topic or spending time at a church service.
It can be cuddling with a special person or pet, listening to music, taking a long hot shower, relaxing in a candle-lit room, dancing for a few minutes in your kitchen, going to a spa, painting your nails, getting your hands dirty in the soil.
It can be sitting on a beach, or under a tree, or on the floor of your bedroom as you read a book or color a mandala.

The list is endless. It can be any or all of those things – and so much more.

And some things for self care involve money…

But there are so many self-care practices and activities that do not.

Self-care is caring for YOU. It’s doing something that tends to you and what you need (on any/all levels – physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually).

And there’s no shame involved in caring for and tending to yourself.

No one can give from an empty well, no one can run on fumes, no one can be a constant light without burning out.

Self care doesn’t have to be hard.

It doesn’t have to be luxurious.

It doesn’t have to take loads of time.

Self care can be as simple as pausing throughout your day, relaxing your shoulders, and taking a few breaths.

Self care is anything that involves “any intentional actions you take to care for your physical, mental and emotional health.”

That’s what self care really is.


replenish…

For the past few years, I’ve chosen a word of the year. Or – to be more accurate – a word has chosen me each year.

New Year’s resolutions never really were my jam. But when I heard about the word-of-the-year as a way of choosing a word or theme to focus on and incorporate through the year, it resonated with me.

The words always seem to choose me, coming to me and fitting inside my bones with a knowing of this is my word. It usually happens when I’m not consciously thinking about a new word-of-the-year. And the words have always shown up for me sometime during the period of mid-August through mid-November… along with a strong nudge not to wait until the calendar year begins before I put the word into action.

(Not that these words aren’t in action at other times anyway. But the word-of-the-year gives that theme more emphasis in my life – and my experience has been that the word, the theme, shows its light side and its shadow side as it teaches me, gives me its medicine, roots into my being.)

I carry all my previous year-words with me, as they continue to work magic and healing, as they continue to offer me lessons and guidance, as they continue to be important reminders and touchstones for me.

Nourish.

Clarity.

Integration.

Sovereignty. (The word with me this year, 2015.)

Several weeks ago, in the middle of watching a tv show and not consciously thinking about a word-of-the-year, all of a sudden I knew what my 2016 word would be. And just as surely, I knew I wasn’t meant to wait until 2016 to embrace this word, this theme.

Replenish is the word that has chosen me this time.

When I google the word, these meanings come up:

fill (something) up again

recharge

freshen

restore

I’m already incorporating the word – replenish – into my life, on all levels. Physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. In my work, in my play, in my self-care, in my health, in my time.

My commitment is to replenish myself and my life. To fill the well. To recharge and restore.

In every area of my life.

And as I do, I’ll continue to embrace previous words of previous years, because they’re important too. Nourish. Clarity. Integration. Sovereignty. (And so many other words that are important to incorporate but haven’t appeared as my word-of-the-year.)

Replenish.

Is there some area of your life that needs to be restored or recharged? Do you need to fill the well? Do you need nourishment and replenishment?

If so… what can you do today that would help replenish you?

Do that – whatever it is – if you can.

♥