Self-care, people.
It doesn’t sound like a very sexy topic, but it’s an incredibly important one.
Often times, when we’re so busy, taking care of ourselves becomes our last priority. Who has time for a hot bath or a cup of tea when there’s so much work to be done, deadlines to meet, dishes to be washed, clothes to be folded, kids to be put to bed…WHATEVER.
However, I urge you to make yourself priority #1.
If you don’t take care of yourself first, how can you possibly be there for those you love? You can’t give from an empty cup.
As a new solopreneur running a business, self-care has become an even bigger priority for me.
I’m now solely responsible for my entire income, creating my daily schedule, finding work and keeping clients happy. It’s a lot to manage on a daily basis and the anxiety can be overwhelming.
This week, I’m participating in an advanced yoga teacher training and we spent a chunk of time yesterday talking about self-care for yoga teachers, but really, the principle applies to anyone. I was so inspired by the exercise we completed that I wanted to share it with you here and encourage you to take just five minutes to complete it yourself.
Our teacher, Brittany Policastro (check this lady out, she’s incredible), challenged us to think of at least three daily, weekly, monthly and yearly self-care practices that we can complete and to write them down.
(We also filled out another sheet of paper detailing the self-care practices we’d complete if budget wasn’t an issue, but for practicality sake, let’s stick with what you actually can accomplish given your current lifestyle).
Self-care can be anything that makes you happy, relaxes you, makes you laugh, makes you smile, allows you to feel joyful and helps you to refill your empty cup. It doesn’t have to be what you might think of when you hear the word self-care (for some reason, I think of taking a bubble bath and baths don’t relax me at all).
Notice that some of my self-care practices below may not be traditional (uh…guac and margs, anyone?)
Self-care is whatever YOU want to make of it.
So, go ahead. Set aside five minutes and give this exercise a try.
Here are my daily, weekly, monthly and yearly self-care practices.
Some of these I currently practice; others I’d love to start incorporating into my routine.
Daily
- Meditation every day
- A good night’s sleep- at least seven hours
- Reading
- Coffee in the morning, tea in the evening
Weekly
- Practicing yoga (4-5 times/week)
- Manicures
- Spending time with family or friends
- One free night on my calendar to do absolutely nothing
- Guacamole and margaritas
- Getting outside in the sunshine
- Naps!
Monthly
- Pedicures
- At least one free weekend day to myself with a completely empty schedule to do whatever I want!
- Personal writing
- Brunch
Yearly
- Massages (2 times/year)
- Retreat (yoga or writing)
- Vacation
“There are days I drop words of comfort on myself like falling leaves and remember that it is enough to be taken care of by myself.” -Brian Andreas
Tell me your self-care practices in the comments below. I’d love to hear ’em!
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