Self care? It’s really not about bubble baths and chocolate cake!
For a lot of people self care looks like spa time, treating themselves to chocolates/ desserts, buying flowers for themselves and taking breaks from life.
Yes, these indulgences are fun and sometimes might feel really good, but I have a problem when people, women especially think this is all that’s there to self-care.
You know what true self care is all about?
It’s about making a choice to create a life that you don’t regularly need to escape from.
What does that look like?
- You have a body that supports you in everything you want to accomplish through the day- which means you love what you see in the mirror and there’s no mystery exhaustion or fatigue, no unwarranted aches and pains and no random hunger attacks in the day. You have the energy, enthusiasm and the vitality to literally get everything you need to get done through the day.
- You do the work you love to do, you can’t wait to get out of bed and get cracking at your day because you are doing epic things in whichever role you are in and you don’t want to miss a single moment of that!
- You love the people in your life, they care just as much about you and in every interaction with them there’s a mutual exchange of energy where you co-create something of beauty and value. You feel uplifted in their presence and never ever drained. They feel the same way about you. This could be your partner, your family, your friends and your team.
- The environment you live and work in, the spaces that you inhabit are designed to make you feel safe, secure and comfortable. They make it easy for you to do what you want to do through the day- whether it’s work, cook, relax or just experience deep sleep.
If this what your day looked like every single day, why would you want to escape from that?
You might say easier said than done and I agree. None of this is easy because creating a life like this means you start going against the grain of mediocre standards that society has set for us. It means you begin to reject poor health, toxic relationships, soul draining work and toxic environments.
And to do this, you first need clarity on what is it that you want. The easiest place to begin this work is to start with your body. That’s where my journey began, it started with the body and the rest of my life flowed in the direction I wanted to take it.
What do I mean by starting with the body?
Well, for starters envision the kind of body you want- how do want to look? What’s the aesthetic that pleases you the most? You get to decide this. Then think of all the areas where your body might be sending you signals that things are falling apart internally- is it low energy, or migraines, or aches and pains or acidity and digestive trouble or just really poor quality sleep. Every single symptom is a message from your body, learn to interpret the message- take the action that’s needed and you will be symptom free for sure. That’s a promise! It’s not that difficult. Start here and you will be setting the foundation towards creating a life you never need to escape from.
Next up.. how to navigate around the human minefield called relationships.
