Practicing Self-Care
By Trina Stanford
In our prior issue, we discussed self-care and identified myths surrounding the topic. In this piece, we will delve deeper into self-care and focus on practices that will help you to implement a self-care system so it becomes part of your regular habits.
Let’s start by focusing on ways you can recognize when self-care is needed.
Signs that you are in need of self-care may be less obvious than you think. Yes, feeling stressed and out of balance are tell-tell signs, but other signs may be held so deep we don’t notice them. Feeling irritable? Feeling disconnected from others? You got it. These may be related to your need to care for yourself. Below are some signs it is time to find a self-care practice.
- Reduced feelings of empathy.
- Diminished work performance or personal fulfillment in activities.
- Difficulty concentrating or sleeping.
- Feelings of hopelessness or powerless.
- Bottling up emotions or emotional overreactions.
- Feelings of irritability, anger, or anxiety.
- Unhappiness, frequent complaints about school, work, or home life.
- Poor work-life balance.
If any, or multiple, of the items above resonate, you might seriously consider practicing self-care.
As you ease into self-care, the only thing required is to be kind, patient, generous, and accepting of yourself. Overcoming the mental barriers that get in the way of self-care is an intentional practice that emerges when we are honest with ourselves. Beyond acknowledgement that your self-care matters, below are tips to help you build new habits.
- Get 8-10 hours of sleep per day.
- Eat a healthy balanced diet.
- Exercise for 30-60 minutes, three to four days a week.
- Journey, focusing on gratitude and releasing that which you don’t control.
- Practice self-affirmations.
- Support and encourage family, friends, and colleagues.
