Self-care, from buzzword to non-negotiable.

As buzzwords go self-care and self-love are right up there trending for the umpteenth time and have lost their meaning along the way. When did we stop taking care of ourselves enough for these terms to become buzzwords anyway?

Self-care means the practice of taking an active role in protecting one's own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress. Having high regard for one's own well-being and happiness, ultimately their meaning is to take care of yourself. Surely this is non-negotiable if you intend to live a calm and fulfilling life however when life is more about busyness and hustle, juggling and striving it’s easy to see how self-care dropped to the bottom of the list and became a Sunday night trend.

Everything starts with you from the relationships you have to the way your day goes and as much as other people impact us in many ways there’s only one person you can have any control over, yourself. When you take care of yourself your physical and mental well-being improves as do your relationships and the way you feel or experience things day-to-day. The same way you may go for a run, take a yoga class or a long hot bath with a book, your mind benefits too, the food you put in your body and the environment you place yourself in all impact your health, happiness and both your physical and emotional wellbeing, its the ripple effect and it doesn’t stop with you.

You see, when you take care of yourself you lead by example; when you let go of what (and who) you can’t control and hone in on what you need to feel good this inspires the people around you to do the same. When you focus on your well-being first instead of trying to fix, support or improve someone else you shift into a fuller version of yourself and are more aware of your levels of energy and emotional and physical capacity day-to-day, month-to-month.

When I don’t take care of myself it’s like a sliding scale of presence…

I experience confusion.

I find myself feeling muddled and I need to read things more for them to sink in.

I get scatty.

I feel like my thoughts are swarming in my head and it’s near impossible to think clearly.

I become forgetful.

Famously in my days as a shoe buyer, I took a round trip to India after forgetting to renew my visa to travel and enter the country. I was separated from my team and ceremoniously escorted back to the plane I had already spent over 8-hours on, and flown back to the UK. I was embarrassed and baffled as to how I had misread my visa expiration date over, and over again! I’m usually super organised so when I lose something or can’t find something in its logical place I get frustrated and know I’m at risk of burning myself out.

I become unwell.

IBS, (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), headaches and migraines are nudges from my body that I need to take better care of myself and be more aware of how my emotional health is impacting my physical health.

I get snappy.

When I get snappy, short-tempered and irrational I realise I’ve become easily frustrated and therefore I am not thinking clearly and it has a negative effect on my relationships and the work I do.

When I take time regularly to nurture my mind and nourish my body I feel…

Calmer

Better able to navigate my way through periods of stress

I am happier

More confident and trusting in myself

Other people are drawn to being around me because my energy is good

I notice I make decisions more easily

My creativity feels enhanced, ideas flow to me more often

I generally perform better at the tasks I set for myself

How you choose to take care of yourself depends on what makes you feel good, what helps you relax, what energises and replenishes you. Self-care is unique and personal, it’s also seasonal. With a shift in seasons comes a need to alter how we do things in reflection of how we are feeling within that transition. As I write this we are heading into autumn and as someone who experiences SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) I acknowledge the importance of switching things up, letting go of practices and activities that don’t feel so good with the colder days and darker nights knowing I get to change my routine to better support and enhance my mood and energy.

With the intensity of the past 18+ months and the darker nights creeping in it can feel like a good time to dig out the big blanket and hibernate giving yourself the time to pause and reflect. With the shift in the seasons, there’s an opportunity to deepen your self-care to wake up earlier or implement a new routine to make the most of the shorter days and this is why I felt called to create a workshop entirely focussed on self-care.

Self-Love is an invitation to explore rituals of care and compassion for yourself, this two-hour virtual workshop allows the space to share longer practices with you, for you to experience and perhaps integrate some new practices into your seasonal self-care routine, whatever that may begin to look like.

If you are feeling the urge to block out time for yourself and close the door to everything else for a while, this is your invitation.
Book your space in the virtual wellness workshop and commit to Self-Love, two hours of you-time!

With gratitude,

Becki