Spend Time to Elevate Your Self-Care
Sometimes it can feel like we can’t fit in one. more. thing. into our already overflowing schedules, and the thought of adding in self-care seems like futile effort or like it won’t matter if it’s not incorporated. However, when we are feeling tired, stressed, overwhelmed, and depleted, self-care can make all the difference in how we show up in the moments that matter and the following days. When our resources are depleted, it’s way easier to snap at someone in the moment who may not deserve it, feel like we are alone in our struggles, and continue to make decisions that don’t support our long-term health and well-being.
Start Small
When it feels like your mind is reeling, and your breath is shallow. Pause…stop even…and give yourself a moment to slow down and breathe deeply. Six deep breaths can be enough to change your physiology, lower your heart rate and blood pressure, and bring you to the present moment. After taking the six deep, intentional breaths, check in with yourself. Doing this several times (or even once) throughout the day, creates the opportunity to recalibrate and can create big shifts, and it can take less than a minute to do. If you can’t find an extra minute in your day, it may be time to reassess your calendar and commitments as that is a path toward burnout. Use this practice or find a similarly simple and easy practice to do and work to incorporate it at least once per day.
Use Reflection as a means of transformation
Within reflection is where the real learning happens. Lean into reflection as a means to help guide your self-care journey. When we take time to reflect, it gives us an opportunity to learn from what has transpired and adjust to where we want to go. Without engaging in reflection, we run the risk of repeating the same, potentially undesirable, behaviors again and again. Give yourself the gift of reflection to adjust your self-care to be meaningful and supportive for you.
Adjust Little by Little
Identify the easiest and smallest thing you can do to incorporate the self-care you desire. Focus on that for one day or one week and then reassess. This is something that has been really challenging for me. I always felt like a failure if I couldn’t commit to something completely new, all in, right away. But that was quite unrealistic. I’ve found that small adjustments over longer periods of time has benefitted me way more. Remember, a little bit goes a long way. Adjusting a ships path by just one degree on a compass will change the end destination by thousands of miles. You and your well-being are worth making the small and meaningful adjustments.
Consider the Cost
When we don’t engage in self-care, our well-being is impacted and that impact compounds over time. When we don’t give ourselves care it is easier to continue on that path, but the opposite is also true. When we give ourselves great care, we typically want to continue to give ourselves great care. Consider, what becomes possible when you feel nourished, resourced, and well?
To support you in the process of reflection, I created a guide to help you evaluate your self-care practices and routines with intentionality and clarity. As discussed in the last few blog posts as we journey through the exploration of self-care, it's essential to pause and reflect to learn important insights, celebrate our progress, and build supportive systems for a future full of care.
This free download is designed to to help you focus attention on the self-care practices that work for you as a way to enhance your long-term well-being. By dedicating time to this review, you can gain insights into what's working well, identify areas for improvement, and adjust your course toward enhanced well-being.
In this Intentional Self-Care Review guide, you'll find questions and prompts inspired by our recent blog posts:
Reflect on Your Self-Care Journey: Take stock of where you've been, what you've learned, and how you've grown on your self-care path. Reflect on the challenges you've overcome and the moments of well-being and peace you've experienced.
Embrace "The Gap and the Gain": Reframe how you explore your progress by focusing on how you’ve progressed, inspired by Dr. Benjamin Hardy's insights. Learn to appreciate the journey itself, recognizing that growth often comes from navigating the space between where we are and where we want to be.
Cultivate Your Systems of Support: Allow yourself to explore your self-care, and how it supports you. Creating stable and sustainable supporting systems can help alleviate some of the overwhelm that comes with practicing self-care. This helps us recapture energy and reduce the potential burdensome feelings that can come with working to integrate self-care practices into your days and weeks.
By engaging in this review, you're investing in your own well-being and committing to prioritize your self-care journey. I encourage you to set aside focused time to complete the review thoughtfully and honestly. Your well-being is worth it.
Are you ready to elevate your self-care? Download this Intentional Self-Care Review now and embark on a journey of reflection, celebration, and growth.
Click the button below to get your free download and take the next step in nurturing your well-being. Together, let's cultivate a life filled with intentional self-care and well-being.