Ahhhhh, Self-Care

Are you familiar with self-care? Is this an alien topic to you? Or are you well invested in it? I first heard about it during my training where we were being taught the importance for Therapists to take time to re-cooperate their minds. Self-Care is something that we can do, on purpose, in order to take care of our emotional, physical and mental health. For some people that may be activities such as going for a walk, reading a book, meditating or dancing about their living room (a personal fav of mine).

As a trainee Counsellor my self-care routine is essential for not only my own mental health but also my relationships, my effectiveness as a Counsellor, my normal day job and so on. Basically poor self-care infiltrates into all aspects of my life so it’s fairly high on my priority list. If I’ve taken a couple of weeks off I’m noticeably grumpier, snappy, tired and usually it makes my anxiety worse.

My self-care routine usually revolves around anything beauty related. That may be new makeup that I can have some time to be creative with, new body products to drench myself in or a warm bath with spa music playing in the background. I like to create a little sanctuary in my own home and let go of all my worries.  I get to combine two of my passions together – self-care and beauty. I will post some photos below of my "me time" this week which was using the Lee Stafford Chopstick wand which gave me BIG hair, which I loved and me playing with the BH Cosmetics Carli Bybel Deluxe Edition Palette‎. 

This week however, my self-care planned was knocked off course due to an unbelievably seized wheel (if anyone has experienced this before, you’ll know how frustrating it is). Luckily, with the help of a lovely local mechanic the wheel was forced off and I was able to get back to concentrating on me.

The main point I am trying to make is whatever calms you, do it more! Make it a priority and set aside time for it even if life throws a curve ball that sets your anxiety off (the seized wheel in my case). If you aren’t sure what calms you spend some time with yourself to think of times you’ve felt happy, what were you doing during that time? Those are the activities that you enjoy most, the ones that just pop into your head when you ask yourself that question.

If your answer is something that isn’t easily accessible for you, is there a way you can make that easier for yourself? For example, if you love going to see bands live but that can’t always be done every single Friday, maybe consider putting aside time to just listen to your favourite bands in your house and sing your lungs out. That is the beauty of self-care, you can literally tailor it to whatever it is that floats your boat. Remember that self-care is about loving yourself, allowing yourself some healing time, giving yourself acknowledgement that you’re a human being who needs breaks and giving yourself permission to have that time.

So set yourself a challenge to put some time aside over the next week for some self-care and pay attention to how you feel before, during and after it. I myself will continue to play with my make-up (it is truly my happy place after a counselling room) and give myself a little mani/pedi. I will also set myself the challenge of spending more outside and making it a priority of mine. 

Side note – You don’t need to be a therapist for self-care to be important. It is important for everyone, no one is immune from Mental Health issues. I am yet to meet a single person who wouldn’t benefit from giving themselves an hour a week to do whatever it is that sets their soul on fire.