What comes into your mind when you hear the phrase “self-care”? Many of us might think of a beach or a bag packed ready for a holiday. Summer holiday season is upon us and many of us might be thinking about having a break or taking some time off work to get some downtime.
Holidays are really good for our wellbeing. We relax mentally and emotionally, we often get a lot more physical exercise and get active because we are exploring and our minds get some much-needed stimulation. New sights, people, adventures, food and cultures can be a really important way that we care for ourselves.
But there are limiting factors to the amount of wellbeing we can re get from our holidays.
Life – and all its responsibilities – prevent us from taking holidays as frequently, or for as long, as we would ideally like. Holidays can also be expensive and at a time when many of us are struggling with the cost of living, this can limit our ability to have a break.
Holidays provide a short-term hit of wellbeing and a peak in our calendars for a time when we can focus on rest and relaxation. But we can’t rely on them to be our only source of self-care.
Perhaps then we need to reframe what self-care is, what it means for us, how we can make it consistent, and how we can make it easier to achieve.
Work out what it means for you
If the phrase self care makes you cringe or feel overwhelmed, then flip it around and ask yourself what caring for yourself looks like. We are all different, and for some people it might be having a bath, for others it might mean running 10k, for some people it might mean time with a best friend, and for others it might mean having half an hour of peace by turning off their phone. Ask yourself, when do you feel like you are caring for yourself? What activities are you doing or not doing and how do you feel afterwards? It might sometimes feel like we are too busy to stop and look after ourselves, but beware of that trap. It is self care that allows us to be resilient through difficult times, and that means we can look after others. Self-care also gives us more clarity and focus to find solutions to our problems. Caring for ourselves is an absolute essential that should never be ignored.
Work out how to make it regular
Just like any piece of machinery or tech that needs to be maintained in order for it to work well, we too need regular time and space to look after ourselves. We cannot just rely on a holiday for one week every one or two years. We need to work out ways of looking after ourselves that are daily habits, that don’t cost anything and that we can fit into our busy schedules. Look at your diary – where are the spaces for time for yourself, and if there aren’t many, then how can you create them? Can you delegate to someone else, can you say no to something, can you use your time another way and be more efficient? Put some ‘non-negotiables’ into your diary and treat these as sacred.
Work out how to make it easier
Sometimes we can think of self-care as being complicated, or expensive, or we think of it as something that we have to work towards. Make it simple by breaking it down into small steps. Self-care is about making you feel more relaxed and restored, not something to get stressed about or an activity you feel compelled to complete – and it is not something that you should feel under pressure to share on social media.
Self-care is about you – and it is yours to create and to feel better from.