Self-care is hard work & is……….

therefore, something I don’t have time for. 

annoying.

too darn hard. 

boring.

not worth it. 

Sound familiar? 

The above statements are on repeat in my mind when my alarm goes off at 6 am and I need to get to the gym.  All I want is another 5 minutes under my cozy duvet, and if I allow this to happen, it will be 15 smacks on the snooze button, and before I know it, it’s past 7 am, and I’ll think, “too late for the gym.”  I NEVER feel like going to the gym, NEVER!  However, once I get through the urge to stay in bed and get my butt there, I feel fantastic post-workout and my thoughts are more like:

Self-care is hard work & is WORTH IT!!!!

My self-care practices are an interconnected circle.  It doesn’t matter which practice gets derailed; it will always impact the rest of the loop:  

• If I don’t sleep well, I won’t get up to meditate, go to the gym and roll out my yoga mat.

• If I don’t sleep well, I’ll only eat sugar and French fries to obtain an unhealthy, short-lived burst of energy. 

• If I don’t meditate, I won’t feel emotionally grounded throughout the day, and my racing thoughts will keep me up at night. 

• If I don’t find time for yoga, my body feels sluggish, and my sacroiliac joint and radial nerve injuries will act up.  

• If I don’t eat well, my joints will ache, and my bloated gut will interrupt my sleep.  

Last week’s unmanageable to-do lists left no time for my self-care practices.  I skipped all of them; no gym, no meditation, no yoga, lots of unhealthy food and poor sleep.  The result, I felt like absolute CRAP. 

If I allowed this to continue for another week, it would have been a full speed ahead, jet-fueled slippery slope, and I would have given up my self-care completely because I regretfully have done it before.  

Luckily I know better.  On Monday, I returned to my practices and immediately noticed the difference. 

This experience got me thinking about self-care and what it really means. Self-care is not an escape involving a day at the spa or beach, though these experiences are lovely. Self-care is making a DAILY commitment to yourself. It’s choosing to build a life you don’t need to escape from regularly.

Treating yourself because you earned and deserved it can be veiled as a self-care practice, but it’s often a coping mechanism to break free from reality.  Taking a break with a glass of wine, some sugary delights and binge-watching in moderation is fine and may provide temporary respite, but it will hurt you in the long run if it is the only form of self-care that you follow.   

When self-care becomes an everyday routine, you create a strong foundation, and you won’t need to escape so often. 

Last year I severely hurt my hip because of overzealous hiking and inadequate stretching.  I recovered quickly, which my physiotherapist and chiropractor attributed to regular gym visits and time on my yoga mat.  

I have a few cognitive challenges (more on this in a future blog), and last week I had a video appointment with my neurologist.   She was pleased that my symptoms have stabilized and commented that my healthy lifestyle significantly contributed to this. I couldn’t ask for a better endorsement or motivator to keep it up.  

When creating a self-care routine, make it your own and ensure that it will fit your life situation.  I currently spend 6 hours at my gym every week, something that wasn’t possible years ago, and back then, I had a very different routine.    If you find that your commitments and responsibilities consistently derail time for yourself, then it’s time to rejig your priorities. 

It is HARD to maintain consistency with my self-care, but it has improved every aspect of my life.  My practices are tedious and not exciting enough to post on Instagram, but my choices have helped me build a life that I don’t need to escape from regularly.  

An interesting thing happens with consistent self-care.  The need for quick fixes for your problems is no longer necessary..

Self-care is hard work, but I believe the future of my health will be uncertain if I don’t take care of myself now.   I’d love to hear about your self-care practices.

Be well.

Anita

DISCLAIMER; The information provided on County Yoga Loft’s website blog is for general health care informational purposes only. All information on the site is provided in good faith. However, it should not replace consultation or advice from a physician and/or other healthcare practitioners. The use or reliance of any information contained on this site is solely at your own risk.