Self-Care September

Guest post by Ellen Ronalds Keene at The Harmony Agenda

Spring is finally here, and with it comes my favourite time of year: Self-Care September. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to practice at least one act of self-care per day for all of September. It’s about making you a priority and cultivating a daily habit of being kind to yourself.

Easier said than done, but so worth it!

But what exactly is self-care? Well, it depends who you ask.

If you work in a health field, you may be familiar with the word as it applies to a patient doing the ‘homework’ that a medical practitioner has set them in order to manage their condition. E.g. a diabetic monitoring their blood glucose levels throughout the day.

Some people define it more as preventative medicine, so eating right, exercising and getting regular check-ups.

Still others in the ‘self-care space’ seem to focus mainly on pampering and personal care.

If you ask me, it’s all of the above and more.

I believe there are 5 main facets to self-care: physical, mental, emotional, personal and spiritual.

Most of us would be familiar with the physical side of things — getting enough sleep, eating ‘right’ (whatever that means for you) and exercising, as well as personal care such as beauty, grooming and pampering.

The mental and emotional categories can have some crossovers but in general mental relates to thinking and involves things like self-talk, goal-setting and also activities like mindfulness and meditation.

Meanwhile, the emotional is exactly what it sounds like: feelings! But it also includes your overall level of happiness in life – how you feel about your feelings and the values and beliefs that often govern our emotional responses.

The spiritual will be something that some people may not want to focus on, but others may feel they need more of in their lives. It can include any faith or religious practices. But at the simplest level it is activities that give meaning and purpose to your life. Further to that, there are other categories such as professional, social, financial, family and more, depending on how far you want to take the concept.

Unfortunately, as a society, we aren’t very good at prioritising ourselves. In fact, for a long time, there has been an underlying sense that to do so is wrong.

As women especially, our roles so often involve nurturing and nourishing others, and that job is often never-ending.

So often, we ignore our own needs until the point that we are burnt out and have absolutely nothing left to give anyone, let alone ourselves.

Then, even when we need it most, many of us have blocks to receiving care, both from ourselves and from others. I call these our ’self-care sabotages’ — they are generally patterns of thoughts, beliefs and behaviour that actively undermine our desire and ability to look after our own needs. Most of the time they are unconscious patterns that we don’t even realise are holding us back. But once we start to explore them, they can be changed, should we desire it.

In terms of prioritising and nourishing yourself, there is an endless list of activities that you could list as ‘self-care’. But not every activity will speak to you or make you feel cared for in the way that it does for others.

There is no one-size-fits all here.

You are a unique and incredible human with your own wants and needs and some things that you really enjoy will seem boring or a waste of time to the next person. Even more than that, some things that someone else might do because to them it feels nourishing or indulgent might actually make you feel exactly the opposite!

Discovering which self-care activities work for you and which don’t is what Self-Care September is all about.

It’s an experiment in self-knowledge and self-discipline. There is no right or wrong, only what works for you, but the very act of taking at least a few minutes each day to prioritise your needs will have a positive impact.

If you want to explore the concept more, MindBodyFood is joining with Highfields Yoga for a ‘Nurture You’ self-care workshop on Saturday 17^th October which is all about putting self-care back on the agenda.

You can also come on over and join the conversation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mindbodyfood or www.facebook.com/theharmonyagenda and use the hashtag #selfcareseptember to share your self-care journey.

Ellen is a life-coach, self-care educator and music teacher who lives in Toowoomba with her husband Stuart and cat Crinkle. You can connect with her over at The Harmony Agenda.

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