What does your self-care really look like?

You may be busy running around and putting others needs before yours in the led up to holidays.

Caring for yourself this time of year can be challenging with the relentless pace of Christmas and being pulled in so many different directions.

The thing is, ignoring our own needs while constantly meeting the needs of others can have serious physical, emotional and even spiritual ramifications.

Emotionally, a lack of self-care can leave us anxious, depressed and less productive.

If your goal is feeling calm to enjoy a peaceful holiday season, keep in mind that looking after yourself can offer the biggest reward.

A simple way to start building your “Me” time this holiday is to commit to some activities by following these steps.

Making time for self-care, is the best gift you can give yourself this Christmas.

Step 1- Simplify. 

Having too much stuff in your home or on your calendar can make you feel overwhelmed, distracted and anxious.

Simplify and eliminate things that don’t matter, the ones that may be draining your energy.

Clutter on the outside can feel like clutter on the inside.

By choosing less- you may experience more peace on the inside—and get more time to yourself.

Simplicity creates calm in the following ways:

• Provides opportunities space for personal time.
• Provides more clarity.
• Eliminates distraction.
• Invites you to pay attention to what matters most.
• Contributes to a good night of sleep.
• Allows you to be present and connected with loved ones

Step 2 – Carve Out “Me” Time.

A good deal of practicing self-care is learning how to understand your own needs emotionally and physically.

If you can understand your needs and learn to put yourself first sometimes, you’ll be able to better take care of yourself and your other responsibilities.

• It’s not selfish to put your own needs first.
• In fact, you’ll be better able to help others when you’ve been focusing on your own health, both mentally and physically.

Discover when, where, why and how you may be feeling deprived.

First, it’s important to figure out where you feel deprived in your life. From there you have a good idea on how best to approach your self-care.

For example, you could ask yourself these key questions:

• Where do I feel deprived?
• What do I need more of right now?
• What do I need less of?
• What do I want right now?
• What am I yearning for?
• Who or what is causing me to feel resentful and why?
• What am I starving for?”

Step 3- Set Healthy Boundaries.

Work out what you are comfortable with and what you are not comfortable with doing.

When you have clarity on what is important to you then you can communicate it to others.

Having these boundaries will result in:

• Strengthening your confidence and self-worth.
• Having a positive outlook on life.
• Having piece of mind because you are giving to you.

Learn to tell others what you need.

For example : “I need some time to be alone” doesn’t mean “I don’t want to spend time with you.” It means, “I want to take care of myself so I can enjoy the time we spend together.”

• Don’t double-book. If a friend or co-worker wants you to see them or do something for them during your self-care time, tell them that you are busy. Because you are busy. Busy looking after yourself!
• Learn to switch off- self-care is the time where you focus only on you!

Step 4- Let go of guilt.

If you are used to putting your needs before others you may experience some guilt when you start to set healthy boundaries.

That’s perfectly ok.

If you sit with the feeling of guilt and remind yourself that you are “feeding” your needs- it will dissipate and so will your urge to overeat.

Step 5- Practice saying “No”.

The best way to not to over-schedule your days is learning simple ways to say “No”. This takes time and practise to communicate it clearly to others.

• Practise saying “No”.
• Rehearse saying no – it may feel uncomfortable at first but with practise you will get used to it.

Here are some examples of friendly but firm suggestions:

• “I’d love to but I can’t…”
• “Thank you for asking, but NO…”
• “That doesn’t work for me at that time…”
• “I don’t want to disappoint you, but I have to say NO…”

 Step 6- Create a list of self-care activities.

Create a list of activities that restore and rejuvenate you.

Here are some tips to start:

Stop, pause and take 5 mins out of your day to write down 5-10 things that are self-nourishing.

Here are some Examples:

• Walking on the beach
• Massage
• Swimming
• Yoga
• Meditation
• Colouring in
• Singing AND dancing…. you get the drift

Now, separate these into 2 separate lists: everyday acts of self-care and monthly acts of self-care.

When your body, mind, and soul are and cared for, you will feel calm and present.