Dana Gatto
Self-care is such an important and wonderful act of love to and for yourself. What self-care means to each person is going to be unique, but the idea is that you lovingly do all the things you know feel good to you. I’ve broken this down into health, physical appearance, work, relationships, emotion and activities. You can also read 5 Things To Embrace In Order To Be Happy for more self-care ideas.
Health
Taking care of your physical health is so important, without it nothing else will matter much (at least not for long). Your physical health allows you to really live life to it’s fullest. There is no special formula for good health other than to do the things you feel pulled to in order to maximize your quality of life. This could be a specific way of eating, a specific form of exercise, a vitamin/supplement regimen, or all of these things. You have to follow your own intuition and pick what feels right and fun for you. Some form of exercise and food choices that make you feel good are a great place to start. If there is something you used to do or you want to do in order to live a healthier life, start today. Right now. Not tomorrow. Today. Self-care means caring about your own health and proactively staying there.
Appearance
Self-care through your appearance means letting yourself express yourself through your clothes, your hair (or no hair), your use of make-up or no make-up, tattoos, jewelry, shoes, and anything else you can think of that helps you express your true self and feel comfortable and confident. If you’re comfortable in something, you should allow it to be a part of you. Take the time, spend the money, be yourself.
Work
Doing something you love, allowing money, feeling passionate about something (or everything), helping others who want to learn from you, expressing yourself, and so on. Make sure you love your work, love your work environment and get paid. Work tends to play a large role in your life and can potentially add a lot of joy or pain depending on what you choose to do and believe about work. Work should feel great to you and be yet another avenue for self-expression.
Relationships
This means who you are in relationships. What you want to bring to the table. How you want to treat people, how you hope to make people feel (inspired, loved, creative, like anything is possible, confident, etc.). What experiences you want to have with people you care about. In general, who are you with others? In your mind what does the employee in you want to bring? The boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife? The friend? The parent? Let yourself be yourself in all of these situations. Follow through by being your ideal self in relationships.
Emotion
Pay attention to how you feel. It is the most important thing you can do for yourself. Many people get stuck tolerating negative emotions for far too long. Negative emotion is guidance from your higher self alerting you that what you’re thinking is not true or not what you want. Understanding how to shift your emotions is life-changing and brings forth a new passion for life. You are supposed to be happy. You are supposed to be having a good time. You are supposed to do all the things you want to do. Believing anything other than that is total bullshit and an indicator that you need to shift your emotional state.
Activities
What do you like to do? Where do you like to go? How often are you doing these things? You should be having fun all the time. Why reserve fun for special occasions when you can feel it as much as you’d like? This could be relaxing activities, physical activities, traveling, concerts, hanging with friends, watching a show, music, writing, the list is limitless and unique to you. What do you love to do? Do THAT.
Practice self-care whenever you can, as much as you can. If you would like guidance bringing more of this practice into your life, you can schedule a free life coaching consultation here.
XO,
Dana