The Importance of Self-Care

Creative Walking Tours, Health, Life, Sleep, Writing

The Importance of Self-Care

“An empty lantern provides no light. Self-care is the fuel that allows your light to shine brightly.” – Unknown

The last two years have been a couple of doozies. The global pandemic followed by the horrors of war has created much heaviness in the world. Our ability to continue on with life, remain resilient, and offer support wherever we can, depends on our lantern being full.

What’s the fuel for our lantern? Self-care.

What Is Self-Care?

It’s an intentional activity that we do to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Although self-care is a simple idea, it is easy to overlook or forget. Good self-care is key to improving our mood and reducing anxiety. It’s also fundamental for a good relationship with oneself and others.

When we take better care of ourselves, we take better care of others.

The Benefits of Self-Care

Self-care is like a savings account. You contribute to it in small ways as much as possible so that when things get tough, you have a little reserve. Regular self-care helps those difficult times pass with less stress and more compassion and patience. Hard times still come to pass, but you’re better equipped with a feeling of safety and steadiness, meaning that you can also help others in those times.

By adding activities that self-soothe, please you, and fill up your cup, a few things happen:

Your body responds to kindness. It’s part of you, so it’s vital to learn how to treat your body and your mind with loving-kindness. Things are bound to shift!
When you take time for yourself, you remind yourself that you are worth taking time for, making it easier to regularly tune in to your own needs.
The next time you face a stressful situation, you will handle the emotion with more ease and minimize the energy-zapping results.

What’s My Self-Care Story?

When things are going well for me, I seem to be able to remember self-care and make it a priority. It’s when things start getting impossibly busy or stressful that I forget to make time for self-care, or worse, think that I can’t find the time to fit it in.

MY BODY
I’m usually in tune with how my body feels. Getting a massage, booking a spa treatment, seeing an osteopath, or heading out to my local pool for a sauna are all regular activities that keep me feeling great. I try to get enough sleep and I like to make sure that I never leave the house without my water bottle and a little snack, just in case. Some of these things might seem superficial or unimportant, but they are what allow me to give my best to my clients and help them with whatever they’re going through.

WRITING
While I’m not a regular journal writer, I do keep an occasional journal in which I write freestyle about what’s on my mind. Sometimes through the act of writing, I’m able to come to some deeper understanding or realization about my life because I’ve gone through the whole situation on paper.

WORK-LIFE BALANCE
Taking moments during the day to read books and magazines, listen to music, or plan and prep some healthful meals are also important for my sense of work-life balance and self-care.

CLEANING
I also consider house-cleaning a part of my self-care: if my house is in order, I feel better! Yes, it’s a chore, but it’s also a gift to me. As author Gretchen Rubin says, outer order brings inner calm.

WALKING & OTHER OUTINGS
Sometimes just getting outside into nature for a Creative Walking Tour can be an act of self-care for me, especially if I’ve been inside all day behind a computer screen. I also enjoy planning for cultural outings (concert, museum or show) for a much-needed change of scenery, intellectual challenge or creative inspiration.

Luckily for me, my husband also enjoys most of these things, so we can participate in this type of self-care as a shared experience, which is also wonderful for our relationship.

What’s Your Self-Care Story?

Remember, a story is just a story and it does not define you. It has brought you to where you are, and writing it out may give you some clues as to your current situation.

Here are some prompts to get you started:

How do you make time for yourself a priority?
When do you know you need some alone time or time with others?

Some Self-Care Ideas

Looking for some new ideas? Here’s a list of 15 acts of self-care activities for your body, mind and soul!

BODY

1. Take a few deep breaths
Breathe into your belly, expanding your stomach, chest and ribs.

2. Stretch
Do some gentle stretches on your own, or with a YouTube mobility or yoga video as a guide.

3. Dance
Put on your favourite upbeat tunes and dance like nobody’s watching.

4. Laugh (it’s good for your heart!)
Read something funny or watch a stand-up comic who always gets you laughing. My personal favourite is Eddie Izzard; his videos made the rainiest winter on record in Vancouver bearable for me a few years back!

5. Home spa
Light some candles, have a bath or shower, read an inspiring book or listen to music.

MIND

6. Guided meditations
Follow one of my short, guided meditations on Insight Timer or simply tune out to the relaxing sounds of nature (IRL or online).

7. Unplug
Switch everything to airplane mode and free yourself from the news, social media and email. Think about turning off all the unnecessary notifications. I personally have none!

8. Unsubscribe
Declutter the promotional email subscriptions in your inbox. You can always go to the website if you need to.

9. Remember compliments
Write down the great things people say about you. One idea is to write them on a small piece of paper and store them in a jar. Or else you can keep it on your phone, computer or journal. Turn to these when you need a little boost.

10. Freestyle writing
Write freestyle on a piece of paper for fifteen minutes on anything that is on your mind.

11. Be still
Sit somewhere in nature, and be quiet for a few minutes. Notice your breath and the movement of your belly as you observe your environment.

SOUL

12. Be helpful
Open a door, carry a bag, or pick up something for a neighbour.

13. Connect
Make a conscious effort to smile at strangers. Call a friend.

14. Have a date with yourself
Spend an hour alone doing something that nourishes you (reading, engaging in your hobby, visiting a museum or gallery, etc.)

15. Spend time in nature
Get outside for a Creative Walking Tour and notice the colours, sounds, textures and smells. Nature is naturally restorative and will leave you feeling more grounded.