Self – Care
People generally think of self-care as pouring themselves a large glass of wine, lighting candles, and soaking in a bubble bath in a bid to soak off the worries of the day. Or it’s exercising daily, going for routine medical checkups, following a specific diet and supplement plan, meditating, having a facial, journaling or keeping up an active social life. It’s all that but it’s so much more. The more part is the most challenging because it requires more conscious effort and thought, more time and way more honesty.
The deep work of self-care is where you begin looking after your thoughts, feelings, words, and actions as well as paying attention to the thoughts, feelings, words, and actions of those around you. You affect yourself and others and they affect themselves and others – including you. As we relate to ourselves so do we relate to others and them to us. If we are more self- aware and can self-regulate more frequently and effectively, it follows that life becomes safer and easier to navigate. It will contain fewer surprises. The establishing of healthy sustainable lifestyle habits which include the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual make up self-care.
Emotional protection is a powerful form of self-care which is often overlooked because it’s not tangible or easily visible. Protecting yourself emotionally comes from setting boundaries where necessary. Avoid toxic people, identify bullies and closed off self-serving folk, connect with emotionally healthy people, learn when to say yes and when to say no, ask for help, if need be, express yourself honestly to others, be emotionally honest with yourself, become comfortable with conflict, be clear with your own intentions and question the intentions of others, and above all else listen to your own voice and intuition. Become your own best guide. You will always know, if you really pay attention, to what’s best for you.
Find time daily to invest in the creation of self-awareness. It will serve you well all through life when caring for yourself. Part of emotional wellbeing is identifying thought patterns and habits that either serve you or need to be changed or discarded. If you don’t change your mind, put yourself first and make yourself a priority, no one else will. It’s not about an airy-fairy love or kindness shown toward self, rather an attitude of looking after the value you have as a person and protecting that. If you don’t, you only have yourself to blame, and you don’t really want to be part of your own physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual suffering, do you? There’s enough suffering in the world as it is.
“When my client has learned to answer their own questions, my job is done”
Need to know more? WhatsApp on +27823740940 or email on barbara@barbarascogings.com to book a complimentary 20-minute session to discuss this in more detail.