We all need a little self-care, but we should do it in a healthy way.
As women, we are bombarded with the message that we need to do a better job with self-care. We need to take more time for ourselves and do what’s best for us. Although there is some truth to it, if we aren’t careful, we can start to confuse self-empowerment with selfishness.
Studio 5 Parenting Contributor Heather Johnson shares what taking care of ourselves in a healthy way actually looks like.
To contact Heather for counseling, email blog.familyvolley@gmail.com, or visit www.familyvolley.blogspot.com.
Caring for Yourself the Healthy Way
- Remember the relationship
Heather says genuine self-care is participating in activities that recharge us to accomplish, NOT to avoid.
- On-going practice
Caring for yourself isn’t just a onetime thing. It is an ongoing practice to build resilience to face hard things and to prevent burn out.
- Mindful changes in behavior and thoughts
Self-care is working to change patterns in our thinking and behavior that don’t benefit us, help our relationships, or contribute positively to our wellbeing.
- Choosing to Grow
We can get self-care and self-protection mixed up. Instead, we need to choose to grow. Growth is the opposite of self-protection.
- Watch our justification
Justification is anytime we talk to ourselves in ways that make us feel better about going against our values. When we justify self-care, and it is going against our values, we are not actually caring for ourselves.
- Accept that self-care is uncomfortable
Caring for ourselves is not ice cream and potato chips. It is not just girls’ trips. It is making conscious efforts with our energies and our minds to strengthen our weaknesses to tackle our lives and commitments. It is choosing activities that buoy us up and give us more energy to live our lives, not trying to avoid our lives.
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