It’s time for a self care check in. If you listen to our podcast (and we REALLY hope you do), you can catch a lot of information about self care of body, mind, and spirit. Self care should be designed to sustain you through your life’s work. Whether you’re a professional working in end of life care, or you’re doing caregiving work for a loved one, you need Self Care.
I’m going to say it again. You. Need. Self Care.
Self Care is really trendy right now. Everybody seems to be talking, writing, blogging about it. The Heart of Hospice was talking about Self Care before it was cool. Mental health professionals have been telling us for a long time that care work isn’t sustainable without healthy Self Care.
Mind. Spirit. Body. It’s a tricky balance. Nurture one, nurture the other two. Neglect one, and the whole triad suffers.
Photo by Helen Bauer, The Heart of Hospice
It’s more than just manicures and weekend getaways. Those things are good every once in a while but you have to be able to afford them (think money and time). The Big Self Care items aren’t practical for everyday maintenance. To be able to manage every caregiving day in front of you, you have to incorporate small Self Care activities into every hour.
Ugh. That sounds like more work to me. Even though we know the pitfalls of neglecting our Selves, we struggle with being intentional about our own Self Care. Is that your struggle today? Have you been on a major Self Care vacation? Nutrition, faith rituals, exercise, weight management (groan), gratitude practices. Maybe you’ve been neglecting them all.
Vacations are supposed to be fun and relaxing. A major Self Care vaca is NOT fun. You feel the consequences big time. The Heart of Hospice co-creator Jerry Fenter describes it as a winter season of “self care hibernation”. And it’s not pretty.
Here’s what a Self Care vacation can get you:
Weight gain (painfully honest)
Fatigue and energy lag
Less than stellar workouts, or no workouts at all
A discontented, cranky spirit
Mental fog and inability to focus
Isolation
Loss of joy
Here’s what I know about this. Anybody who tries to practice intentional Self Care has had those lapses in care that become unhealthy. Sometimes it’s hard to see that Self Care lag happening in your own life until the consequences of neglecting your Self hit you in the face.
Job burnout
Depression
Illness
Obesity
Damaged relationships
Inability to care for those in your charge
So come out of Self Care hibernation! The winter season is over and it’s time to get back to loving yourself. Find the small moments in your day that you can devote to intentional Self Care. You can check out our Self Care resources page or click here for some more ideas.
Small moments matter. Create those Self Care moments in your day. You are totally worth it.