R.E.A.L. Self-Care

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R.E.A.L. Self-Care

If you read my blog or know me at all then you probably know that I am a big advocate of meditating.  I try to practice what I preach so I meditate.  More importantly, I try to listen to what comes up when I do meditate.  A day or two ago I kept getting a phrase “radical self-care”.  It came up several times during my sitting meditation and the rest of the day it was stuck in my mind.  Ok universe- I am paying attention and it is apparent that I need to do something with this radical self-care idea. 

Listen to the Universe when it talks to you

As I considered the topic I kept coming back to the thought that perhaps I had heard it somewhere else.  I certainly do not want to take credit for someone else’s idea, phrase etc. It just so happened that I was at home due to snow and ice so I spend a good deal of the day researching and looking for a person(s) who may have coined this phrase to find out more about it.    I was unable to find a particular person, place or thing that was directly associated with this so I decided to follow where I was led in my meditation and create some work around this concept.  I am going to start with a blog series and see where it goes.  I am also going to spice up the title a bit as you will see later!  Let’s start this out with a definition of self-care.

What is self-care?

Self-care is what people do for themselves to establish and maintain health, prevent and deal with illness. 

 Self-care by the World Health Organization

 It is a broad concept encompassing:

• hygiene (general and personal)
• nutrition (type and quality of food eaten)
• lifestyle (sporting activities, leisure etc.)
• environmental factors (living conditions, social habits, etc.)
• socioeconomic factors (income level, cultural beliefs, etc.)
• self-medication

My first initial thoughts on what radical self-care is;

  • 8-9 hours of sleep a night

  • Eating only whole foods

  • Exercise daily

  • Daily yoga and mediation

  • Read daily

  • Time alone

  • Time outside in nature

  • Creative time

  • Massage

  • Therapy

  • Free quality time with family

  • Putting my needs first (or way close to first)

  • Lots of hot nurturing tea

  • Essential oils

  • Crystals

     

Ok, so the World Health Organization definition is indeed broad and varies widely. My initial thoughts are all fairly holistically focused.  I wanted to know more about what others thought.   I did a very unofficial survey using social media (Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter).  I got many repeating answers which I combined into the following;

  • Time

  • Massage

  • Journal

  • Meditate

  • Affordable and convenient diet high in whole grains, fresh fruit, and lean meat simply prepared including wonderful teas and Greek yogurt.

Just for fun I did another unofficial survey of private Facebook pages for psychotherapists or others in similar professions asking what they did for self-care daily.   Love the responses I got and they will be in a post all their own.    Even a variety of articles I read prioritized self-care check out number one, it can even be vital,  and self compassion as defined by Kristen Neff certainly falls under self-care in my opinion.

 So look for more on my new Radical, Essential, Amazing, Life changing self-care or R.E.A.L. Self-Care.  I deserve it, don’t you?

Take away tip-what do you do daily for self-care?  What would you do if time and money were not an issue?  Have fun with the idea- go nuts- go big time and see what it would be like to nurture YOU.