What is Self-Care? People think self-care is getting a massage, a day at the spa, pampering with a facial, or indulging in scented candles. Self Care is so much more than that. Self-care is about loving yourself, even just a tiny bit more than your loved ones. Self-care is about setting healthy boundaries. Self Care is about saying NO more to others, and saying YES more to yourself. Self-care is about learning healthy ways to deal with uncertainty, with overwhelm, stress and anxiety.
Why am I passionate about self-care? You see a few years ago, I suffered from anxiety. For months, I did not know I was going through anxiety attacks. I felt out of sorts. I had pain in my neck, my back, my legs, and what seemed like high blood pressure. Bottomline is I didn’t feel like myself. I did everything to get better. I went to counselling, therapy, practiced Iyengar Yoga, zen meditation, acupuncture, Reiki, EFT, used essential oils, homeopathic medicine, sound baths spiritual direction, lots of prayer, journaling, and even getting a dog I named Spark. On my first visit to the psychologist, she told me what I needed is self-care. At the edge of my chair, I begged her to tell me what to do. She did not answer, instead it became my journey. I got schooled in self-care. I discovered self care is not a magic pill you can take and things will get better. It is a holistic way of healing. But it is process you have to commit to every single day. While doing self-care for several months, something magical happened. I found my spark back. I lost that glow in my eye. it is back.
The experience of having anxiety is scary. It is tiring. And it is overwhelming. I am grateful for the people who helped me and taught me to be gentle to myself.They taught me to love myself more. To me, I did not know I had anxiety. All I knew was that I always felt overwhelmed. I don’t want other people to go through anxiety and overwhelm on their own. As we face the challenges of this pandemic, many are overwhelmed and anxious by the tremendous uncertainty we are now dealing with. The self-care tools I learned during my anxiety are the same tools handy for thriving during this Pandemic. During lockdown, I found myself wanting to share the lessons I learned in Self-Care with anyone who cared to listen.
So if you are feeling, anxious, overwhelmed or out-of-sorts or just want to find healthier ways to get through this pandemic, make self-care a practice. Want to learn more:
Join my self-care community at Find Your Spark Community at Facebook, where you will find support and activities to help you on your own self-care journey.
Join my upcoming Self-Care Course:
Coming Up for Air is a 4-week course that incorporates lessons in self-care with practical activities, journaling, yoga, meditation and breath work. The goal of the course is for you to create a self-care toolbox you can call upon when you feel anxious by the uncertainty brought about the immense changes in our lives due to the Pandemic. You will learn to make self-care a daily practice. The course is scheduled for October 10, 17, 24, 31- 12noon-1:30pm. Fill up the google form to register for this course. The Zoom link will be sent to your email address once payment has been received. The introductory price for this course is A$100. http://paypal.me/themaidastouch