Self care, but it's more than that...
Hello my loves!
I hope everyone reading this is having a good day, my love for you is automatic if you've bothered to read this today so I'm gonna try and make it worth your while- Let's talk self care!
What do you think of when I say 'self care'? For many, we imagine face masks, champagne,spa days, bubble baths and holidays. But unfortunately self care isn't just these things! Yes, all these things help and it is super important to make time to take care of yourself physically; I am an advocate for these things because let's be real- one of the best ways to feel good on the inside is when your body feels good outside. You know! When you're freshly shaved and you feel like a hairless soft and shiny whale, your skin is smooth, and you're hydrated and listening to some great music, relaxing your body is half the job. But trust me it's still easy to feel stressed with a face mask on. Today I was a prime example of that, I woke up with the sole purpose of relaxing today: shaved, washed my hair and took a long warm shower, slipped into my favourite large t-shirt and made myself a big mug of tea...then I made the mistake of checking my work emails. BIG mistake. A tsunami of stress washed over me upon reading an email I didn't like and the news hit me like an avalanche. With my hot tea in my hand I sat on the sofa, with furrowed brows knitting tighter by the second. It took me a minute to calm down and think clearly. I was even more stressed at the idea that my reaction to the problem was ruining my self care day. In othe words I was stressed BECAUSE I was stressed- talk about vicious cycle.
Once I'd recollected myself I found myself taking deep breaths,sipping on now lukewarm tea and it caused me to reflect. The physical part of self care was not working because mentally I'd caused a stir. Caring for yourself is, in my opinion, 80% maintaining a healthy emotional and mental state. Now whilst this could be done by meditation, just like physical self care it is pretty impossible to meditate every single second of every day. For those like me, working in a busy city, it gets noisy and crowded and it's hard to separate your mind from all the noise.
I've been coming to the realisation that real self care is the continued process of practicing calmness, the way we react to things in our life and making sure our environment is peaceful. This means breathing exercises and avoiding unnecessary conflict, this means taking breaks and low-level exercise in response to stress, this means removing yourself from toxic relationships. As women, we're trained to be polite and this sometimes has meant putting others needs above yours because you don't want top be rude or come across as mean. Don't be afraid to leave people on read! This year I learnt blue ticks can be self care too! If someone is causing you distress, do anything you can to eliminate it.
To all of you who've taken the time to read this I wish you nothing but happiness, success and general good vibes. Not sure when I'll next get to blog but in the meantime you can check out @thequeeninthemirror socials xx
Thanks! ,
M
