Self Care for Busy People

Do you feel bogged down by your responsibilities?

Keep meaning to do the infinite things on your list that you know you “should” do to take better care of yourself?

Do you feel so drained all the time that the idea of one more task is just too overwhelming to get started?

Self-care is trending in pop culture right now for good reason. So many of us barrel through our lives at a breakneck pace that slowing down enough to show ourselves kindness is often at the bottom of the list. Over the next few months I will be focusing this blog on self care. What exactly does self-care mean and how can you make it work for you?

Because self-care is personal. The things I do to recharge my battery might feel like chores for you, like going hiking and taking baths. We survive purely because we do many things throughout each and every day that are self-care. I want you to start noticing them. Notice the ways you show up for yourself day in and day out. For you, it might mean cooking a delicious meal with organic ingredients, or it might mean just making sure you had a little something to eat today.

That’s where my self care journey started.

When I used to worked 70 hour work weeks in the theater with hardly any breaks I would often skip eating. I felt like I couldn’t find the time or energy to plan meals. Eight hours into a work shift I would have a foggy brain and my nerves were wrecked. The mere act of starting to eat warm beans and rice mid-day was self-care. It was all I could manage at that point in my life. The key with self-care is mindfulness. I knew as I was putting together my meager lunch and then carving out 10 minutes to eat it was a gift to myself. Rather than feel guilty about not having my life together in a way to prepare that delicious home-cooked meal, I basked in the small kindness I was showing myself. And these small kindnesses were self-perpetuating. They got bigger, more generous and more frequent as I practiced them.

So start where you are. What are 3 things you do regularly that could count as self-care? And start counting them.

Catch the next post for some fast and easy self-care hacks to put into practice.

Photo credit: Ester Marie Doysabas