When you hear the word “self care,” you usually think of face masks, exercise, and meditation. You might also think it’s expensive, time consuming, and boring. But what if we changed the way we thought of self care to be more inclusive of other things that fill up our tanks? Let’s redefine self care!
When I think of the main purpose of self care, I believe it’s meant to recharge you. For example, after a long class, shift, or meeting, you need some sort of self care to help you get back up to speed. But we can’t always drive to the nail salon to get our nails done or fit in a workout at the gym. So how do we fix this? By expanding what we consider self care!
Instead of thinking of self care as strictly spa days and Soul Cycle, try just considering any activities you love to do as self care. I personally love to eat lunch and hangout with my friends – it recharges me after a long class or assignment and helps me refuel my body. If you love to just lay out on the greenspace and read a book, that counts as self care! Anything you get pure enjoyment out of should count as self care – if it makes the thought of the things you don’t like to do more bearable.
So this week, try to work in some more self care but this time – there’s no excuses not to. Make ‘self care’ the catch-all term for anything that recharges you when you feel drained and notice how much more appealing it is, how much more inviting it is, and how much more doable it is. You deserve to be cared for, do it for yourself!