The Key Mindset Shift For Sustainable Self-Care Practice
- Aug 2, 2021
- 4 min read
Written by: Kinga Zerhouni, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
You've probably heard many times that self-care is necessary for your well-being. Relaxing massage, deep breathing, meditation, or a walk in the park are fantastic ways to calm your body and mind.
But how often do you do them?
Even though you know the benefits of self-care, most likely, you don't do it consistently.
Maybe you see self-care as something you do when you have time for it, which rarely happens.
Some experts suggest scheduling self-care activities in your calendar to help you stick with them. But this idea makes self-care feel like another item on your to-do list. I don't know about you, but my daily list is already quite long.
Seeing self-care in these terms doesn't probably motivate you to make it part of your daily routine.
But what if you use self-care as a tool that helps you stay within your limits?
We all have limitations on how much work, stress, expectations, and responsibilities we can handle, even though we often act like we are limitless.
Have you ever pushed yourself to the point you couldn't go any further?
Your days are filled with deadlines, office politics, school notices, soccer practices, dinners, planning, and budgeting. You constantly push your boundaries on how much you can handle each day.
The more you push beyond your limits, the more likely you are to experience burnout.
That's why daily self-care is so crucial to stay within your healthy boundaries and prevent over-exhaustion.
The goal of self-care is to help you recharge, manage stress, and stay balanced physically, mentally, and emotionally.
It shouldn't feel like another item on your never-ending to-do list. Your practice should be simple enough that you can easily integrate it into your daily routine.
Here are five tips for shifting your mindset about your self-care practice:
It's about simplicity and enjoyment. Your self-care routine should include activities that you enjoy doing. There are many suggestions on the internet on creating self-care practice, what it should consist of, and how you should feel about it. But not every self-care activity will work for you. We all have different needs, enjoy different things, and have different schedules. You may need to experiment to find what you like.
It's about respecting your limits. It doesn't only include establishing boundaries with other people but also having boundaries with yourself. If you decide to start going to bed earlier, respect your need for more sleep. Learn to say "no" to late TV shows.
It's about small commitments you can do daily, not activities that you occasionally do. Exercising 15 minutes each day is more beneficial than one long workout a week. Taking 30 minutes each day for yourself has a more significant impact on your well-being than one vacation a year.
It's about repetition and consistency. Implementing a specific daily self-care activity will eventually create a healthy habit that you perform automatically without thinking.
It's not about perfection. If you have a busy day and skip your self-care practice, don't stress about it. Try to get back to it the next day.
How you see self-care in your life can make or break your practice.
If you use it as a tool to help you prevent burnout and keep you within your healthy boundaries, it will be easier to stick with it.
Self-care is not necessarily about specific activities or products that you should use. It's more about knowing, being aware of, and respecting your personal boundaries to ensure you don't stretch yourself too thin.
For instance, you may decide to skip sleep, so you can do an hour of a morning workout. However, it will reduce your body's ability to recharge, repair and have a negative long-term effect on your health.
Eating by your desk instead of taking lunch breaks affects your digestion and metabolism, leading to weight gain over time.
In summary, your perception of self-care in your life can determine its effect on your wellbeing. If you see it as something you have to do and treat it as one of your items on your to-do list, it might be more challenging to stay motivated and do it consistently. Seeing self-care as the essential tool to keep you within your healthy boundaries may help you prioritize your self-care activities in your life.
Kinga Zerhouni, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Kinga Zerhouni is a Board-Certified Functional Wellness Coach helping women reverse burnout and fatigue naturally by following simple lifestyle changes designed to re-energize the body and mind. She wants to empower women to take charge of their health and find the root causes of their fatigue because feeling tired all the time is not normal. When she is not working with clients, you can find her spending time with her family taking nature walks and playing sports.
