5 Issues In Your Life That Self Care Can Improve

Hustle, grind, win, achieve…there are so many buzz words these days that focus on productivity.  It is a trend in our modern day society to do everything, give everything, and risk everything just to get ahead and be “successful”.  But today I want you to take a moment and consider what does success truly mean? If we accomplish all of our material and business goals but we neglect our health and well being in the process are we truly living a successful life?

How important to you is loving your body and self ?  Take a look at the things that you have on your to do list for the next 5 days.  How many of those things incorporate self care practices?  How much do you prioritize making time to love and care for your holistic health: body, emotions, mind, and spirit?  Have you placed “productivity” above quality time with your body and self?  Do you think that postponing relaxation and self care will help you get ahead and achieve more in life?  I’m here to tell you that it won’t, and here is why:

Neglecting the care of body and self will cause a gradual deficit in every area of your life.  The more deficient you become in your body, mind, emotions, and spirit, the less equipped you are to be competent in any role that you take on in life.  The less competent you are in your roles and responsibilities, the less likely you are to achieve any of your life goals successfully.

 

Self care comes in many forms and can look different for each person.  When you deliberately prioritize your well being and holistic health, then you are practicing self care.  Prioritizing self care is an act of radical self love.  One of the most powerful things about love is that it HEALS!  By making self care a priority and habit you embrace true self love and can bring healing in to every area of your life.  Although the benefits of are numerous, here are a few examples that may inspire you to begin practicing self care now:

Stress- Taking the time to consistently practice self care can be helpful in reducing the levels of stress in our lives.  Whether we choose exercise, proper sleep, or even pursuing a hobby as a form of self care, it can help us to release the stress in our systems.  Stress is a major cause of a several health issues in our bodies and minds.  By reducing the levels of stress we can help heal and prevent many of those issues.

Food Relationship-  Quite often we are at war with food because we do not honor it as a tool to nourish our bodies.  Sometimes cravings and overeating behaviors can be a manifestation of neglected self care.  The body is designed to communicate with us through signals and when we neglect or misread those signals we can make the assumption that food is our solution.  A lot of times our body signals mean we need sleep, water, vitamins, or even loving interactions.  When we take the time to love and care for our bodies, we become more in tuned with the signals and learn what our true needs are.  We can embrace a harmonious relationship with food and use it as a tool to better our health rather than a substitute for our real needs.

Intimate Relationships- I’m not just talking sex (although that improves too).  When you are taking better care of your self and prioritizing your own health and well being you will be a happier person over all.  Although it feels selfish to put your self care at the top of your to do list, the truth is that you will be a better partner, parent, friend, etc for those you love when you feel loved yourself.  We cannot make our happiness and life satisfaction the responsibility of our loved ones and think that it will make for healthy intimate relationships. That expectation of others will simply incite resentment. We are responsible for the love and care of ourselves first, so that we can be equipped to love others well.  If each person in the relationship practices this, then both people will receive the healthy, well balanced version of love that they deserve.

Work & Career- Yes! I used the word “productive”.  Productivity is not a “bad” thing in itself.  It becomes harmful when we obsesses over it.  When we put our wellness and self love to the side for the sake of being productive it can be unhealthy.  I invite you to consider the possibility that taking time to care for your self can actually a form of productivity.  When you are investing in your holistic health and wellness you are ensuring that you are in fact, producing a better version of yourself.  Time invested in loving and caring for you is never time wasted.  The more you work on self development you will ensure that your success will show up in other areas of your work as well.  Your creativity will be sparked, your clarity will increase, your endurance will be extended.  Whatever you put your hands to will be done with more positive energy and assurance.  That will assuredly lead to  more accomplishments in your life.

Body Image- You know I had to save the best (or my favorite at least) for last. Yes indeed, your body image can be affected by how much you invest in self care.  Remember that self care is an act of self love.  When we practice self love it impacts the way we see ourselves and feel about our bodies.  The more we invest time in caring for and loving our bodies and selves the more healing we will experience in our body relationship.  In order to make peace with the image that you see in the mirror and the body you inhabit daily, you will need to prioritize caring for it.  Clear space in your life to build a loving relationship with you!  You will find that confidence, self esteem, and boldness will become more familiar to you and less foreign.  The more you put INTO your body relationship, the more you will get out of it in turn.

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