Self Care and Being Kind to Yourself

How do you self care on a healing journey?

For me this consists of three different steps:

1. letting myself rest when I need to

2. pushing myself when I can

3. and creating challenges and tasks for myself to keep going

Knowing when you can and cannot push yourself is of huge importance through your healing journey. If you don't push yourself at all you'll never make progress but if you push yourself too much you can regress. Complicated, I know.

Allowing yourself down time to rest and recouperate is just important but you also want to pay attention to whether or not you're giving yourself rest or sinking into a black hole. It's all about finding a balance. I try to give myself a task and follow it with rest or vise versa. When I say task or challenge I'm not telling you to run a marathon tomorrow or go sky diving (be my guest) but simple things to keep you motivated and on an upward trajectory. On days when it's hard to get out of bed your first task might be just that.

1. Get out of bed

2. Get dressed (even pajamas)

3. Drink a glass of water

4. Take your medicine

These might sound like simple tasks, but when you're fighting for your life they can seem like the equivalent of running a marathon. Truth is, you are running a marathon. Your marathon. After completing these tasks you might need to rest or might want to rest, and it's okay to do so. Rest can mean laying down and watching a movie, rest can mean reading a book or soaking in a hot bath, whatever it means to you.

One of my favorite forms of self care is journaling or self affirmations. These are both simple forms of self care that have huge benefit. Journaling can be used to keep track of your day, boost motivation, regulate your emotions, and help your overall being. To many, journaling seems like a task at large but for me I scribble onto a page, add doodles, thoughts, worries, fears etc. and make the page a reflection of my mind. Your journal is for you and you only. There are no rules as long as it feels beneficial for you.

If you want to use journaling as one of your tasks you might give yourself questions.

1. What is bothering me?

2. Can I control this problem?

3. What would help?

You can follow journaling with affirmations or positive self talk. This doesn't require a lot of energy and it can be done in a mirror, from bed, or sitting down.

Self affirmations give your brain and body positive messages and feelings. I've found that when I start my day with manifestations and repeat them before bed at night I live in a happier head space, and dont get discouraged as easily. My next blog post will discuss journaling prompts, and a list of affirmations I've found beneficial to me and my journey. I would love to hear your favorite ways to self-care, send me a message!