Self-Care 101- Blactivity Edition

Often, we have the inclination that we need to resign from our current job or take a long vacation to decompress, but that is more often than not, impossible for the average Joe and Jane. The strongest and most successful individuals fall victim to illnesses all too often because they don’t take the time to slow down and care for themselves properly. Let us introduce you to the art of self-care. 

Self-care is the act of mindfully taking time out of your schedule to focus on your well-being. Self-care is knowing your limits and setting boundaries. Learn to recognize when you’re taking on more that you can handle. There are six different types of selfcare: emotional, physical, social, practical, mental, and spiritual. However, you choose to practice self-care, it’s important to make sure that you so periodically, to avoid fatigue and burnout from life’s everyday stresses.

If possible, one should incorporate a little piece of self-care every day to protect the energy needed to not only survive, but ultimately, thrive. Self-care is the best defense mechanism against stress and will help you live your absolute best life.

Here are some quick tips on how to incorporate daily self-care rituals in your day-to-day.

• Making a conscious effort to get some rest. Listen to your body. Everyone typically should shoot for a minimum of six hours or more of sleep a day.
• Eating a well-balanced diet. Try to stay away from consistently eating fried, greasy or sugary food items that lack nutritional value and drain energy.
• Find ways to decompress throughout the day, not just after work. Leave the work area/office on your breaks and lunches; even if you simply step outside or eat in your car. Take some time to mindlessly scroll on Instagram in between emails. Put your headphones on in the break room and listen to some music or a meditation playlist. 
• Explore options with your leadership about navigating difficult and challenging work situations. There might be some instances where a slight change in work environment or communication can lead to a significant boost in workplace morale.
• Listen to your spiritual self. Pray, meditate, practice gratitude, read/listen to something inspirational, attend religious services or simply converse with your inner you. Do whatever feels right to your soul. 
• Last but not least, love on yourself. Understand that there’s only one you and you are the expert of you. Treat yourself; whatever that may mean for you.

For someone who has never practiced self-care before, you might feel a bit overwhelmed at the thought of trying to practice daily. No worries. Baby steps. You can start off with a weekly routine and slowly incorporate one or two of these self-care tips here and there until you find a cadence that works best for you. Let’s pick one day out of the week to take care of ourselves after work. Maybe you lather up in some body butter after taking a nice hot bath on Self-care Sunday. You might even try applying a nice hair masque on wash day. It doesn’t matter where you start on yourself care journey; the important part is that you just start.