Hi! Welcome back to the blog! How have you been? I can't believe that August is almost finished!? As much as I love the summer, I'm looking forward to fall. It's such a cozy and comforting season, isn't it? The pumpkin everything, the trees changing colors, the brisk air, warm apple cider, Gilmore Girl season! I'm telling you, it's the smallest things in life that truly bring about the most joy and happiness for me! This week, I was feeling inspired to talk about a critical aspect of self-care that really allows it to be successful for me.
When I started getting into self-care, I realized that there's one thing that makes my self-care practices most beneficial. And that's listening to myself and not doing anything that won't make me feel good. A huge part of caring for ourselves is first establishing a loving and healthy relationship with ourselves. What I mean by that is treating yourself with kindness and respect like you would to someone you love. So, when it comes to self-care, it's truly so important to be intuitive with your needs and not push yourself to do things that don't align with your needs and what you're feeling.
For example, say that one day you're feeling kind of lethargic and you need an energy boost, then your body might be craving some movement for a better mood. Or say that you're mentally feeling overwhelmed, then perhaps it's best to take a break rather than continue working. Or, say that you're feeling tired and you want to workout but your body is not feeling it that day, then it's best to choose to not workout. Maybe that day your body just needed a nice walk or some low-impact movement rather than doing more cardio. It makes a huge difference with self-care in general when we listen to the signals our holistic selves are giving us rather than choosing to make decisions that aren't in tune with our needs.
One key to listening to yourself is to avoid any outside noise and to start getting in tune with what you feel you need. When you begin focusing on your personal needs rather than what others say your needs are, you're automatically caring for yourself right there. And when you think about it, the idea of listening to your needs is in the term "self-care" itself. Being able to thoughtfully care for the self means having that self-connection and being self-aware. When you understand what you need to feel your best for your well-being, you are then able to take the actions and do the practices that would cater to those needs.
By listening to our individual needs, we're able to not do the things that wouldn't make us feel good that day. And sometimes that means saying no to certain acts of self-care that you don't feel you need one day. Self-care fluctuates throughout our days and weeks, and certain practices work better for us on some days than others. Going back to the working out example, if your body needs more low-impact movement one day, then listen to yourself and do that rather than pushing yourself to do, say cardio, when you're not feeling like it. Listening to ourselves and pursuing self-care through that lens really allows us to strengthen the relationship we have with ourselves. So, the next time you find that your mind or body is in the need of something, pay attention and practice the self-care that you're in need of. Doing so is what is truly going to give us the proper fuel and energy we need.
And that's it for this week's post, friends! I hope that you have an amazing rest of the month! I know that the end of August can be a hard time for some of us, but remember to practice self-care and prioritize it. The difference that self-care can have on how we feel is impeccable!
And remember this little quote for the upcoming week: "peace begins with a smile" - Mother Theresa
Xo,
Esha
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