Taking Care of Yourself
Happy December everyone!! The holidays are upon us which is super exciting, but also means exams and family obligations. Although I am blessed with the best family ever, it is still important to take time for myself.
In taking care of yourself, you will be much more emotionally, physically, and mentally available for others. I notice when I do something for myself, I am much happier and want others to feel the same joy I am experiencing. Also, doing things for myself, taking breaks, relaxing, etc. helps me to be ready to complete the next days tasks. For example, on Thursday I was dreading my whole afternoon. I was exhausted and “over it.” When I start to feel unexcited about life and feel the dread and monotony of each day I know that I need to stop forcing a workout and making work happen and listen to what my body is telling me. Taking care of yourself means listening to what you need in the moment which will be different from one day to the next.
I also find this to mean blocking out judgement or comparison. To improve your overall health and wellbeing, you have to focus on yourself, not anyone else. Do what needs to be done for you. Start setting boundaries and be ok with saying no to whatever does not serve you. This is directly linked with trusting yourself. Your needs are completely different from the needs of others. For example, with food it can be easy to compare what you eat to what others eat especially with tons of influencers showing what they eat, but you have different needs than others. You may need to eat different amounts at different times and that is perfectly normal.
Part of taking care of yourself is properly fueling your body. It is not “cool” or “healthy” to eat less than someone else. Can we stop bragging about how little we have eaten in a day? No one cares and it is not healthy. Eating less than someone else does not make you better or worse than them. You personally need to know how much you need to eat to keep your energy levels stable. We eat to keep us going. We need food to survive.
On another note, I started thinking to myself that if I can’t decide whether I am pushing myself too hard, not enough, or whatever it may be I need to ask myself, “does this help attain the best version of myself?” To be able to answer this you need to know what the best version of yourself looks like and what your overall goals are. This does not have to be definite and can easily change, but what are you trying to obtain for yourself right now?
One of the main reasons I workout is to make myself feel more powerful and more energized. I also want to live a healthy lifestyle in which I feel like an athlete. I love the feeling of being strong, doing crazy tricks, playing sports, and having great endurance, but for this to occur I need to push myself past what I deem possible. However, rest is of equal importance which is hard for me to instill. Sometimes, negative self-talk comes along with rest, but we must remember that we have to take care of ourselves and take breaks. Breaks allow us to come back even better and allows us to enjoy other aspects of our lives. Life is not about checking off boxes. On Thursday when I didn’t feel like working out, but felt like “I should” I asked myself why? I then came to the conclusion that I was just trying to check something off the productivity list, but what I really wanted to do was chill with my sister and take a nap. On the other hand, on Wednesday I was also low energy, but I knew a workout was how I needed to take care of myself. I needed a few things: the outdoors, movement, and the yoga community. I highly recommend going to yoga or finding a strong community because of the bliss that comes from simply existing in that environment. I notice when I go to yoga I am instantly happier and wish the best for everyone. It makes me a better person, not only showing up for myself, but showing up and being there for others.
You need to take care of yourself everyday. Not once a week, everyday. Self-care is so much fun during the holidays because you can watch holiday movies, go ice skating, build gingerbread houses, make holiday desserts, etc. I make sure that everyday includes at least one act of self-care It doesn’t have to be anything special, but you need to dedicate specific time for yourself. Mentally tell yourself that you are taking personal time. I make sure that I don’t think about school until I get to school. No stressful thoughts in the morning or during family dinner. My workouts are my “me-time.”
I briefly mentioned it above, but positive self talk is one of the biggest ways to take care of yourself. You need to be kind. This can be difficult for me, but it is important to always try and improve how you think and speak to yourself. When you are kind to yourself, you can then be kind to others.
Lastly, know what you need and take it unapologetically. This is a lesson I have learned from yoga and established in my day-to-day life. “You do you boo” as one of my favorite yoga teachers says. Take less, take more, take whatever you need.