THE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOURSELF SETS THE TONE FOR EVERY OTHER RELATIONSHIP YOU HAVE…

It’s Check-in time.  It’s the top of the year, and I’m sure at least one time in the last 6 months you have said to yourself, “I need to do better for myself”.  Doing better for yourself could mean a plethora of things; from working out, to taking more vacations, to just taking a second to breathe.  It’s so important that we take time to invest in ourselves, because we have a tendency to give so much to others and neglect ourselves. If the ATM keeps getting withdrawals but no deposits are made, at some point it runs out and becomes a zero balance.

Self-care is about creating the best version of yourself in every aspect, putting your overall health first.  You cannot be amazing half full or empty, you must be able to fill up your tank to be able to continue to give so much.  So, here’s 3 types of self-care and a couple of suggestions to fill up YOUR tank.

 

Spiritual

Spiritual self-care is the conscious effort to nurture a connection and a relationship with a Higher Power (google definition).  I’m not a politically correct type of chic, so let’s cut to the chase.  I need a whole lot of Jesus!  I’m no guru or spiritual advisor, but I do know having an invested interest and burning desire to create and develop a relationship with God makes a world of difference in my life.  Being able to study, learn, meditate, and implement what God wants for me is about 100% of how I’ve made it in life thus far. A couple of things that can be implemented in your life to enhance your spiritual self-care:

• Find a church home and attend regularly
• Pick up a bible study or daily devotional (Our Daily Bread – odb.org is a good one)
• Study and Meditate
• Surround yourself with like-minded, faith filled, prayer warrior friends (trust me it makes a difference)

Whatever spiritual self-care looks like for you, I urge you to DO IT!!!

Mental

Mental self-care involves activities that help declutter your mind and reduce your stress levels. When life happens, we have a tendency to get overwhelmed, stressed out, pissed off, and lacking joy.  By scheduling time each day to tend to your mental health, you can aid in reducing stress and increasing joy.

Checking in with yourself, your motives, your desires, and your thoughts is a big deal.  Your thoughts control actions, and your actions control your present and future.  Being able to control your thoughts and constantly checking in with your mental health is important.  A couple of things that can help with this:

• Journaling – writing your thoughts, concerns, plans, etc.
• Mediation (yoga, Pilates, or conscious mediation)
• Cooking (therapeutic for some)
• Being creative (painting, drawing, writing, etc.)
• Counseling – finding a counselor that works for you can be essential in your mental health and overall growth.
• Intellectual enhancement– something that challenges and enhances your mind such as reading, studying something that interests you, or even learning a new skill.
• Social interactions are important as well. Whether it be with family, friends, colleagues, or whomever; it’s important to find like-minded people that you can interact and exchange ideas with.

There’s so much more, but those are just a few.

Physical

Physical self-care is consciously doing activities that improve your health, including diet and exercise. It also includes resting when needed, as well as getting regular checkups (dentist, eye, physical, ob/gyn, etc.).  Now this topic, I’m a little well versed in (just a little).  Creating an atmosphere, from the inside out, for your body to be able to be healthy, have optimal energy, and fight off diseases is important.  Finding a diet/eating regimen that works for you, your goals, and your lifestyle is important.  Drinking water and being conscious of what you input in your system is a huge part of self-care.

Not only is the fueling of your body important, but the way in which fuel is burned is important as well.  Finding an exercise regimen that includes both strength training and cardio is essential to optimal health.  Whether that looks like 30 minutes a day or 2 hrs. per day; whatever works for you and your goals aids in the best version of the physical portion of you.

All in all, self-care is something that must be implemented in order to keep your spirit, soul, and body’s tank full.  In order to continue to be the best version of yourself and improve upon it, you must make a conscious effort to pour into yourself.  Pouring into yourself doesn’t mean to be selfish, but it means that you can continue being selfless because you have more to give.  So, remember take time to care for yourself in all 3 areas every day!  You can do it, because you matter.