S4 Ep7: Who – Besides You – Can Care for Yourself?

You are the only you there is Do you like yourself? Be honest. Let’s take this a step further. Do you love yourself? This might bring up questions of conceit, arrogance, narcissism, and so on. But self-love is not any of these things. It’s about treating yourself how you would prefer that others treat you. Many of us put ourselves last. The journey of a thousand miles… Your health, wellness, and wellbeing will fluctuate over your lifetime. Multiple factors will impact them. These will be tangible and intangible, and further variable with time and experience. This means something that threw you off or made you ill yesterday could empower you and make you stronger today. Ceding all your power to anyone is pointless. Know why? Because nobody but you can be you. The only person that occupies your head, heart, and soul is you. What does it mean to care for yourself? Nearly everything related to self-care in our culture is focused on the physical. Diet, exercise, body modification, buying things – all ties to our physical selves. But the physical is only a quarter of our total self. Mental, emotional, and spiritual health gets too little attention and respect. They’re treated like an unwanted child of our health, wellness, and wellbeing. Whole generations and marginalized communities see therapy and mental health care as taboo. Most of your mental health is rooted in your subconscious. There, seated amidst your beliefs, values, and habits, the base of your mental, emotional, and spiritual self exists. You’re the whole package Self-care must address all of you. You should be mindful of your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. This can be done by practicing active conscious awareness. This is done by asking: ·        What am I thinking? ·        What am I feeling? ·        How am I feeling? ·        Why am I doing (or not doing) this, that, or the other thing? ·        What are my intentions? Each of these puts you in touch with the intangible elements of your health, wellness, and wellbeing. That’s where caring for yourself starts. Why should you care for yourself? I think that I’ve figured out the meaning of life. It’s so simple that it feels too simple to be true. But that’s why I’m convinced it is - To live. If you’re listening to this, you probably live a largely comfortable life. When you care for yourself, you give yourself the power to make more choices and decisions. That is empowerment, and that’s how you can optimize all that you do. This week’s Applied Guidance for Mindfulness Tool: Do one thing – for at least 5 minutes – for you, and only you. Read, meditate, take a walk, eat a treat, take a nap, turn off your phone, get a massage, watch something that makes you laugh, blast your radio, take a drive, or whatever. Do something that feels good and is for you alone. Immediately after your activity is done, write down (or type) what you did, why you chose to do it, and how it made you feel. Do this at least once a day, every day, for a week. See how that impacts your overall health, wellness, and wellbeing. Author Website Email Instagram Facebook LinkedIn TikTok Blogs: titaniumdon.com and mjblehart.medium.com Cover artist Fe Mahoney: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TaliasInspirations