Everyday Self-Care
I recently read an article in which the author made some very interesting points about a very trendy topic -- self-care. The article said that practices we often call self-care are actually escapes -- we disconnect from family, friends, and also from our healthy behaviors, to try to recover from the stress of life with solitude and indulgences. Driving ourselves to the point of needing respite from our own lives, the author points out, is not really taking care of ourselves at all. We can instead think about self-care as “making the choice to build a life you don’t need to regularly escape from.”
One place that I have seen a misguided view of self-care manifest is at the yoga studio. Many students come to the mat seeking self-care -- they have heard that doing yoga reduces stress and helps you feel more balanced. But then, especially in the beginning while they’re still learning, some students end up feeling like yoga stresses them out! I see that they are straining beyond their comfort level to get into challenging poses or do what their more experienced classmate is doing; they are trying to force their minds to be empty during meditation and getting frustrated; they skip the savasana (resting pose) and use that time for extra core work, or to leave class early and race to their next appointment. Rather than allowing themselves to learn to balance their effort with ease, and relax into the spaciousness of their energy, they are filling up with what they are used to -- more stress.
Well, if you can’t escape and you can’t force it to happen, how do you practice self-care?
The first thing to remember with self-care, with yoga, with playing the trombone, with anything we practice, is that it's a practice, not a perfect! Change takes time (I know patience isn’t easy -- we have to practice that too!). Those stressed-out yoga students I described above? They are 100% capable of feeling more comfortable during and after yoga class. In time, with practice and patience, with intention and curiosity, they will open up to yoga as self-care, rather than self-competition.
I know it’s true that we are busy, busy people. In our society, more people than ever are self-employed and working multiple jobs, often while also taking care of families. Social media has us convinced that there is always more we can and should be doing. It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that our value is based on our productivity -- but that’s a dangerous thought-path to go down!
Our value as human beings does not come from how much money we make or how many “likes” we can get. As I’ve learned from studying yoga philosophy, our value comes from within our hearts, and the loving-kindness that we share with ourselves and others. One important way that we can express that love is by practicing everyday acts of self-care -- the kind that will keep us moving at a healthy pace, rather than repeatedly stalling out and needing recovery. By making self-care our lifestyle, instead of something we use to escape from our lifestyle, we can be more connected and present for ourselves and others!
All of this got me thinking about the ways that I practice self-care on a daily basis (and the ways that I wish I did -- I’m a work-in-progress too!). Here is my list of Everyday Self-Care practices -- the things I can do on a regular basis, so that I can enjoy balancing, instead of burnout!
One place that I have seen a misguided view of self-care manifest is at the yoga studio. Many students come to the mat seeking self-care -- they have heard that doing yoga reduces stress and helps you feel more balanced. But then, especially in the beginning while they’re still learning, some students end up feeling like yoga stresses them out! I see that they are straining beyond their comfort level to get into challenging poses or do what their more experienced classmate is doing; they are trying to force their minds to be empty during meditation and getting frustrated; they skip the savasana (resting pose) and use that time for extra core work, or to leave class early and race to their next appointment. Rather than allowing themselves to learn to balance their effort with ease, and relax into the spaciousness of their energy, they are filling up with what they are used to -- more stress.
Well, if you can’t escape and you can’t force it to happen, how do you practice self-care?
The first thing to remember with self-care, with yoga, with playing the trombone, with anything we practice, is that it's a practice, not a perfect! Change takes time (I know patience isn’t easy -- we have to practice that too!). Those stressed-out yoga students I described above? They are 100% capable of feeling more comfortable during and after yoga class. In time, with practice and patience, with intention and curiosity, they will open up to yoga as self-care, rather than self-competition.
I know it’s true that we are busy, busy people. In our society, more people than ever are self-employed and working multiple jobs, often while also taking care of families. Social media has us convinced that there is always more we can and should be doing. It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that our value is based on our productivity -- but that’s a dangerous thought-path to go down!
Our value as human beings does not come from how much money we make or how many “likes” we can get. As I’ve learned from studying yoga philosophy, our value comes from within our hearts, and the loving-kindness that we share with ourselves and others. One important way that we can express that love is by practicing everyday acts of self-care -- the kind that will keep us moving at a healthy pace, rather than repeatedly stalling out and needing recovery. By making self-care our lifestyle, instead of something we use to escape from our lifestyle, we can be more connected and present for ourselves and others!
All of this got me thinking about the ways that I practice self-care on a daily basis (and the ways that I wish I did -- I’m a work-in-progress too!). Here is my list of Everyday Self-Care practices -- the things I can do on a regular basis, so that I can enjoy balancing, instead of burnout!
