.png)
What: Self-care is the action we take with mindset, activities, practices, and habits we bring to bear against stress, unhappiness, illness, depression, and many more negative emotions.
Self-care is about giving ourselves relief and balance when we feel overwhelmed. It is about addressing our problems holistically. Self-care activities are usually carried out, or at least initiated by, the person themselves. To care for yourself, you need to know your needs and seek them out. What makes you thrive? Not just survive…
What’s working?
What’s not working? (are you settling for things?)
What changes do I need to make? (brainstorm)
What would the ideal outcome be? What would that look like?
What are you willing to give up?
What is non-negotiable?
Who may I need for support?
How may I need support?
Where do I need to ask for support?
How will I stay accountable?
Why Is Self-Care Important?
Of course, it’s been easier said than done. Us moms, for example, are notorious for putting our families' needs ahead of our own. But how can one truly take really good care of others if they don’t take care of themselves?
In fact, the first mention of self-care goes back as far as the Egyptians, where they discussed self-care ideas like using specific oils to improve moods and fight ailments (aka essential oils, and Coach Michele has a lot of them for certain things!)
Finding Balance without the guilt…
The first thing to remember about self-care is that it is not indulgent. I see this in so many who have that “parent guilt.” They are at work most of the day, and then they want to crash on the couch with their families or “check out” on their screens. They forget how we are models for our children. Our children (no matter the age) are sponges! The importance of self-care needs to be instilled in ourselves and our children. We are living in a world that now is battling an obesity rate of over 80% for men and 70% for women!!! And tons like millions of children are obese! So where are we falling short here?
Fitness- We don’t make this a priority. We consider it a luxury, or an extra, or less important than paying for those online movies. No one needs to be an ultra runner here, but one does need to take the recommendations of 6 days a week of cardiovascular exercises for at least 30 minutes. As well as 3x a week a full body strengthening program. This combination is most ideal to remain, heart-healthy, as well as physically, mentally, and overall body wellness.
Nutrition- WE ARE STARVING!!!! Yet obese?! Yes.. most American’s for example consume products that are full of chemicals and lack any nutrition content. Therefore, we keep eating, and eating, and eating… I strongly recommend looking into the Whole Foods Nutrition plan… Its nutrient-dense structure starves off cancers, diseases, and diabetes.
Mental Health- we are walking around burnt out, unbalanced, malnutrition, and just downright miserable! We work and work at jobs we hate, we give up on dreams, and we find excuses in the process. And most of the time, the why...is because it’s easier. We’d rather stay miserable than wake up 20 minutes earlier to get a little meditation, fitness, and nutrition in. We make excuses for ourselves, our children, and we end up looking the other way. We sadly settled.
“If you don’t change something, nothing will change!”
I can say, I’m with you on some of this. I am not perfect yet, I am here to help and share my experiences too. So I say, take the chance. Take the leap (and I do mean leap, yes little changes can reap big rewards but if you are inpatient like I am … I say leap don’t just hop). Make big changes if you are really far off. You will see benefits quicker and be more motivated to keep going. But again, little changes are great for success too. Especially if you have patience. So what does this look like?
Nutrition Examples:
Drink a gallon of water daily
Eat a large salad with light dressing daily
Include a nutritious smoothie daily
Or go all out. Get a nutritionist, get help, get yourself and your family on a healthy schedule. Only buy healthy things, if you have unhealthy options in the house, you will eat them!
Exercise Examples:
Instead of crashing on the couch as a family to watch a movie, do a yoga session together.
Consider forest bathing. A fancy word for walking in the woods. Getting outdoors daily no matter the weather has been proven to aid in all sorts of mind, body, and soul care.
Play a game! Get off the screens and do something like a scavenger hunt around the house. Get up get moving!
Getting back to your own self-care...
One could simplify the categories by the following:
Emotional
Mental
Physical
Pleasure
Sensory
Social
Spiritual
Taking each of these categories, consider making 3 goals for each. Then working backward. 3 overall big yearly goals for these categories, 3 monthly goals, 3 weekly goals, and 3 daily goals. If you missed it, we have several goal-setting methods, how to best execute goals, and define them in our previous blog posts.
You can do this as a family as well. Sit down for a goal-setting session. Create your own then create some as a family. Post them on the fridge and more. Be sure to carve out that self-care time for each individual. For example, hot Epsom salt baths are wonderful. They help relax you, detox you, and offer a time for meditation to further prepare you for the next day. Give each family member a 20-minute session to do their bath on a given day!
Finally, we’ve said it before, creating healthy habits is key. This a sum up of what I recommend :)
Healthy Habits
Exercise
Nutrition
Sleeping 8 hrs a night
Commitment! Even though the bad stuff is manifesting in front of your face we still choose to ignore it or only do the minimum. Who are you really? Who could you be? You are blind to your own strengths and weaknesses, consider getting a coach, a friend, or a spouse to work with you on some of your goals and define them. If you can’t, start with just ONE change. 1 positive thing, 1 healthy habit you will include daily.
So many Adults feel that exercise is a selfish thing. They view it as a privilege, not as a must. Common excuses are that it takes away from time with their kids or being able to do important things like work meetings. But can I ask? What good is it going to do when you can’t walk your daughter down the aisle for her wedding because you're either dead or in a wheelchair on oxygen? Or how about because your daughter isn’t walking down the aisle because she is in a wheelchair on oxygen because you didn’t set a good example for her when she was a child? Exercise is a MUST. It should be a priority, not an option. 30 minutes daily is all you need to sustain a healthy lifestyle. If you want that brownie, well it’s going to take a little more.
1. Exercise:
Weight Control. One of the most common benefits of exercise is that it helps you control and manage your weight. ...
Physical Fitness. Exercise doesn't just keep you trim—it helps you stay healthy. … by building aerobic power. Your aerobic capacity is your body's ability to work at maximum capacity by getting oxygen from the air to your body's tissues. ...
Reduces blood pressure. ...
Lowers Type 2 diabetes risk. ...
Maintains immune functioning. ...
Reduces body fat. ...
Keeps bones strong. ...
Builds muscle mass. ...
Improves breathing
Energy. ...
Mental Health. ...
Long-Term Health.
2. Nutrition
Weight Loss. Or maintaining a healthy weight.
Heart Health. ...
Strong bones and teeth. ...
Better mood and energy levels. ...
Improved memory and brain health.
Healthy diets boost "good" cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein) and decrease unhealthy triglycerides. This directly impacts risk of heart disease, stroke, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and high blood pressure by helping your blood flow smoothly.
70% of deaths are due to chronic diseases that can be helped with nutrition even up to 66%!
3. Sleep-
Sleep Keeps Your Heart Healthy.
Sleep May Help Prevent Cancer. ...
Sleep Reduces Stress. ...
Sleep Reduces Inflammation. ...
Sleep Makes You More Alert. ...
Sleep Improves Your Memory. ...
Sleep May Help You Lose Weight. ...
Napping Makes You Smarter.
Build Healthy Habits
Plan. Identify unhealthy patterns and triggers. ...
Change your surroundings. Find ways to make healthier choices easy choices. ...
Ask for support. ...
Fill your time with healthy activities. ...
Track your progress. … leading and lagging
Imagine the future. ...
Reward yourself. ...
Be patient
Suggestions:
7 Minutes each morning… . Lets call it the Slick 7. Go through these three things (daily if possible!)...
1. I will let go of...
2. I am grateful for...
3. I will focus on...
It takes 2 minutes to write just one thing down.. (work your way up to no more than 10).. and then meditate on them for 5 minutes. Emphasizing #3.
Protein Smoothie (daily)
1 gallon of water
Forest Bathing- 15 minute walk daily in the woods
1 cup of carrots (get a container or containers, schedule 1 day a week 1 hr where you will divide all this up!)
Goals- schedule a goal day weekly, they say 1 hour of goal planning can save you 10 hours of work!
Create a defined daily routine. And stick with it. Especially in the morning.
For example:
5 am: wake up, slick 7.
5:30 am: 15 minutes cardio
5:45 am: 15 strength (Rugged Running we have no equipment strength videos that are 15 mins or less!)
6:00 am shower
6:30 am breakfast
7:00 am work (the more details you have the better, for example
a. work on project B 1 hour
b. work on kids homeschooling structure for the day 30 minutes
c. work on phone calls for business 30 minutes
9:00 am Start homeschooling (cover geography, math, and spelling)
10:00 am family hike
10:30 am
a. arts and crafts (get the kids started on a project)
b. answer work emails
11:30 am Lunch
Noon: Run the dogs
1 pm :
a. Quiet time for the kiddos
b. Work time for me
and so on…
Finally! Make a checklist! You can make one for food, water, all the above…
1 gallon of water
1 protein smoothie
1 cup of carrots
1 cup of beans
15 min forest bath walk
7 min slick 7
Exercise 30mins
Sleep 8hrs
Don't know where to start?
We have options to get you going and growing and GLOWING!
There are a few spots left at our (She) RUGGED RETREAT!!!
use code: LOVE YOU for a discount (sale ends February 16th!) or upon sell out