Why Treat Yo'Self Just Isn't Enough Sometimes.

We may not realize this but sometimes Self-Care is talking about Self-Care. 

For me, talking about self-care serves as a personal reminder. Verbally expressing my passion for self-care and overall well-being to another person or group is fulfilling for me. I begin to light up when I talk about my journey to self-care and I notice how I'm gradually learning to appreciate the art of mindfulness.

In a recent post here on JOYDay, I shared the importance of celebrating small joys, because regardless of the size, they still count. This past week, I had the opportunity to share my passion for the topic of self-care and mindfulness with a group of New Professionals in the field of Higher Education. I shared this small joy expressing how this opportunity came about just by me taking a chance on myself and submitting a conference proposal on any topic of my choice for an upcoming workshop; my area of expertise and passion , drum-roll please, SELF-CARE!

Photo by GIPHY

Reclaiming My Time: Self-Care, Mindfulness and The Importance of Quality of Life Among New Professionals

I was overwhelmed with JOY when I received the e-mail with the opportunity to present and then the afternoon of when I saw how many New Professionals chose my session to sit it on and be well fed with information about self-care and mindfulness. In a previous post, I shared that I second-guess myself and I can be my biggest critic so my first thought was, "Who would want want to talk about Self-Care?" Or "Don't we already know how to Treat Ourselves?" So the level of positive emotions I had running through my mind were intense! 

In the self-care session, I actually addressed the point of how sometimes "Treat yo'self" just isn't enough. Ask yourself, Is it or isn't it. Well, it depends on how you look at it. For me, I know that If I am at the check out counter at Ulta or Sephora and I need an excuse to spend an excessive amount of money, I always gas myself up by saying "you deserve it!" or "treat yo'self!" You can imagine, the conversations and insight on that phrase itself brought up a healthy conversation. 

Photo by GIPHY

I began to unfold how sometimes, many of us relate self-care to spending money or actively getting up and out of the house to do something but it doesn't always have to be the case. When was the last time you were kind to yourself or kind to someone else? When was the last time you sat and lived in the present moment and you were able to list all the things you were grateful for? It's a gift to ourselves when we can focus on what's going right in our lives, and when we can focus on the people who do continuously show up for us versus the ones that don't. 

The main basis of the presentation was developing new ways to incorporate self-care into our personal lives and also developing ways to incorporate into our work as well. I didn't realize it until I was in that moment of mindfulness that I shared with the audience "This right here, talking about self-care with you all, is self-care for me!" In that moment, I was truly grateful to be have had the opportunity to share research, personal stories, helpful tips and resources on the topic of self-care and contribute to a healthy conversation about how others can continue to lead a healthy lifestyle. 

Photo by GIPHY

Here are some helpful ways that you can contribute to your own self-care that doesn't necessarily involve money or other people:

1. Allow yourself Grace.
2. Control what you can control
3. Practice self-compassion
4. Practice mindfulness
5. Practice gratitude
6. Unplug from technology

Remember, Self-Care doesn't look the same for everyone so when you begin to identify what contributes to your self-care make sure that you are practicing it daily. Your overall well-being and physical health is just as important as your mental health. 

Embrace it.