What is Self Care?
When you think of self -care what do you think of? Do you think it’s being selfish? Do you think it means not attending to others’ needs? Self-care is basically taking care of ourselves. We won’t be able to take care of anyone else if we don’t take care of ourselves first. That couldn’t be more true when dealing with a chronic illness. Self-care for the chronically ill can be a bit tricky. We are usually already hypervigilant about our bodies, diet, etc. The dictionary defines it this way: as the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health. I like that definition. It’s simple and to the po
Living with A Chronic Illness
Living with a chronic illness is challenging. Taking care of ourselves should be our primary focus. This is different from self-indulgence. Our decisions today affect our bodies and our mood in the future. How do we do that when we have other demands that need attending to with such little energy? We can start small with things we have around our own house or with things that are inexpensive. I have ten things I’d like to share with you that have been helpful to me.
Ten Things for Your Self Care
- Essential oils- topical, diffuser, baths, lotions
- Hot bath- bath bombs, Epsom salt, baking soda, essential oils
- Face Masks- homemade, store-bought
- Massage – Biofreeze, Aromalief,
- Myofascial Release- self-applied, finding a credited practioner
- Setting boundaries- books on boundaries
- Asking for what you need
- Journaling- different kinds of journals and processing
- Deep breathing/Meditation- apps
- Self-compassion- Am I treating myself as a friend would?
Over the course of several blog posts, I am going to expand on each topic. Some are for our physical self, our emotional self, and our spiritual self. These all tie together. They are not separate. We are our bodies. I have been doing a lot of research on the mind-body connection. A good book to start with is The Wisdom of Your Body by Hillary McBride. She explores how some of us have an unhealthy understanding of the body. The App Curable is another good resource. I have had that app for a few years. It has podcasts, meditations, interviews, etc.
I can’t wait to dive deeper into some of these topics and teach you some meaningful ways to take care of yourself. What do you think of when you think of self-care? I would love to hear from you! If you would like to sign up for a free self-care printable go to my sidebar on my home page.
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