Stress and Self-care

Ok, so school is back on or will be back on soon. Holidays are over and the regular routine and related stress is on its way back to our minds…

So, if there was a way to prevent it or to mitigate the suffocating and frantic feeling of distress creeping up your back and into your stomach?

The answer is self-care…

It is about the preparedness to let go of the impossible rhythms and tasks we are setting ourselves up with.

It is about finding something to do to recharge our batteries, something we’re doing that makes us forget the notion of time.

It is about doing something to pamper ourselves, cut ourselves some slack, give ourselves a time out, give ourselves a tap on our shoulder when we need it.

It sounds easy but it isn’t. The whole self-care thing is counter intuitive, at least it is to me. It is against what I learned, against what I was told about how I should behave. It is a life long learning process to accept myself and deal with my limits and my defects.

I was told that in times of stress I needed to persist, push a bit harder, go a bit further, push my limits and try to appear confident and strong.

But this is not always the right way… pushing our limits too hard and too long is not healthy and I learned this the hard way. So allow yourself some time to recharge and rest and stop beating yourself up over it. If you are not taking care of yourself, nobody is.

So what do you do when you need to relax and when you need to gather energy? Are you taking long walks in nature? Are you shopping or reading a good book? Are you taking a bath surrounded by aromatic candles? Do you reset your mind with your favourite essential oils? Are you practicing yoga or mindfulness? Are you listening to music or do a work-out?

Or are you doing pottery like I do? I get a bag of clay out and throw bowls, cups, mugs, pitchers, statuettes, plates…. While doing that I listen to podcasts or music and burn some incense or diffuse some essence; my ultimate way to relax and meditate…. sometimes you just need a little nudge to restart and self care is the tool to make this happen.

I decided not to feel guilty about it… GERONIMO!

Sep 13, 2021