Self-Care is Not Selfish.
Life comes with challenges, and how we respond impacts our environment and our physical and mental state. We must take time each day to care for ourselves in healthy ways. Just as we can indulge in a daily martini or cigarettes or use other “quick fixes” to destress, we can replace bad with healthy habits. Bad habits can eventually manifest as disease. Why not use that energy to manifest the reverse; good health? If we are not in our best physical and mental shape, tending to the illness (including depression) that results from self-abuse can distract us from being our most productive selves.
The world can be mean. Would it be nice to have a personal pick-me-up for each day of the week? What habits are there to destress that do not involve nicotine, alcohol, or caffeine? There are plenty. Here are seven (7) ways to tap into self-care and to show ourselves some love every day of the week.
Mindful Monday — Develop a Weekly Strategy
Mondays are typically a challenge. They can be as jolting as an ice bath. The challenges that lie ahead likely manifest subconscious anxiety. But there is no need for us to dread our Mondays. There is a simple formula for us to conquer self-defeating thoughts. As Sun Tzu says, “All wars are won or lost before they are ever fought.” Strategy determines success. To strategize requires a sound mind. A sound mind requires focus. Mindfulness achieves focus. Mindfulness is a therapy technique that involves focusing on the present moment, acknowledging and accepting our feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. It is a way to drown out the “noise” and distractions. Only when we accept reality can we plan to change it. Each Monday, we should write weekly goals and what we need to do to achieve them. Be honest. Be mindful. Do you have habits that get in the way of your success? Do other people or things impact you? How can you accelerate your goals and remove any roadblocks? Visualize success. Strategize.
Travel Tuesday — Work Towards a Vacation
Tuesdays are the aftershock of Mondays. We are adjusting. It is easy to get caught up in the minutiae. It is easy to focus our attention so acutely on what is directly in front of us that we lose sight of the big picture. There is a reason we were born with near and far vision; We need to see what is both directly ahead and far in view. Instead of letting the immediate office politics, family disputes, lovers’ quarrels, lingering debt, and tit-for-tats drag our morale into an abyss, we can instead use our energy to plan for a vacation. Vacations elevate us from the daily hustle. They help us to view life from a fresh perspective. Vacation gives us something to look forward to. Hang a calendar of your vacation destination in your office or home as a reminder of what you have to look forward to. Instead of lamenting over a cheap shot a co-worker or boss made, cut-downs from your lover or family, celebrate quietly while making strides toward palm trees and sun. It is a lot easier to grin and bear when you know you have a cabana and pina colada to look forward to.
Wellness Wednesday — Schedule a Treatment
We have made it to hump day and deserve a pat (or massage) on the back. With any luck, we have an exciting weekend date night, a girls or guys’ night out awaiting us. Yes, our friends and significant others love us for who we are, but we still need to be the most presentable versions of ourselves. Grooming is something we all have to keep up with, like it or not. Try as we might to do our best with the at-home self-care; some things are best left to the professionals. Unless we want nails that rival Edward Scissor hands, the beard of a Viking, we need to keep up with our appointments. Spas, salons, and barbershops are booked and stressful on weekends, so why not get ahead of the crowd? Book appointments on hump days. Wednesday appointments are a win-win. Chances are, the stylist will have more time to concentrate on you when they are relaxed. The barber can practice perfecting his new technique on you. Nail technicians can give undivided attention to your claws. With everyone comfortable, you will leave looking and feeling your best.
Thirsty Thursday — Holistic Happy Hour
By Thursday, you are spoilt for choice with invites to the bar and parties. In our twenties, we can afford to soak our organs in our vice of choice. We may even succumb to the peer pressure of taking in rounds of cheap rail drinks as a rite of passage. But as we mature, the body will reject it. The mind eventually should too. Who wants to spend the weekend nursing a hangover from cheap shots anyway? You can still bond with friends over drinks. Try ordering an alternative: Kava, Kombucha, Seltzer with lime, Pitaya, Cranberry Juice — Plain, or an Energy Drink like Red Bull (in moderation). If met with protests, quiet the noise with “Alcohol has too many empty calories,” “I’m prepping for a 5K,” or “I don’t drink.” Enough said.
F It Friday — Brain Dump the BS
Friday was made to F It. There is a reason Friday is everyone’s favorite; it unofficially the start to “me time.” We sacrifice so much of ourselves for our professions. The stress can build up over the week. Deadlines, scrutiny, and criticism are naturally occurring and healthy stressors that should be balanced with pleasure. Friday is the start of time that we get to step out of that environment and let it all go. We suggest a quick-purge ritual before stepping through the portal to pleasure. Take no more than five minutes at the end of the week to actively reflect. Pull out Monday’s strategy and see where you did well or derailed. Uncritically express yourself to yourself. Forgive yourself and promise not to take worries into the weekend.
Sensual Saturday — Be Present for Yourself
When we think of sensuality, our minds immediately go to sex. But in a broader sense, sensuality means ‘pleasure to the senses.’ There is no better time to “be present” and aware of the senses than Saturday. Appreciate your body, your youth, and your current healthy state. Check-in with yourself. Take a minute to indulge and appreciate all of your senses. View what is pleasurable to see; person or landscape. Smell your favorite scents; cologne or outdoors. Listen to your favorite sounds; music or voice. Taste the flavorful; foods and drink. And touch and be touched. Political appropriateness goes out the window on weekends. Be grateful for the unbound ability to indulge the senses without constraint. Saturdays are a celebration of life.
Spiritual Sunday — Recharge
Sunday in many religions is set aside for rest. Rest permits rejuvenation, the process of giving new energy or vigor to something. It is important to recharge our batteries. Sleep in. Meditate. Pray. This is a great day to gather our spiritual strength for the challenges of the week that lie ahead.
