Self-care is becoming a mainstream part of conversation in both personal and professional arenas and it’s something we’ve been talking about with our clients and becoming more aware of in our own lives and in our professional coaching practice.
When life is so busy, taking time out for ‘self-care’ can feel overly indulgent, a luxury we don’t have time for and it can even leave us feeling guilty for prioritising ourselves over others, but what if we look at it differently? Viewing self-care instead, as an essential part of our personal development, a way to help us function in day to day life and a way to support us as we deal with the inevitable set-backs and hurdles of life.
A Harvard Business Review article entitled “Resilience is about how you recharge not how you endure” hints immediately in the title about the importance of taking time out. The article presents “The key to resilience is trying really hard, then stopping, recovering, and then trying again….” This is a fascinating article – you can read more by clicking the link below. It really challenges the whole idea that resilience is about toughing it out and focuses more on building in recovery time to build our resilience.
Does this resonate with you?
How do you build in recovery periods so you can recharge?
Brad Waters in a Psychology Today article shares the “10 traits of emotionally resilient people” and he states that “Those who master resilience tend to be skilled in preparing for emotional emergencies and adept at accepting what comes at them with flexibility rather than rigidity – times are tough but I know they will get better.” Another great article – you can read more below.
One of the traits he refers to is self-care – emotionally resilient people have a “menu of self-care habits”.
So what sort of self-care habits could you incorporate into your life right now? Remember it doesn’t need to be something big that takes a lot of time, and there will be certain things that work for you more than others, and what you choose may also depend on your mood or what you are dealing with in that moment. We all have friends who make a drama even more of a drama, they leave us feeling even more anxious than we started, and hopefully we have other friends who are content to just be with us if we’re struggling, they listen, calm us and leave us feeling so much better than we did before. For some of us baking a cake can be hugely beneficial and calming, for others it just causes stress, and mess, and more stress! Learn about yourself and your needs.
Why not try one of these, or try a few, build self-care into your life and see what works for you…we’d love to hear how you get on…
- Meditate
- Take a walk
- Doodle / draw
- Have a bath
- Listen to some music
- Play an instrument
- Sing
- Dance
- Take deep breaths
- Breathe in some fresh air
- Sit quietly with a cup of tea
- Stare at the horizon
- Learn something new
- Watch an inspiring talk
- Listen to an uplifting pod cast
- Read a book
- Burn a scented candle
- Take a bike ride
- Exercise
- Bake a cake or cook a meal
- Watch or read something funny
- Do something kind for someone else
- Practice gratitude
- Coffee with a friend
- Do something creative
- Write in a journal
- Have a go with an adult colouring book
- Turn off electronics
- Take a social media break
- Fly a kite
- Take a nap
- Rest your legs up against a wall
- Practice some yoga
- Go to the gym
- Go for a bike ride or swim
- Pet a furry friend
- Call a friend
We hope you found this interesting and useful and are inspired to build and implement your own self-care habits.
Good luck
Emma & Jenny
Emma Shute & Jenny Pollock are the founders & coaches of Women to Work. As well as designing and delivering Women’s Development Programmes, Emma & Jenny both offer one to one coaching sessions via Zoom. For more information contact Emma & Jenny here.
Read more…
Ref: https://hbr.org/2016/06/resilience-is-about-how-you-recharge-not-how-you-endure
Ref: article by Brad Waters: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/design-your-path/201305/10-traits-emotionally-resilient-people