Balancing time for family, friends and relationships often means there's little time left over for yourself. Before you brush that off as sounding selfish, let's take a moment to consider how taking time for self-care can boost your confidence and send a powerful ripple of positive energy into your community and the world.
What Does Self-Care Look Like?
Self-care simply refers to any form of care or love that you give yourself. It's easy to think of self-care as a kind of indulgence, but it doesn't need to take hours or include an extravagant shopping spree. Rather, you can take time for mindful self-care in little moments throughout the day to give both your confidence, and your capacity, a major boost.
For example, you can transform your daily makeup routine into a blissful moment that's just for you. Take a moment to consider your face and send love to a feature that you've always liked. Or, give yourself a gentle face massage before applying your moisturizer or foundation. Having a negative moment of self-criticism in the middle of your work day? Take a long, deep, cleansing breath. Then consciously exhale all that inner criticism.
When you've got a little more time for you, curl up on the couch with a novel and give yourself time to escape the daily grind. Self-care will look different depending on what feels best to you. Try out different approaches until you find the right fit. A thirty minute soak in a bubble bath or a brisk, mindful walk to enjoy the sights and sounds of your neighborhood might be fulfilling rituals to add to your day.
No matter what it looks like, self-care should always feel safe. It should be a comforting recharge of your physical, emotional, and spiritual self.
Why Does Self-Care Matter?
Self-care feels great, but there's a bigger point beyond pure enjoyment. Simply put, when you take time to care for yourself, you get better at caring for others. Think of self-care as a kind of oxygen mask for your soul. We all know the flight attendant speech about securing your mask first before helping anyone else in the event of an emergency and self-care asks us to apply this principle to our daily, non-emergency life.
When you practice self-care, you start to break the habit of putting yourself last. This can start a powerful shift in your mind and heart. With self-care you are making a point of telling yourself that you deserves care, love and respect. As a result, your confidence will start to rise. Going into each day from a strong foundation of self-love and confidence means that you no longer have to waste time on insecurity and anxiety. Instead, you'll have more energy to share with the world. Whether it be in the workplace, the home and beyond.
When you take time to regularly send love and compassion to yourself, it becomes natural to send love and compassion to everyone around you. Start a chain reaction of kindness and compassion and remember that the first link must always start with the most important person: you!
