Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Self-Care for Women: Making Sure Your Needs Are Met






"The name of the game is taking care of yourself, because you`re going to live long enough to wish you had." - Grace Mirabella


Self-care can be very difficult for women because times have changed significantly. Nowadays, most women have many of the same responsibilities as they had fifty years ago, plus they work to make ends meet or because they enjoy pursuing a career.


These intense responsibilities make it more difficult than ever for a woman to take care of her body, mind, and spirit the way that she needs to.


What is Self-Care?


Self-care is what women need to do to take care of themselves holistically on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level. Self-care for women means getting in touch with her inner self and pampering it. After all, you are a Goddess and deserve to be pampered!


Without taking care of your entire body, mind and spirit, you can literally drive yourself to exhaustion. Plus, if you lose touch with yourself, then you’re more likely to lose touch with your family, friends, and career.


It’s Time to Make Time


Although it may seem as if time isn’t available, it’s time to make time. Start with a few minutes of me-time before bed to reflect, pray, or meditate.


First, determine your preferred way to care for yourself before bed. Maybe you enjoy writing in a journal to write your feelings out and reflect upon those things. Maybe you feel that listening to music while taking a bubble bath is exactly what you need. Maybe prayer or meditation helps re-center your soul.


· Be sure to give priority to your me-time so you can meet your emotional and spiritual needs.


You want to make sure your own needs are met before trying to meet the needs of others. After all, how can you effectively meet the needs of others if you can’t even meet your own?


Being a woman, people turn to you for answers. They turn to you with questions about life, family, career, and just about anything under the sun. You have to be mentally and emotionally prepared to take on anything, which is why self-care is very important in your life. You must be a trustworthy source for yourself before anyone else.


Manage the Stress in your Life


There are numerous demands and responsibilities placed on your shoulders, which women can perceive as stressful situations. Responding to life situations without stress is crucial for your physical and mental well being.


Managing stress includes doing things such as relaxing, exercising and enjoying hobbies and other activities. If you like to work crossword puzzles, work ‘em! If you like to play computer games, play computer games! If you need a girls’ night out, call up your friends and go out! It’s crucial to balance activities, demands, and appointments with taking some time to relax and enjoy yourself.


If you’re frustrated at work, work through those frustrations by gaining a new perspective on the situation and listing the things you can do to make it better. Just letting the situation sit and simmer is not going to make it any better because it may eventually come to a boil.


If there are situations in your life that need attention, give them attention. This is another aspect of self-care because you’re making sure you eliminate as much conflict as possible in your life before they consume you.


This is especially important to women because women deal with conflict on a different level than men. Where some men duke it out on a physical level, women do it more on an emotional level.


· You keep from responding to life with stress by keeping your body, mind, and spirit healthy.


Paying attention to your own physical, emotional and spiritual needs is paramount to a healthy well-being in today’s world. When you make self-care a priority, you’re able to fully enjoy your life on all levels.


Incorporate as many of these self-care tips into your life as possible. You are worth it! After all, you model how you want to be treated by how well you treat yourself.


"The more you love yourself, the better you perform." - M. K. Soni

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