The Importance of Self-Care

"When I put myself first, everything around me benefits."

Self-Care is the Best Care

Take a moment and vibe with me and let’s reflect on our day. 

Close your eyes and take a deep breath and think about what you did today to take care of yourself. Let's take it a step further, imagine a perfect day filled with your ideal self-care routine. What does it look like? What are your goals for the day? What do you wear? How do you feel at this moment? How do you see yourself? Are your needs being met? What are you grateful for and what are your thoughts? 

Now open your eyes and repeat after me, “You have to nourish to flourish”, and let’s dive into why it’s necessary to incorporate self-care into your life every-day, and ways you can do this. 

First and foremost, let’s be honest - self-care is not always easy to add into our day, due to our busy schedules and life in general, but taking time to rest and replenish and feed your mind, body, spirit, and soul is important because it allows you to serve from a place of overflow, not an empty vessel. It makes you feel cared for, nourished, restored, revitalized, and unstoppable. When you are in that space there’s a feeling of renewed energy, and power. I’m talking about game changing power - that gives you the confidence and mindset you will need to achieve all your goals and dreams, live your life on your terms, and have everything that you want. I don’t know about y’all but, I’m definitely here for all that.  

Self-Care Moments to Live For

Oftentimes as women and entrepreneurs we don’t take the time to recharge our mind, body, soul, and spirit, yet we don’t forget to charge our phones (food for thought). We tend to go through life always in hustle and grind mode and taking care of everyone else before we take care of ourselves. We train our mind to think that we must be superwomen! If we wake up at 4:30 am we feel that we can get a lot more done and have a productive day. If we sleep too long and we are not ill, then we feel that we are lazy. We think that we must always be strong and put on a brave face even on days, we don’t feel that way. If we tell people no, then we are being mean or a bitch - even if saying no is best for us. Sis, it’s time for you to change your mind set about your self-care and make yourself a priority, and not feel guilty about it. I’m challenging you to step into your self-care routine and here are some ways you can do this: 

Let’s start with the mind! If you are like me then you need to have daily mindgasms. A few ways you can experience them daily are by journaling, practicing mind stimulation, and digital detoxing. Journaling gives you a way to do some mental clean-up. This will help you to declutter your mind and regain mental energy. It can also help you identify your emotions and get rid of stress. Set a time each day, even if it’s five minutes to write down your thoughts, or even how you feel.  

Studies have shown that crossword puzzles, math and trivia games can help keep your mind young - they help to boost your concentration, focus, and memory skills. This sounds like a trip to Target to me - let’s go and purchase some crossword puzzle books, so that we can further stimulate our mind.  

Our digital tools are often a distraction, and they make it easy for us to waste time. If you are constantly reaching for your phone and checking your social media, you can’t be present in the moment. Commit to spending an entire day a week without your phone, computer, tablet, and TV. If an entire day seems impossible, start by doing just a weekly two-hour digital detox. 

Next, let’s take a look at some self-care options. The first one is sleep - sleep is the most important part of self-care. It is very important for you to develop a healthy sleep routine. Take time to unwind from your day, create a sleep schedule, create a relaxing environment, and limit caffeine and naps as much as possible. Also, regular exercise can improve your mood, help you relax, and increase your self-confidence - add this to your daily routine. Last but certainly not least is the relationship you have with the food that you eat. What we eat has the ability to create a better sense of balance in our life so let’s commit to eating healthily at least 3-4 times out of the week. 

Sis, it’s the spiritual care for me - because spiritual care is healthy for the soul! Meditation, prayer, and affirmations are just a few ways you can commit to taking care of your soul. Each one serves a different purpose, meditation helps your cognitive mind to slow down and access your more intuitive self, which in turn allows you to tune into your soul's wants and needs. Whereas prayer is a way for you to speak to your higher power or connection and find a deeper meaning in life. While affirmations are used to speak life into your life, and they help you create the life you want - often in attracting wealth and happiness. Remember what you speak and believe is what you will receive - it’s about the law of attraction and training your mind and your voice in a positive way.  

There are many more things you can do to practice self-care like reading, pampering yourself, shopping, traveling, etc. - just make sure that you do it! Commit to incorporating one self-care option into your day for the next 90 days (about 3 months) - it will then become a habit that you will look forward to experiencing daily. 

P.S. Affirmations, praying, journaling, reading, shopping, and traveling are a few of my favorite self-care options. If you want to share yours with me, tag me on Instagram @Diamond_Girlz_Society 

XOXO,

Stacey K. Parker