Does Self-Care work?
Some people say self-care doesn't work and I don't completely disagree.
Self-care isn't one-size-fits-all and I think we all know this. It only works when tailored to your specific needs. But in order to apply the right type of self-care, you first need to identify your emotions.
Learning to recognize and name what you're feeling is such an important step and one we often skip. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to yoga my way out of anxiety or deep-breathe my way through stress and it didn't work. Why? Because I was skipping the step of identifying what I was really feeling and why.
It wasn't until I started pausing to check in with myself that things changed. "Okay, am I actually anxious right now? Am I angry, or maybe just hurt?" Once I got clear on that, choosing the right self-care approach became so much easier. Sometimes, that meant realizing that a workout session wasn't going to cut it when I was feeling disconnected and instead, I needed to have a conversation with someone. Or recognizing that my stress was actually burnout, and I needed to set some boundaries.
Don't get me wrong, journaling, meditation, exercise - they're all great tools and tools I use quite often. But they work best when you match them to what you're actually experiencing. It's about combining self-awareness with self-care.
So next time you're tempted to dismiss self-care as ineffective, ask yourself: Am I choosing my self-care practices based on what I think I should do, or what I actually need?
