Self Care….are we in danger of feeling selfish?

I’ve taken to building in some dedicated self care into my week: now that might sound like “well so what Andrea” but it really is a big deal for me: as someone who felt “self care” was self indulgent, selfish and a bit “namby pamby” i never considered it as part of any health/wellbeing regime. I never accessed the concept of self care before my yoga adventure began in 2016. Yin yoga stretched my patience as well as my hamstrings, irritated me, made me feel guilty for spending an hour lying on a mat when there was SO much to do?

Sound familiar?

I was a middle aged women, entering the menopause, working full time with voluntary commitments to a community council, a political party, the Children’s Panel and was hell bent on ending gender inequality!!! Fast forward nearly ten years, and i can honestly say that the lessons i learn on the mat each week have led me to believe that our bodies are our best friends, and when a best friend gently whispers in your ear “is it not about time you slowed down” you know it’s conveyed with love and compassion: so why would your body not give you the same said whispers?

Self care is self love, a belief that you deserve it, is it not?

Yes of course but the practice of self care helps you believe it, helps you gain the benefits and honour your body in a way that is nourishing and nurturing: we only have one, so we need to take care of it in a world that tells us faster, higher, deeper, stronger and heavier are the only goals in town? When we are consistently taught that our body shape/size is a definition of who we are, and that we will never “make it” until we work our butts off to be just the way society determines is normal (and acceptable): well self care is actually an act of rebellion, an act that says “i need this, i want this and i’m not going to justify it to anyone”: these acts such as a bath in the afternoon, a journalling session in the garden, lemon and poppy seed loaf with single cream, foot cream all enable us to release the shackles of “expectation”.

There are as many self care acts as there are bodies and far from being selfish, these acts are necessary to balance to overwhelming pressure to perform, they are taking power back!

Do it, do it often and however you like: when we are in tune with our bodies, we are unstoppable!

But more seriously, there are huge benefits to taking some time out to care for ourselves and as I continue on my self care journey i return to the mat time and time again: nowhere to hide, just you, your body and your breath: stepping on the mat to see what comes up is self care in action (as is lemon and poppy seed loaf with single cream, just slightly less healthy!)

18 Reasons to Practice Self-Care

A lovely Yoga Journal article to explain the actual benefits of self care, rather than the reflections of an ageing self care apprentice!

PS - i LOVE yin yoga now, and so do my hamstrings!!