​Self-Care for the Soul - by Rochelle Bohannon

I'm super excited to welcome my first guest post! I went to a the Boss Mom Retreat in January (like a conference but so much better), and was uplifted by the amazing community of women that came together there. One of the most exciting things was finding other women with messages that I loved, and that I knew you would love, too! Thanks to Rochelle Bohannon for this great insight on the importance of self care! 
 
​SELF-CARE FOR THE SOUL

As women (and especially as moms) we tend to do all the things. We spend much of our time caring, planning and implementing for others. We’re inherently good at multitasking, so it only makes sense to embrace this. But often times, we lose sight of something very important in the process: the ability to care deeply and intentionally for ourselves.
 
Many of us are conditioned to believe that anything related to the “self” is, in fact, a selfish act. We are taught that selfishness is a bad thing. It often carries a stigma of greed and narcissism. But this is so far from the truth.
 
Self-care is an act that allows for us to maintain the integrity of our lives. Without it, we aren’t able to feel happy, productive or fulfilled. If we neglect it, we might feel anxious, empty and overwhelmed.
 
Self care helps is to feel grounded and balanced, even when life is not. I think of it like this: You need to put on your oxygen mask before you can put on someone else’s. If you aren’t breathing, there’s no way that you can help anyone else do anything.
 
You are the leader of your life, and you need to exist as the best, well-fed version of yourself. Life is demanding and oftentimes, throwing us many balls from many directions. In order to avoid burn out, we must look inward to think about what it is that we need from ourselves and from the world.
 
There are many facets of self-care:
 
Emotional

• Processing feelings (positive and negative - feeling all of your feelings is important!)
• Affirmations + Mantras
• Genuine hobbies - things that you truly love doing. Do them!

 
Physical

• Sleep
• Diet + Exercise
• Anything that has to do with your body - face masks, massages, mani-pedi, plucking your eyebrows, showers, etc.

 
Spiritual

• Something bigger than you
• A cause or mission
• Your “why” in life

 
Mental

• Reading
• Meditation
• Journaling

 
Social

• Developing supportive and energizing friendships
• Parties, gatherings, celebrations
• Time spent with others away from your immediate family

 
Practical

• Laundry
• Chores
• Bills

(Disclaimer: Many people might not consider these types of things as self-care but for me personally, it helps to include them. When I have piles of laundry and a long list of chores staring at me, I feel very overwhelmed in other areas of my life. I find that if I can tackle bite-size chores on a regular basis, this helps me feel less burdened. This is just my perspective though, so do with it what you wish.)
 
Many of these things, like sleep, exercise, affirmations, meditation and chores will be things that you might need to do on a daily basis in order to stay sane. But there are other areas that might only need your attention less often. There are an infinite number of ways to incorporate self-care into your daily life. My favorite method is to think of it this way:
 
What is one thing that you can do today to take care of yourself?
 
Since there are six aspects of self-care, I find it easiest to try and address one area specifically each day of the week, with a “freebie” day thrown in as well. For example:
 
Sunday - Spiritual (church, yoga, a walk in nature, etc.)
Monday - Emotional (affirmations for the week)
Tuesday - Mental (wake up early to read or journal)
Wednesday - Practical (do laundry, get organized)
Thursday - Social (coffee date or dinner with friends)
Friday - Physical (face mask or a massage)
Saturday - Whatever area of your life that needs a little extra love this week!
 
Keep in mind, this is a loose guideline of how it might look. Each week might be different for you, depending on what you have going on. There will be times that life might not allow you as much self-care as you hope for, but that’s okay. Remember that it’s not about being perfect; it’s about being intentional and simply recognizing that you need that extra love. That’s the first step to being able to implement self-care.  
 
Ultimately, your personal definition of self-care is what matters. Regardless of what it looks like for you, self-care should involve two things: tuning in (to yourself and your needs) and tuning out (of the outside demands from life and others).
 
Ultimately, by caring for yourself, you are allowing yourself to live authentically, stay engaged and feel productive.
 
So cheers to you, your health and your self!

​Find Rochelle Bohannon on Facebook.