As a social worker, albeit a one who now teaches social work rather than does it, I watch from the side lines and see people clearly stressed about the work they are doing, caught up in that Sunday night feeling of ‘what waits for me tomorrow’, and clearly feeling a sense of overwhelm.
I recently wrote an article on self care for Cache Alumni and started it like this….
“You can not see your reflection in running water”. I love this Taoist proverb as it reminds me that sometimes we have to slow down, take a break, and take stock. For me that’s the starting point of self care. Dodd (2007) says self care is “the practice of activities that individuals initiate and perform on their own behalf in maintaining life, health and well being” (Grafton and Coyne 2012).
I wonder what you do to ‘self care’
For me I do a range of things. I try to eat a healthy diet, I try to exercise daily, and I try to practice mindfulness and yoga. And most importantly I try to get a good nights sleep!
Did you know…
“Routinely sleeping less than six or seven hours a night demolishes your immune system, more than doubling your risk of cancer. Insufficient sleep is a key lifestyle factor determining whether or not you develop Alzheimer’s disease. Inadequate sleep – even moderate reduction for just one week – disrupts blood sugar levels so profoundly that you would be classified as pre-diabetic…” and the list goes on [from Matthew Walker’s ‘Why We Sleep’ (Page 3)]
I like to refer to sleep, nutrition and exercise as the holy trinity of self care. Read about it here. So, I ask you… What are you doing?
Nutrition
Here’s a few articles to have a look at:
Fitness
……make a start ….do something ….you owe it to yourself!