Here is what I learned from 30 days of intentional self-care

Taking care of yourself can sometimes feel like a chore. Many of us have busy and full lives, and taking care of our needs tends to take a back seat to everything else. We only check in with ourselves when something goes wrong; whether it’s mentally or physically we don’t care for our needs with intention.

This lack of attention/intention when it comes to maintaining ourselves; results in many feeling burnt out, exhausted, and just generally unhappy. Self care with intention is about caring for yourself deliberately. Intentional self care is beneficial not only for you, but also for the ones you care for. The benefits include improved overall health, reduction in burnouts and wasted energy, and much more.

A few months ago I challenged myself to be intentional about taking care of myself for 30 days and here is what I learned:

When I take care of myself with intention, I have these moments where I find my stride and it’s great, but those great feelings lead me to complacency; which leads me to completely fall off.

Falling off is normal and in fact very common it looks different at any given moment. The key is being aware of your red flags and alerts, that you may be falling off. In the past I may have fallen off, to the point that I don’t know where to start again. I struggled with this experience over and over, until I started to be intentional about caring for my self. When I became intentional about my self- care I learned to put a system of checks and balances in place; it’s important to understand that sometimes you will fall off of taking care of yourself because let’s be honest…. LIFE!

So remember…….

• Consistency is KEY!

• It can be very helpful to have someone to hold you accountable.

• The longer you wait to begin taking care of yourself, the more work you will have to do.

• If you are struggling to take care of yourself, It may also mean you having a hard time checking-in with You.

• Self care looks different in each individual.