SELF CARE SUNDAY
What is SELF CARE really and why is it so important?
My definition of self care is:
Self care is doing whatever you define as caring for yourself that fills up your energetic well.
That could be taking your time with a cup of tea, walking outside and taking a few dep breaths before anyone else wakes up, taking 10 minutes to stretch as the sun rises, dancing in your kitchen, taking a breath, a drink of water, lighting a candle, putting some hand lotion on…
The list is endless and to be designed by you.
But WHY make self care a priority?
Why is there such buzz around self care?
Because self care helps to bring more to your well of energy and brings you back in love with yourself and the truth of who you are…..
Imagine that you are a well of energy and there is a constant withdrawal and deposit in your well. You are putting stuff out in the world that requires your energy. You are receiving stuff back from the world that fills your energy.
The problem is that often there is an imbalance in the output and input of your energy.
We are often very good at offering out love, support and care but not taught how to replenishing our energy level.The result?
Burnout
Exhaustion
Crankiness
Lethargy
Depression
Anxiety
Frustration
Apathy
Overwhelm
Stress
…to name a few.
Self care does a lot of things that benefit your whole system - body, mind and spirit. Here are 10 Benefits of Self Care that Might Surprise You!
1) Self Care Improves Resilience
In the midst of everything that we have going on in the world today, Self Care offers you resilience. When you are able to fill up your well with care, you are less susceptible to responding negatively to the effects of the stress. You are able to make choices in your response because you are fuller and more centred.
2) Self Care Increases Feelings of Worthiness
One of the reasons why we don't offer ourselves regular self-care is because as a culture we aren’t taught the importance of this, and at worse can have the message that it is self indulgent and wrong! Somewhere along the way we we forget ourselves in the mix of our own lives. At the heart of some of this can be feelings of unworthiness. What is powerful about Self Care is that it reminds you of your own importance in your own life. It reminds you that it you're you're an important part of your life and worthy of Self Care.
3) Self Care Improves Feelings of Well Being
Self Care improves one’s overall sense of well-being. Think of your body, your mind and your spirit as a system. When you do positive things for your system, the whole system benefits. So when you offer yourself simple, consistent acts of self-care, the result is just a feeling of well-being.
4) Self Care Benefits Everyone Around You
Self Care benefits all of your people. When you’re filled up, you attend to your people from a place of being filled up. Personally, I can tell when I haven't been giving myself enough Self Care because generally my first response is crankiness. Everyone has a different response to scraping the bottom of your energetic well. When you offer yourself your own care, everyone around you benefits because feeling more full.
5) Self Care Increases Self Confidence
This one is surprising, no? Self Care gives you more feelings of self confidence. This ties into worthiness. When you are fuller and you are feeling better you simply approach the world in a more confident way. If you feel less depleted, the result is feeling better about yourself
6) Self Care Reduces Stress and Anxiety
Self Care helps your system respond to the feelings brought on by stress and anxiety. When you give yourself care, for example a few breaths a breath of fresh air in the morning or going for a short walk the whole system positively responds to that bit of Self Care as you start to ‘turn up’ for yourself. These are two simple actions you can do regularly that calm your neurological system.
7) Self Care Improves Sleep Quality (and bonus…Digestion)
Some great results of calming your neurological system because of Self Care are that you sleep better and digest better. When the body is on high alert, you are entering into a sympathetic (fight, flight, freeze) response. When this happens, your digestion slows and the system activates in response to stress. When you give yourself care and bring your stress level down, you invite your parasympathetic response to come online. Your parasympathetic response is your rest and digest response. So you rest better, sleep better and you digest better.
8) Self Care Improves Focus
When you are less frazzled you're, better able to focus. Instead of approaching life like a sprinkler, shooting your energy everywhere willy nilly - you are able to concentrate, get more clarity and be more focused. When you're more at ease and your your system is calmer, your ability to focus improves.
9) Self Care Boosts Your Immune System
This ties into the happy byproduct of your parasympathetic response coming online. When you are more at ease, your immune system does its job better. Stress is really hard on your immune system. When you’re able to give yourself care, and bring some calm and ease, your whole system including your immune system reaps the benefits.
10) Self Care Increases Productivity
When you're well is full again you do things in a less frenetic way and are more productive. When you're frazzled and not taking care of yourself, you may get a lot of things done, but the quality of your focus suffers. When your well of energy is full, you have more organisational thought and mental focus.
These are just some of the benefits of Self Care and remember your Self Care is yours and yours alone. You get to decide what Self Care looks like for you because what fills your well and and and fills you up is going to be different than what fills me up.
Ask yourself, “What simple things can I do to offer myself regular Self Care?” Make a list. Then, offer yourself Self Care every day, throughout your day.
YOU COULD JOIN ONE OF OUR SECRET SUNDAY RETREATS ~
GENTLE YOGA, MEDITATION PLUS SPA MORNINGS
You will be greeted with kindness and enjoy peace and tranquillity in countryside surroundings ~ Getting you ready for the week ahead.
All level Yoga and Meditation ~
The experience begins with a seated, guided meditation in the yurt where you will learn simple breathing techniques to elicit calm and to soothe the nervous system, followed by gentle, all level yoga and and deep rest ~ a blend of hatha, restorative and yin yoga.
Break for tea, coffee and homemade cake.
Walking Meditation ~
Guided, walking meditation around our private paddocks with Lee, The Halo Method is a dance of the human spirit – a connection to Mother Earth like no other. It is a mix of the ancient way of walking and breathing with his own brand of personal enquiry – one which quickly releases negative thoughts and emotions, you will be guided into the walking technique, encouraging a deep connection with yourself and the earth.
Countryside Spa Facilities ~
Complete your morning with a sauna or relax in the warm waters of the swim spa
SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER
09:30-13:00 (BST)
SUN 30 OCTOBER
09:30-13:00 (BST)
SUN 13 NOVEMBER
09:30-13:00 (BST)
SUN 27 NOVEMBER
09:30-13:00 (BST)
SUN 11 DECEMBER
09:30-13:00 (BST)
£49 inclusive
Call 07990 511250 or email ellasfield@icloud.com to book your place ~ we are keeping groups small to enable the best experience for folks.
