Why it’s important to take time for yourself?
March 7, 2021
Category: Featured / Sunday Blog
Creating time for yourself is both important and vital to your health and well-being. It’s an activity that supports your self-care. Frequency and activity are irrelevant. What’s most important is that you prioritize yourself. Moreover, carving time “for you” allows you to pause and reconnect with yourself more deeply. It helps you to be present and notice if there is anything that needs your attention or if anything is out of alignment and needs adjusting. It supports you to recenter and recalibrate.
Here are three things to support you in taking time for yourself:
Always set yourself up for success and create an intention around taking time for yourself. Create a structure that you can achieve and be inspired fulfilling. Intentions help you to achieve your goal; grounding you in the present moment. TIP: start with what you know to be true. Some examples may include: Today, I commit to connecting with myself OR Today, I commit to rest and peace OR Today, I commit to creating time for myself.
Be flexible. It’s a work in progress. Be open and willing to experiment with duration and frequency. You won’t know what works best for you out the gate. Allow yourself to try and be okay with adjusting. I’m still experimenting with mine. Last month, I decided to take an impromptu day to myself and went to Cinque Terre National park for a trek (my heaven on earth paradise). It was amazing AND I realized taking a full day in the middle of the week created more anxiety when I resumed my schedule the next day. I noticed two things: 1. I need something more regular otherwise I risk burnout and secondly, taking a full day off during the week doesn’t work for me.
When in doubt, connect to your “personal why.” For some, taking time for yourself may feel indulgent or selfish. I know it does for me sometimes; especially when I have 1000 things on my to-do list. Connect to the deeper reason why taking time for yourself is important; go to your values. For me, I used to forfeit taking time for myself in order to get “things done.” Now, I understand and relate it to my value of “vitality.” I make conscious choices that support my vitality; for example, I do my best to buy and eat food from local farmers, sleep 8 hours, exercise regularly, and so on. This is very important for me and so I do it. I KNOW that taking time for myself is another activity that supports my vitality and when I have doubts or feel guilty for doing it, my value of vitality grounds me and helps me to take actions necessary aligned to my values.
As Eleanor Brownn shares, “Rest and self-care are so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit; it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.”
Tags:
Self-care /