I’ve been thinking a lot about the term “self-care.“ It’s been trending, along with terms like “self-love”, for a while. When Soul Mind Body Selfcare was born at the beginning of the year, I thought long and hard about the terms I wanted to use and self-care kept coming to the surface. Even though I don’t particularly care for the term. I’ve always found it to be nebulous. I’m also an enneagram 4 so I don’t like latching onto anything that’s trending. Ha.
But there’s really no other term that describes what I wanted to communicate more accurately than self-care – that is, the act of caring for oneself. And I realized that if it’s nebulous and trendy and doesn’t resonate with the average mama then I’m just going to have to redefine it.
And that’s why I’m here. Writing in this space every week, emailing my list every week, showing up on Instagram every week. Because I am passionate about taking a nebulous, over-used term and reviving it, re-making it, REDEFINING it.
Self-care is caring for your soul, mind and body in consistent, tangible, and life-changing ways.
Self-care is way less about occasional splurges of money + time (getting a balayage or a gel manicure, i.e. what most people think of when they hear the term) and way more about daily, consistent choices to care for yourself in ways that cost very little money + make use of small pockets of time.
I used to make the excuse that I didn’t have enough time or money, that only five minutes of self-care wasn’t going to make any difference in the long run, that if I didn’t lay down the big bucks it wouldn’t count. I thought it had to be some grand production that took hours of time and lots of money I didn’t want to spend.
But that’s not what self-care is, mama. Self-care should never feel like a burden or be just one more thing on your to-do list. If it is, it’s not self-care. The read-deal #soulmindbodyselfcare makes us feel better, lighter. And it happens most often in the pockets of time sprinkled throughout our days. Five minutes here, two minutes there, ten minutes here…often in simple ways that don’t cost a dime. But it all adds up, it all counts, it all makes a difference. And it all qualifies as self-care. Just as much as the occasional splurges of time and money qualify as self-care, perhaps even more than those.
Self-care is often less flashy than massages and facials (although those things can be amazing if they fill your cup) and more down-to-earth like: optimizing your sleep, managing your stress, hydrating, taking the time to get dressed and put on makeup for the day, doing a brain dump, setting healthy boundaries, decluttering your mind and surroundings, practicing gratitude, fueling your body well, supporting your body’s detox pathways through movement and baths, letting go of what doesn’t matter, creating self-care routines, simplifying your wardrobe choices, and asking yourself the right questions. Just to name a few. Ha.
Self-care is about what fills YOUR cup, what tends to the deepest parts of who YOU are, what meets YOUR needs in the very best ways.
And so, self-care isn’t nebulous after all. It is, in fact, very personal and specific. And it’s not as trendy as the term suggests. It’s been around as long as mamas have been caring for their babies.
And if that’s the case, I think it’s best to embrace it. Clarify it, yes. Redefine it, absolutely. But embrace it all the same.
This post is the first in a new series I’m calling #smbsfreestyle. Where I write a stream of consciousness type post once a month. Less structured and more journal entry feel. The topic(s) will be something from my heart about everything from motherhood to self-care (of course) to health + wellness and beyond. More like a relaxed conversation between friends and less like a “how to” lecture with bullet points.
What do you think, mama? What jumps to mind first when you think of self-care? Has that been working for you? What part of the post resonated with you most? I’d love to hear in the comments!
I’m over on Instagram and, if you haven’t signed up for my email list, I’m there, too. If you sign up, I’m giving you my Healthy + Healing Warm Drink Guide FREE.
Let’s care for ourselves,
Hannah