by Lynn Smith, Self-Care Academy Participant (UK)

Kim Richards really made me think about how much time I spend caring for myself. It seems to me that most people, women in particular, spend a great part of their lives caring for others – children, partners, parents and friends and we carry this into the workplace whether or not we are in a “caring “ profession or not. It just comes natural to us to put other people’s needs first.

Listening to Kim explain the science behind “self-care”, I realized that it was time for me to change the way I operate by introducing more applications of self-care into my life. It makes sense on so many levels – if I want to be effective then it is mandatory to care for myself first. As Kim said, “If I don’t do it, who will?” This truth really resonated with me. Also, it is essential if I want to continue caring for others who depend on me.

So how do I do it? I’ll be using many of the ideas and techniques Self-Care Academy introduced:

• deep breathing exercises to calm me
• regular use of yoga, and
• pilates exercises.

I go to the gym three times a week and take a massage once a month. But to be honest, the biggest impact Kim made on me was in helping me to acknowledge that I really need to change the way I think about self-care and incorporate some element of it into every single day.

My negative self talk is self sabotaging and Kim taught me how to transition and reduce the “monkey mind chatter”. I realized that although I am often very busy I am not always productive and this makes me stressed! I need to change my mindset about organizing my day and stop the headless chicken syndrome!

What does this have to do with self-care? Well, for me it about taking time to value myself and my time, and I do this by planning my day so I can stay focused and not be distracted. This is essential if I am to be at my most effective. I am self-employed – if I don’t do it – it just doesn’t get done! So I sit down every night and plan the next day, I write my list and I make sure I incorporate elements of self-care throughout the day – I actually timetable

• go to the gym
• sit quietly with a book for 10 minutes
• deep breathing 5 minutes,
• phone a friend, and so on
• … and its working!

I’m into my second week and already I am feeling more in control, motivated and on top of things — this helps me to stay calm and be less stressed. I’m really impressed because I know from experience that I often mean well but fall at the first hurdle. The experience of learning what self-care is and implementing it into my life has really worked!

Thanks Kim!