A woman’s life revolves around many roles and responsibilities, like being a daughter, daughter-in-law, wife, and mother. Relationships of different kinds are often at the heart of a woman’s experiences.
Often women juggle work and family responsibilities and expectations from others and cannot afford to take enough time off for themselves. While ignoring their own needs, women constantly focus and pour their energies into other people’s needs. For most women, it is a way of life to nurture others around them and in the best interest of their family, kids, and spouse or career. To put everyone’s happiness before them, and suppress their own needs and desires, feel natural to them. But by neglecting their own well-being, they mostly end up feeling exhausted and burnt out. Women are more likely to suffer from mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, stress, and poor self-image in comparison to men.
So, being a woman do you often find it difficult to prioritize your own needs, happiness, and well-being? Do you often feel guilty when you take time out for yourself? If you feel this way, then you need to understand that there is nothing wrong if you devote time for yourself and rather self-care should be your topmost priority. It is essential to nurture and take very good care of your mental and emotional health. Do not neglect your own well-being and you must take the charge of your life and indulge in activities that you need the most to feel better, happy, and healthy. If you really want to be there for others, it becomes even more important to start taking care of yourself first.
Here I am suggesting a few self-care tips to try out:
Foster your own needs
Always remember that there is nothing wrong to meet your own needs first as it will enhance your capacity to attend more effectively to the needs of others. Making a balance between your needs and those you love can be tricky. But give yourself permission to foster your own needs before making time for others as it will save you from stress, depression, and anxiety.
For your overall wellness, it is essential to take care of your physical needs, such as getting adequate rest, enough sleep, and exercise. Take time to eat a proper meal, get a good night’s sleep and do some exercise. If only you are taking care of your health you will have the energy to help those around you. So make this your priority.
Learn to be assertive in your communication
Do you often find it difficult to say ‘No’ to the things that you feel you cannot handle or are beyond your capacity? If ‘yes’ that means you may end up struggling to complete the tasks that eventually make you feel exhausted and stressed. So, it is very important to practice the art of being assertive, as it helps you to communicate effectively with others. It helps you to voice out your wants, needs, thoughts, or feelings without making the person you’re speaking to feel defensive. Self-care can be achieved only if you realistically assess your own ability to handle the tasks and refuse the demands that are beyond your capacity.
Have the courage to ask for help
If you are feeling tired and overworked, you need to have some courage to ask for help and involve other family members or colleagues to share work. You will never get what you do not ask for, so if you ask, there are always people who will help you out. You should never feel ashamed in asking people to help you.
Have ‘Me Time’
It is crucially important to have ‘me time, get an hour or even a few minutes, if not more for your own self. Spare some time to reflect on your life in order to take a fresh look at things or just to simply relax. You do not need to feel guilty when you distance yourself from your day-to-day life, as it helps in nurturing your sense of identity. This ‘me time’ not only gives you the opportunity to cope with your negative thoughts but helps you to be a better human being.
Take small steps
Be determined and start taking small steps to make positive changes in your life. If you start taking small actions on daily basis, it will help you to feel positive and gradually you will start noticing a positive difference in the quality of your life. Take time out for your mental and physical well-being and start with some kind of routine morning exercise. Physical exercises like yoga, aerobics, or any other form of exercise will not only help you to be physically fit but also help you cope with stress. You will feel rejuvenated if you take time out for these activities and eat healthy food. It is very important to take care of your body and mind to keep yourself healthy, fit, and fine.
If you put simple self-care tips into practice these will help you to have a positive approach towards life and help you to stay more in control, balanced, healthy and well.
