Self-care – what is it actually?

How do you care for your child or children, mom?

You meet their needs. You may not fulfill all of their wishes - like getting the third ice cream - mostly to protect them. But you give everything every day to see your children grow and thrive. You want them to be happy and content. Do you take care of yourself too?

Self-care is so much more than taking a bubble bath. (Which is a dream!)

But what exactly are we talking about when it comes to self-care?

Caring is precaution.

Recharge your batteries so you can give again. What do you want to give when your resources are exhausted? So what.

As the saying goes: You can't pour from an empty cup. If you are literally “everyone”, you cannot give anything either.

Make sure that not "all" become - preferably daily.

According to psychologists, there are six ways to take care of yourself:

1. Emotional Self-Care: Self-Reflection. Write down. Diary. Review and recap. Emotional processing, creating art, painting, making music, going to therapy.

2. Physical self-care: Activities that bring your body back into balance: a walk, eight hours of sleep, drinking enough, exercising, dancing - and yes, the bubble bath too

3. Social self-care: Reconnect with old friends, go out. Call grandma or mom, go out and have fun

4. Practical self-care: Basic precautions so that you don't get into unpleasant situations later: planning the day, planning the week, keeping things reasonably tidy, investing in further education, putting money aside or investing, making financial provisions, taking care of your health.

5. Mental self-care: everything that challenges your intellect: read a good book again, go to the museum, solve puzzles, tinker

6. Spiritual self-care: anything that nourishes your spirit and takes you to higher spheres: yoga, meditation, religion, nature, deep self-reflection

In the very best case, all levels are covered. But please don't stress! These are simple tips on how easy self-care can be: call friends again, sit down for five minutes and consciously drink a coffee. Go to the park for 15 minutes and take a deep breath, dance to your favorite song...

There are so many small steps that you can incorporate into your day with relatively little effort.

It doesn't have to be two regular training sessions a week in the gym, including organizing a babysitter and the time pressure to get to the spinning course on time. If you can do it and have fun, great! Lucky you! That's advanced.

But self-care means first and foremost: Pay attention to yourself and your needs.

If your demands on your self-care time are too high, it only degenerates into stress - and you really don't need any more of that, Mom.

Instead, practice making micro-changes into your daily routine with minimal effort. Create rituals that you can easily implement every day. Small islands of relaxation – with a big long-term effect.

And always remember, taking care of yourself doesn't mean neglecting your children. On the contrary, taking care of yourself means taking care of your children. They need a mom who is at peace with herself, whose batteries are full - and one who can give again.