Wellness, most awaited: The self care

 

This season of Blogchatter, 2025, I chose to explore self-love, and yes, it has helped me discover some of the most interesting topics, which I would have been otherwise ignorant of, but they are important. In this course I came across the term "self-care." Everywhere you go, you will hear it: self-care yoga, self-care spa, self-care massage, self-care diet, and on and on.... What is this self-care all about?

I read somewhere that we should exercise as part of self-care. I was putting on weight, and I started doing exercise, and after a while, when I lost some weight, I stopped. By definition, this is also self-care? I am not very happy with this kind of self-care. 

I still remember those days of my life when I had to get up early at 5 am and rush to make meals, and then I had to run to catch the bus so that by 9:30 or 10 am I reached my institute. I worked there with a schedule, and then by six I ran to catch my bus. I used to reach back to my house by 9 at night. People would advise me to have 21 days of meditation, etc. Where do I have time for all these? I just need a good sleep and something I really love to do.

I was not looking for this routine kind of thing, which I myself have started many times and then dropped in between. My question was, is self-care a routine or something more than a routine? The answer I got refreshed my soul. In "The Witch's Book of Self-Care," the author brings in a Danish term called "hygge." It emphasizes the importance of focusing on the enjoyment of the moment. The author connects hygge to self-care, which permits us to have these moments and enjoy them. When you acknowledge these moments, you are saying that you are worth this time and validating your feelings. This reduces overall stress. This acknowledgement makes your subconscious know that it is also allowed to have moods. It does not have to be "up" all the time. It is also permitted to have some downtime. She says that self-care means living your authentic self; it is a unique pursuit because you know your flaws and weaknesses. In self-care, only you can acknowledge them. In this way you can focus on every part and give more attention to those parts that need care and nurturance. 

Exploring further, I have seen all self-care books talk about wellness. No doubt self-care does bring wellness, but there is something I want you all to know here. The author, in her book, "Real Self-Care: A Transformative Program to Redefining Wellness," introduces the concepts of faux self-care and real self-care. I discovered that faux self-care is much easier because it helps us to escape our stressors, achieve control over our stressors, and optimize things. It gives us a feeling of control in our lives and circumstances, but it fails to meet our deeper needs, so it gives us temporary wellness. 

Real self-care is an ongoing internal process that helps us to acquire profound emotional wellness and a way to reimagine how to interact with others. It carries us to eudaimonic well-being (a well-being connected with our purpose and meaning of life.) This eudaimonic well-being stresses personal growth, acceptance of the real self, and connecting to meaning, and hence it is linked to better health outcomes, improved sleep, longer life span, and lower levels of swelling. This is what we all are looking for as wellness. 

This real self-care is born on our inside. It has following principles:

1. It requires setting boundaries and moving past guilt

If we want to execute real self-care, we need to prioritize our needs and desires, for which I have to decide when to say no and how to set boundaries. This process will make others feel neglected. I don't have to feel guilty for that because when I am good, then only I can make them feel good. I will be talking about feelings of guilt in my post named Qualam Effect. 

2. Treating oneself with compassion

Yes, we need to be compassionate about ourselves. I have been discussing this since the beginning. 

3. Brings us closer to ourselves

This is the stage where your inner self feels like matching your outside. You can feel the balance. 

4. Assertion of power

When you practice real self-care, you look inside and make a decision based on your reflection and considerations. This is your assertion power. 

A- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/acceptance-of-self.html?zx=af3c2e13bf8aa3d6

B- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/boundaries-to-set.html

C- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/compassion-on-yourself.html

D- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/discovering-oneself.html

E

F- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/forgiving-yourself.html

G- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/grains-of-gratitude.html

H- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/human-experiences-common-to-all.html

I

J

K- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/kindness-to-self.html

L- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/l-factor.html

M- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/mindfulness-for-self-compassion.html

N- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/no-that-needs-your-attention.html

O- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/organize-importants-over-urgent.html

P- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/prioritize-yourself.html

Q- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/qualm-effect.html 

R

S

T

U- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/urgency-addiction.html

V

W- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/wellness-most-awaited-self-care.html 

X- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/x-factor-reveal.html

Y- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/talking-to-yourself.html

Z- https://water-1droplet.blogspot.com/2025/04/zaniness-of-you-to-embrace.html

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