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Self Care Tips For Women

May 01, 2017

The prescription I handed to the woman was so unlike any that she had ever received from a physician that she smiled and told me she was going to tape it to her bathroom mirror. It read: “Do something just for yourself once daily. Refills unlimited.”

For many of the patients I see, the act of self-nurturing is a foreign concept and yet so vital to a return to balance and self-healing. Care givers in particular often have a hard time putting aside the needs of others in order to take care of their own needs. We support and nurture our significant others – our kids, our parents, our siblings, our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers – and leave little for ourselves. We deplete ourselves and the cycle of giving and receiving is disrupted.

Arlene had been struggling for more than five years with increasing weight, irritability, and difficulty sleeping. A principal of a large high school, she commuted for up to two hours per day so that she could live with her son who was attending a local community college. Because of her schedule, she had little time for physical activity, ate lunch in the cafeteria, picked up dinner on her way home, and had no time to connect with friends socially – all important components for healthy weight loss and overall health. Although she had been on many “diets,” it was clear that relinquishing the weight of carrying her adult son was going to be key for her transformation. When she finally allowed herself to be a priority in her own life, she regained her zest for living, and her relationship with her son became even better than before. No herbal formulation I could have prescribed would have done this for her.

Fill Your Own Cup

Many women, and particularly mothers, struggle with giving themselves permission for self-care. But rather than having Mother’s Day be the one day of the year that they allow themselves unwind, I urge all moms to take time each day solely to take care of their own wellbeing. Not only will it make you feel better, but having filled your own cup, you will actually have more to give others.

The Law of Giving and Receiving, shows us that “receiving is the same thing as giving, because giving and receiving are different aspects of the flow of energy in the universe.” We stay in the flow by doing both – gratefully receiving as well as continuing to give.

Giving to ourselves doesn’t need to require elaborate effort or cost much money. It may simply be telling your loved ones that you’re going to take fifteen minutes for meditation or solitude, going to a movie you’ve been wanting to see, mindfully enjoying a treat, or getting a massage. Only you know what will fulfill your needs. Here are some other examples of ways to self-nurture:

• Meditate daily.

• Sign up for a class for fun.

• Enjoy a nice meal alone or with a friend or loved one.

• Put on some music you love and sing or dance like no one is watching.

• Buy yourself some flowers or a plant.

• Make some art.

• Take a walk outside.

• Explore sensual and sexual pleasures.

• Get a manicure or pedicure.

• Take an aromatherapy bath.

• Have a cup of herbal tea while doing nothing else.

• Listen to or read uplifting literature.