Self care has been the buzzword in the recent years and you’re bound to see an article on self care in wellness sites, yup including mine. Do a quick search on instagram and #selfcare brings up more than 6 million hits! So that exactly is self care? Sure, it’s about caring for yourself and it comes in many forms such as getting a facial, doing yoga, moon juicing, mindfulness… But for me, self care is about fine tuning your body to be more sensitive to the things you cannot see. With the ultimate goal of healthier life to spend more time doing the things you love to do.
WHAT IS SELF CARE?
Deliberate and self initiated
Yes, only you can do it for yourself. If self care can be done by the internet, that’ll be a big business! I can only educate you about it but I cannot actually do it on your behalf.
SEO- Self Energy Optimisation
If you’re in the internet business, you’ve probably heard of SEO “Search Engine Optimisation”. So, using that concept, I’d like to call self care as a SEO “Self Energy Optimisation”. This is to optimise your body’s Qi (energy) and train your body to detect (aka boost immunity notification) so that it can quickly catch whatever is going wrong in your body. It’s almost like upgrading your natural healing system to version 2.0.
My body is a temple, garden
Imagine your body as a garden, you need to be able to weed the disease when it’s still a small seed and not a fully grown weed. If your body is not sensitive and don’t even see the weed growing, then something is wrong. You need to train or change your sensor! By self care, the aim is to make your body Detect + Recover + Prevent weed invasion on autopilot.
Self care = YOUR bliss care
Self care is easy. It should make you stronger physically and mentally to make your life easier and hopefully full of bliss. If you find it stressful like a chore then whatever you are doing is not self care. When your body is balanced with all the right energy at the right place, right neurotransmitter secreting the right amount of hormones, you are more likely to be motivated to do what you set up to do. Self care doesn’t take up time (even 5 minutes is ok) and it’s about doing what feels good to YOU (not anyone else). Remember, myself care may not be the same as yours.
WHAT ISN’T SELF CARE?
- Doing what you SHOULD be doing instead of what you WANT to be doing.
- Following trends and copying what your favourite influencer is doing because it is “good for you”.
- Focusing ONLY on health. First of all, being healthy is only the first basic step to help get you to accomplish what you wish to succeed in. Being healthy shouldn’t be your ultimate goal otherwise life would be so dull. Be healthy and leverage that energy to fuel your life goals.
- For example, you want to get a job as a yoga teacher. You need to get your self care, nourishment to get the perfect balance for your mind and body. Then, you can perform well which increases the chance of getting that dream job and teach students the beauty of yoga. Teaching yoga should be your ultimate goal; eating kale and lentil soup is NOT the ultimate goal.
WHY SELF CARE?
- So that you will be the best version of yourself to achieve ultimate goal in life.
For example, I want to wake up feeling refreshed and have the energy to stay curious and soak in inspiration like spongebob and make more #acumoji…80% of the time. Being lazy some days are totally ok. - To be responsible for your own health. Don’t blame it on others or the influenza. Blame it on your weak immunity.
- Make you body sensitive so it can detect when something is amiss.
- Detect + Recover + Prevent weed invasion on autopilot.
MY WAYS TO SELF CARE
1. HARAI
It means “get rid of” or “purification” in Japanese. In reality, you cannot just swipe left for things you don’t like and double tap the things you like. But we can train our minds to do that. Clear clutter (in your room), clear unwanted mental cache and let go of people that drains you.
2. TEATE
手当て “teh-ah-teh” translates to “hand healing” in Japanese. It is an old traditional techniques used is still used today. As a kid, when you had a tummyache, your mummy would comfort you with her warm hands on your tummy and somehow it feels better. When you hit your head, you put your hand on the place you hit it right? It’s human reflex! We all do it. By placing your hand there, your mind is subconsciously focused on that area.
Step 1: Find a quiet place. It can be done anytime, anywhere – in the office, during break time, before sleep.
Step 2: Place both your palms on the area of discomfort/problem area that you want to show some TLC.
Step 3: Take deep breaths 4 to 5 times, last about 2~3 minutes.
Repeat everyday for 1 month ✌️
3. BREATHE (Brain-Spine pump)
Did you know there are 22 bones in the skull? They are like jigsaw puzzle with a tiny gap in between them. When you inhale, the skull “expands” and when you exhale, the skull “shrink” back to the original position. This deep breathing creates a pump and send the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) down to the sacrum (at the butt) of the spinal cord. So, for a good systemic health and normal function of the blood and CSF, this pumping mechanism is crucial.The CSF contains all the immune cells, blood and nutrients for defence, helps to protect the brain and get rid of waste products the brain.
Now, breathe out…..breathe in…….. Repeat 3 times. Get that CSF pump going!
WHEN TO SELF CARE?
- When you feel like it
- When you are free -“Hmm what should I do today?”
- Do a little everyday for best results
STRESS LESS
They say you need to find a way to release stress. But if you learn how to reflect and not bottle it up, then there is no need to release, no? You have to accept that some things cannot be changed so you need to change your way to thinking, your way of living and change your environment.
Self care must be stress-free or at least stress-less (lesser). There is nothing to be proud of putting in so much effort into something you hate doing. If 7am jog is your thing, go ahead. I’d be stressed just thinking about it and I’d rather clean & KonMari the whole house. If you don’t like to exercise, just make sure you move by taking the stairs, walking a little longer to the next bus stop. French philosopher , Voltaire said “Life lies in Movement”. You need to at least move it, move it to keep your Qi & blood moving and your joints flexible.
What about food? Well, if you want to eat chocolate, I’d say, eat it. If you want to drink beer, then drink it with bliss. If you keep telling your mind what you should be eating all the time, subconsciously there is stress. Give your mind a rest and let your gut decide. Because when your body is sensitive to its needs, you will crave for it.
For example, I’m more Qi and Yang deficient type (feeling cold and lassitude) and especially after menses, I crave red meat, so I cook a steak for dinner. Sometimes eating too much at a party, I don’t have appetite and crave for steamed broccoli, so I cook some and just have that until I’m happy. Balanced.
THE SELF CARE TAKEAWAY
- Find YOUR self care – Everyone’s self care method is different. Don’t follow trends that you don’t even enjoy.
- Self care is about Self Energy Optimisation. By optimising yourself, you will have the strength (physically and mentally) to pursue your ultimate goal in life.
- Harai – Purify your environment. Purge the unwanted, prune the unnecessary.
- Teate – Hand healing. Place you hand on your organ area and focus your awareness to that area.
- Stress Less – Learn how to reflect and not bottle it up, then there is no need to release stress.
That’s your happy cells moving freely and happily like confetti!