Thursday, March 28, 2024

Eight steps to your best self

Self-care, at its core, is about arranging and authorizing your life’s energies and resources in ways that both empower and enable your best self. Generally speaking, this “best self” is likely to be the bottom-of-the-list of our daily to-dos. Our day-to-day lives often require us to wear so many hats that we spend most of our days divided against our own selves. We need sleep, but who else is going to do the work? We need to eat, but who has time or money for healthy and homemade? We need exercise, but really who has the energy? You do. Look at all you accomplish for others in a given week or even any given day.

How much more meaningful could your life be if you were working for your interests as much as you do for others?  Unfortunately, people of color tend to face additional challenges by finding themselves often pressed into spaces that are more likely to entail neglect rather than nurture. As a mental health professional who primarily serves this population, I often see the negative results of neglected people who also neglect themselves.

In times and situations like these, self-care is a necessity, not an option. Being personal, self-care is based upon an individual’s specific needs and preferences, yet there are some general principles that you can use to develop you own personal plan of care.

1.Break away — It’s OK to take a breather. Isolate your person (mind, body and spirit) from the circumstances that steal your energies. Move from surviving the moment to thriving in the present by changing your stress strategies. Eliminating stressors frees resources that remain bogged down when compared to managing stress.

2. Eat what heals — Fuel your body with foods that provide clean and simple energy sources. While we may choose fast foods with the intent of saving time and money, we often overlook the costs we pay with our bodily health and well-being. Your best self requires your healthiest self, so choose foods that will heal over those that will harm or hinder.

3. Sleep counts — Researchers often suggest seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Sleep is not just the time when our bodies recover and repair, but it’s also a time when your creative self can find expression in your dreams. Some of your best ideas can be a result of a good night’s sleep. Make space in your evening to rest, and see if it impacts your creative potential throughout your day.

4. Take back your time — If you don’t make time for yourself, why be surprised when others do not either? Schedule appointments with yourself on your calendar, and don’t break them. It does not have to be for an hour — 15 minutes will do. Begin to carve out ways to prioritize your own self with your own time.

5. Spirit matters — Pray. Meditate. Practice mindfulness. Research shows that a spiritual practice can influence mental clarity and focus, reduce stress and even eliminate some aches and pains. Harness the powerful presence of the innermost you.

6. Elevate your heart — When we get our hearts pumping through exercise, we are increasing blood flow and releasing endorphins — our bodies’ natural stress fighter. Jumpstart your heart with five-minute stints of physical activity throughout a hectic day, to engage your own body’s resources in the fight for your best health and happiness.

7. Look for laughter — Like you really needed another reason to waste time looking at those cat videos? Strategically combat your energy-busting schedule by taking time to live through laughter. It can help you not to take the situation, or even yourself, so seriously.

8. Find your voice — Each person needs a safe space where they can be heard, valued and understood. Therapy is that place for many, but not all. Wherever your space is, engage it with the purpose of true and authentic expression of your best self.

Eddie Journey is a psychodynamic psychotherapy resident, associate pastor, husband and father who lives and practices in Indianapolis, Indiana. He currently holds a Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling and a Master of Divinity from Christian Theological Seminary. For more information, visit Goodpointcounseling.com.

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