#8 - Holistic Self-Care
#8 - Holistic Self Care
This article discusses:
What self-care is
The need for a strong self-care routine
Share of my practices
Tell me about you.
“Self-care is not a narcissistic luxury to be fulfilled as time permits” (Norcross & Vanden Bos, 2018, p.15).
During my Bachelor of Counselling and Integrative Psychotherapy, in the first trimester of 2023, I had a subject called “Trauma Informed Care Practices in Psychotherapy.” The first assessment had to demonstrate how I take care of ourselves in any way. The self-care plan was supposed to be holistic and realistic.
I thought this task would be an easy one as I’ve had a strong routine for many years. However, I actually spend hours and hours on this assessment.
I wrote 1,500 words. I also integrated my self-care plan into a comprehensive and extensive Excel table to demonstrate how I was taking of myself physically, emotionally, spiritually, professionally, socially and financially. Firstly, we needed to explain our daily self-care routine. Secondly, we needed to think about our emergency self-care routine: when things turn south and when our nervous system is highly dysregulated.
Self-care is compulsory. It is a must, not a should. A question that has been driving me for many years is: “How can I take care of others if I don’t take care of myself?”
As a full-time disability and aged-care worker and a full-time psychotherapy student, I MUST keep fit and healthy. My job is highly demanding physically and emotionally. Being a student is far from being easy. Working towards my citizenship is a highly stressful process that I’ve been going through since 2018.
This is what daily my self-care routine looks like:
Physically:
Exercizing - 15-minute daily full-body home workout, Run 5K three times a week, Daily 12,000 steps
Nutrition - Vegan or vegetarian-based diet, vitamins and probiotics
Sleep 7-9 hours a night
Health tracking (workout, weight, bowel movements) and Medical check-ups (blood tests twice a year)
Emotionally:
Allowing my emotions to arise: welcome the feeling, name or identify it, and let go e.g. I am feeling sad right now; this is sadness but it might also be loneliness or despair; that is okay, big cry, thank and let those feelings go.
Express my needs louder e.g. I need to be alone right now; I need some space; I need to rest.
A strong and optimistic mindset e.g. I tend to see the glass half full
Spiritually:
Daily journaling and writing reflections
Personal therapy sessions every couple of months (used to be once a week for three years)
Affirmations and mantras
Reading self-help books and listening to Tibetan music
Spending as much time as possible with nature and animals
Professionally:
Heavy workload 45-50 hours a week as a support worker and office worker for an aged-care company
Becoming a psychotherapist -> continuing to build a more meaningful career that is still connected to being with other humans and the natural world
Aware of the heavy work and study load.
Socially:
Connecting with my loved ones through social media and face-to-face meetings
Going out with my friends in SA
Financially:
Created an Excel table to help manage my ins/outs of money weekly
Psychologically:
Wake up between 05:15-6 am and practising a strong daily routine (workouts, journaling, reading, water) for two hours minimum
Phone on aeroplane mode until 8 am minimum.
No social media apps on my phone.
Daily thorough organisation (to-do list, calendar)
I’m going to add intellectual well-being which is extremely important and present in my daily life.
20 minutes read minimum every day.
Mostly read about self-help, psychotherapy, biography, grief and loss, ecotherapy, the power of the mind; somatic work;
Studying, writing and reading in English
Studying in Counselling and Psychotherapy
Work on my Critical thinking
Asking myself existential and philosophical questions
Reading and writing 2,000/3,000-word essays
Writing those articles on my website
Writing on social media (posts, articles, content).
You must think that it is TOO MUCH! I hear you. I’m aware that work is heavy at the moment but I know it is temporary. However, it doesn’t matter how much I work or study: I love waking up before sunrise. My workouts and daily long walks are non-negotiable. It’s uncomfortable sometimes but so good for my mental health. These are how I keep mentally fit and sane.
I also understood that the most difficult step is the first one. The start. But then, to continue is easier.
Of course, sometimes I wake up and I don’t want to go running. But I remind myself of the beautiful feeling post-run or even during-run. How I feel free, recharged and energised.
I also remember that a self-care routine is fluid, moving, dynamic and can change from time to time. Of course, if I feel really sick, I won’t go for a run or I won’t study for hours at my desk. However, I might increase the amount of fluid, lay down as much as possible and call my best friend back in France. I also know that when I am in the ovulation phase, I might run 7K that day, walk 10,000 steps on top of that and work 8 hours that day.
I am simply trying to listen as much as I can to my body's needs and whispers.
Self-care is crucial in my profession. Self-care is “a human requisite, a clinical necessity, and an ethical imperative” (Norcross & Vanden Bos, 2018, p.15).
I would love to hear from you about your self-care maintenance and improvement.
Tell me what self-care looks like for you.
How do you take care of your whole being?
How do you treat yourself?
I’m sending you pure and genuine love, filled with light and warmth.
Take care of your whole self, each other, and your community.
Nurture and be mindful of the natural world around you and within you.
Resources
Black Dog Institute. (2022). Self-Care planning for healthcare workers - Fact Sheet: How
to create a self-care plan. https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Self-care-planning-for-healthcare-workers-fact-sheet.pdf
Norcross, J. C., & VandenBos, G. R. (2018). Valuing the person of the psychotherapist. In
Leaving it at the office: a guide to psychotherapist self-care. (2nd ed., pp. 1–19).
Sanderson, C. (2013). Practitioner Self-care. In Counselling Skills for Working with
Trauma : Healing from Child Sexual Abuse, Sexual Violence and Domestic Abuse.
(pp. 279–291).
Written 24/03/2024
Published 09/11/2024
