Self-care is a such a hot topic now and it’s for good reason! Practicing daily self-care allows your body and mind to reset, helps ease stress and contributes towards long term well-being and conveys to others that you value yourself. Often, we feel it sounds selfish to openly acknowledge that YOU are your biggest priority but in reality, if you don’t value and take care of your own physical and emotional health, there’s no way you can properly take care of others around you. That’s why self-care is not only important for your own well-being but also your children’s, spouses and everyone else who you interact with closely.
So how can self-care can actually help you reach your fitness goals? Let’s talk about burnout. Whether it be work stress, training for a fitness event, or taking care of your family, when you constantly push your body and mind to the point of exhaustion, you’re not going to be able to maintain this routine for long before you reach your breaking point. Once you’ve reached this “burnout” stage, it’s much harder to reset and get back on track and you can begin to resent the people and circumstances around you that contributed to it. NAHT fun for anyone, listen to your body and slow it down sister! Think of it as pressing a brief pause on your life so you can relax and refresh and when you hit play again, you’re ready to hit the ground running with a positive outlook.
Practicing self-care keeps you fresh and motivated to stick with your fitness goals. That’s because when you’re rested and feeling good, it’s much easier to make good choices! Waking up for that early morning workout and eating nutritious and healthy foods are seen as choices that assist in feeling your best rather than additional stressful obstacles in your life.
Self-care looks different for everyone and it doesn’t have to be time consuming, expensive or elaborate. Maybe it’s just making the space in your day to read a book for 20-30 minutes, taking a yoga class, going for a walk or getting that mani/pedi. Whatever type of self-care that works for you isn’t the important part, it’s important that you actually DO IT!
Tomorrow is my due date and I’ve been feeling super anxious and overwhelmed over everything that is going to be happening in the next few days/weeks/months/years (haha!) so I’m treating myself to a manicure today because it makes me feel good!
I challenge you all to take at least 15 minutes today for YOURSELF to reset! Comment below what self-care practice makes you feel alive and ready to start fresh!
xoxo
Amanda