Self –care, what does that word mean to you? Well, let’s look at the actual word itself and break it down. “Self” means a person’s essential being that distinguishes them from others and the word “care” means the provision of what is necessary for the health, welfare, maintenance and protection of someone or something. Now these are the official dictionary meanings of each of those words separately. When we put them together, in my opinion it means looking after one’s self, putting one’s well-being first and above all else in order to show up in the world being the best version of me I can be so that I can be in and of service to others to create a ripple effect in the world that will help raise the vibration of the collective.

Now society and all the conditioning we have had pounded into us growing up would have us believing that putting ourselves first is selfish right? I’m going to have to call bullshit on that. I know this sounds cliché but it’s 1000% truth. When you’re sitting on an airplane waiting to taxi down the runway, the recording that comes over the intercom system and tells you in case of an emergency the oxygen mask will drop from above you and that you are instructed to put your mask on first before assisting the person in the seat beside you with theirs. So tell me again why its selfish to put yourself first? Oh right, it’s not. It’s time to wake up and shift that paradigm and look at this picture through a new frame of mind.

In order to fully show up and be present for others and do what I believe is a big part of why we’re all here on this planet which is to lift one another up, support each other and be in and of service to others, we MUST look after ourselves first. Otherwise, you simply will not be able to do that.

I know through having conversations with and interviewing over 500 women as well as witnessing first hand growing up as a kid with my Mother and Grandmother that women tend to put themselves and their needs and wants on the back burner and everyone else around them first. We are seeing an incredibly high rate of burnout among women and it sadly is continuing to climb higher. I do think this is also prevalent among our male population but men are just too proud to admit it and once again this speaks volumes to our conditioning growing up as boys and being taught it’s not ok to be emotional or show and share our feelings but that’s an entirely other conversation or article to be had at a later date.

We must first learn how to shift our minds into a place where we know it’s ok to prioritize ourselves. Only then will we be able to begin to put our own self-care methods into practice and start to heal ourselves and show up as the best possible version of ourselves for those around us.

What do these self-care practices look like? Well they come in many forms, shapes and sizes. If I’m being completely honest this is a fairly new thing for me and when I say new I mean in the last 2 years. I had a spiritual awakening 2 years ago which led to me down this path of self-care and spirituality that started with loss of my Grandmother. You see I was raised by my Mother and Grandmother, those 2 women were my biggest role models. They were/are a picture of strength and resilience. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without those women.

For me, first and foremost, it starts with movement. Getting outside in nature and walking in the fresh air. In addition to that, it’s also meditation and journaling. These are my top 3 but it can be anything that makes your heart or your soul sing. Doing things that bring you joy and keep you in the highest possible vibrational state. That is self-care because you’re doing something that is for you. There are so many ways to do self-care, you just need to find what works for YOU!

So I ask you this….what are you going to do today that is just for YOU?