Busy moms, stressed-out students, new parents, executives scaling the corporate ladder – what do they all have in common?
The answer’s easy to miss, but it’s out there in plain sight – They seldom have time to care for themselves!
Stress is one of the overriding factors in their lives, and with chronic stress come a variety of physical, emotional and mental disorders and disturbances.
The recent Covid-19 pandemic has shaken people profoundly. We suddenly realized how fragile life really is, and how inadequate our coping mechanisms are. Many of us have still not fully recovered from the aftermath of an attack, some of us have lost loved ones. As the world limps back to normal, it’s important to take stock of the lessons learned.
Health, fitness, wellness and well-being have become more important than ever, but with a slight difference. Today, we have also figured out (the hard way) that we each need to take individual responsibility for our own health and wellness. The concept of self care has become one of the most popular and relevant movements across the world.
While self care demands that you focus on your own wellness, human beings are social animals and some part of caring for yourself also means caring for your loved ones. Ensuring that they stay healthy and happy is one way to secure your own emotional wellness.
What Self Care Means To You
As a unique individual, it’s obvious that you are the best judge of what self care means to you. In real terms, self care refers to all activities that you, your family and friends undertake to promote health, prevent disease, and cope with disabilities. This can be done with or without the services of a healthcare professional. It involves deliberately choosing healthy lifestyle options, recognizing and attending to symptoms immediately, monitoring and following health care advice and striving to remain mindful and grateful in life. It doesn’t mean adopting a temporary, Band-Aid type approach – true self care involves taking in the bigger picture and thinking long term.
Self Care Gifts : How and Where To Buy
While choosing self care gifts for your loved ones and for yourself, keep a few pointers in mind.
Emotional and Mental Wellness: Stress originates in the mind, from a real or perceived threat. This triggers the Fight or Flight response, where stress hormones enter the bloodstream and prepare your body to face the problem. However, remaining in a state of chronic stress is harmful and life-threatening. Your body has to return to stability with the Rest and Digest response to ensure that life processes can resume normally. Self care gifts that promote emotional and mental wellness include journals, daily affirmation cards or apps, and self-help literature. You can find a great selection at Rest and Digest Australia.
Learning and Education: Improving your knowledge, stimulating newer areas of your brain, gaining more awareness of new subjects and picking up novel skills is a great way to promote wellness. Your self care gifting choices here can include membership of a crafting group, hobby kits, enrollment in a language class, walking tours of your city, cooking, music or theater classes, wine and cheese tasting sessions, film appreciation, quilting or macrame, and more. A quick glance through your local directory listings will provide you with plenty of information. Make sure that the location is conveniently accessible for your loved one or yourself. If there are materials to be purchased, don’t forget to include the cost of these in your gift.
Gadgets: Look at reliable websites such as Rest and Digest to pick up useful self care gadgets. Buy a fitness tracker smart watch, or a set of Gua Sha and Jade Roller, analog alarm clocks, mood lighting with dynamic preset, automatic silicone bath brushes, sleep analyzers, a one-cup tea kettle, or a tiny rice-cooker, VR headsets, red light therapy gadgets, or a complete home spa set.
Experiences: For a truly memorable self care gift, give yourself or your loved one a unique experience. It could be a hot air balloon ride, paragliding, concert or theater tickets with a special trip backstage to meet the stars, dinner or lunch at a fine-dining restaurant that specializes in healthy eating choices, beauty salon or spa packages, a trip down memory lane for those who loved their childhood days, and more. While giving an experience, it is important to remember that true self care is not a momentary or transient experience. To get the full benefit of your gift, make sure that there is follow-up in terms of journaling, making an audio or video recording, or creating a storytelling feature based on the experience.
Final Thoughts
All you need is empathy, and an open mind as you plan your self care gifts. They don’t have to be unique or expensive, and you don’t have to scour the world to get something exclusive and memorable. Often, a coloring book, a pen-drive filled with favorite music, a link to great podcasts, or even the occasional phone call to share a few laughs would suffice to make all the difference to someone’s life, and your own.
