Lately I’ve been thinking about self care. Actually, I’ve been doing more than thinking about it, I’ve been actively pursuing it. Not consistently and not perfectly, but enough that I’m noticing a difference. You see, I’m staring down the barrel at the big 5-0. A majority of my client base includes middle age and senior clients who work very hard to protect their health and mobility. I have a couple of 85 year old women on my table who lead a more active life than I do, and I’m no slouch.
The prospect of turning 50 doesn’t bother me. There are certain aspects I would like to change, but for the most part I feel like my life is just beginning. However, I’m reminded when I have to be careful about how I get out of my chair to avoid making my back twinge that I need to protect what I have so I can do my best to have 30 or 40 more years of enjoying life.
Self care can be a tricky beast. Posts and articles make it sound like a straightforward thing; just follow this routine and your worries will disappear. I’ve found the most success when I’ve thought about what I need to work on and tried to put little things in where I can fit them. I try to build these things around existing habits to make it easier to actually do them. Here’s a few things that have made a difference for me:
- Do squats or balance on one leg while I brush my teeth – My left leg is weaker than my right, especially when it comes to balancing. Balancing on my left leg while my electric toothbrush buzzes away helps slow down my spinning mind and leads to long term gains. Part of my back pain comes from the fact that I pretty much forget that I have muscles in my tush. Squats help build muscle and remind me what it feels like to use them when I bend. It’s helped to considerably reduce the number and volume of groans when I straighten out my back.
- Stretch out my chest and neck when I go to the bathroom – In the days when I had a desk job, my shoulder blades would get so tight they would go numb. That freaked me out just enough to make me put on my creative hat. I started rotating my shoulders and neck and putting my arms behind my back to stretch my chest muscles while I went to the bathroom. It didn’t make the numbness disappear, but it certainly changed the frequency. It also gave me a chance to take a couple of breaths and kick down my stress response. Again, not a day and night difference, but tension headaches were less of a concern.
- Drink one glass of water before I have coffee – I love coffee. The call of drinking that first cup while I read or journal and ease into my day is one of the things that gets my grumpy self out of bed in the morning. I will and have drink nothing but coffee all day. When I do that, my guts seize up and sleep becomes a distant memory. Not to mention my skin transforms into peach colored crepe paper. I have noticed that if I drink water first thing in the morning I more often than not only have one cup of coffee and that’s more out of habit than desire. Water sometimes feels kind of boring to drink so if I’m feeling sassy I’ll add an herbal tea bag to give my water just a hint of flavor. Every time I lean into my water consumption my tummy and my energy levels are much better.
- Take a few minutes to stretch when I get out of or into bed – The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is grab my phone. For some reason I’m convinced that something incredibly important or traumatic has happened while I’m asleep and my brain plunges head first into heart thumping anxiety. Lately I’ve been trying to take a few minutes to stretch and move before I launch into my day. I don’t have any particular goals with my stretches, I just move in a way that feels good. I try to take some deep breaths and think about the bright spots coming up in my day. This is not my normal way of doing things. I shoot out of my bed like a sprinter in running blocks and don’t slow down until I collapse into bed at night. I’ve done this for my entire adult life. It’s lead to a lot of productivity, but it hasn’t been great for that whole quality of life thing. I’m hoping that taking a few minutes in the morning and at night to ease into and out of the day will help me learn what a relaxed nervous system feels like. I’ll keep you posted.
Self care looks different for everyone. These are the little things that help me manage the annoying aches and pains of daily life. There are a lot of other things that I do (or should do) that aren’t such little things. I make sure to go to the dentist, doctor and eye doctor on a regular basis. I get regular chiropractor adjustments and do my best to get regular massages. I think one of the biggest challenges to self care is convincing ourselves that it’s an investment. Every time I need to schedule an appointment I have to remind myself that I’m making the appointment for the Future Stef, the one who can go on hiking trips with her grandkids or go snorkelling. My goal for Future Stef is for her activities to not be limited by her health. In order to make that happen I need to take the time and spend the money – both of which I never feel like I have. After I get my clean bill of health or am able to address a minor issue, I’m grateful that I made the choice.
Our office is all about improving quality of life. We encourage you to think about where your health is now and where you’d like it to be. Maybe there are some small steps you can make toward your big and little goals. This can be an overwhelming process, so feel free to call on us if you need someone to bounce ideas off of. Anna’s a Certified Health and Life Coach, Ed is a Certified Life Coach and Stef is a nerd girl with self diagnosed ADHD who knows a little bit about a lot of things. All of us are here to help you in and outside the massage room.
So take care of yourself. Whatever that means. Your future self will thank you.