The Importance of Self-Care - Part 1
Self-Care and Setting Boundaries
To Be Your Truest Self Requires Self-Care
Self-care means:
A healthy and balanced approach to responding to the wants and needs of others and yourself
Recognizing that you need to put your needs before the needs and wants of others at times, and to do so without guilt and unfair self-accusations of selfishness
Realizing that decisions involved in self-care are not always clear-cut or easy
Learning to do it more effectively over time
Establishing healthy boundaries
Healthy Boundaries are:
An established set of limits over your physical and emotional well-being which you expect others to respect in their relationship with you
A limit or line over which you will not allow anyone to cross because of the negative impact of its being crossed would have on you
The emotional and physical space you need in order to be the real you, your essential truest Sage self, without pressure from others to be something that you are not
Part of healthy selfishness. Remembering you cannot help others unless you take care of yourself first. (Even flight assistants tell passengers to put their own oxygen masks on first before helping others!)
Reasons Self-Care and Setting Healthy Boundaries Can Be Difficult to Do:
An aversion to being seen as selfish
Mistakenly believing that it is selfish to take care of yourself
Erroneously believing that to be a good nurturer and caretaker means having to put others’ needs before your own.
Denying to others as well as to yourself that you have your own wishes, preferences and needs
Remember – You cannot be your truest Sage self unless you regularly practice self-care!