What’s Your Self-Care Look Like?

Recently I was on Dr. Errical Jones tiktok Live and she asked a great question.

What do you all do for self-care?

And what do you do to unwind during the weekend?

To my surprise, so many people did not have an answer!

This is no shade to those who couldn’t answer.

Honestly, I get it….

Life’s sooo soo sooo busy…

There are the kids, doctors appointments school, work, family drama, your drama, car maintenance, home, bills, bills & then some more bills.

Life’s full of unexpected and unwanted surprises, it almost seems unbearable most days.

I know for myself dealing with BPD and fibromyalgia it’s hard to even get out of bed.

But things HAVE to get done.

No excuses.

I feel like in certain communities, especially our community… we were taught from the womb to KEEP FIGHTING … “We don’t have time for that!”

Maybe there’s a day you were tired and you wanted to rest, but because of life, you were not only able to rest but able to process your emotions on what was occurring in life.

And then for those of you especially who had to fend for yourselves and siblings at a very young age you really couldn’t catch a break.

But guess what?

We’re adults now!

All that fighting, working, moving, raising kids, dealing with unjust in this world, and frustrating jobs with annoying coworkers and bosses… takes a major toll on your life.

And sadly our bodies take all that on.

Before I got married I was living on my own and I have no clue how I surprised for so long with all my chronic health issues but I was working full time and depending on no one else but me.

There were times I had to just call out for a rest day.

As scary as that was I survived.

Now all of our circumstances are different but let’s talk about some simple things we can all do schedule in our self-care routine.

1) Soaking in Epsom Salt- GET YOU SOME! There are multiple health benefits such as improved heart health, anti-inflammatory, calming your nerves, and helping decrease stress and anxiety. By the way, if your tub is too small get a bucket and soak your feet! And yes it’s at the dollar store.

2) Spend some time in nature ( one of my favs). I grew up in the city so there wasn’t much nature. But even if you can go to your local park that counts. Studies have shown that it can better your concentration, increase vitamin D, and no surprise improve your mental health.

3) Meditation- Reduces stress, and anxiety, focus becomes better, and enhances self-awareness. Need some ideas? YouTube, Pinterest, and Lemon8 are great go-tos.

4) Listen to Music- For me when I’m super stressed I love going to my Pandora station or YouTube to look up some Lo-Fi music. I’m telling you all is a vibe. They have a wide variety of beats and melodies… also something I’ve learned in therapy harp music is a great way to relax the mind.

5) RELAX- it’s okay to not have anything planned for the day and just chill. As much as we all have on our plates, it will continue to pull up because that’s the world we live in.

So kick your feet up and just relax. Phone on silent, light a candle, and chill.

In all self-care can look very different for us all.

We all have different interests.

What’s important is you…

There’s someone in your life that’ll always want you around, and if we don’t take care of ourselves it can lead to so many health issues.

You deserve a break.

No, you’re not being lazy when you have a nothing day.

You’re loving on yourself but caring for your needs.

I hope by tomorrow or Saturday everyone has taken some time for themselves.

After all, you deserve it 🤎🤎🤎🤎🫶🏽🫶🏽

#selfcare #tiktok #fyp #blackgirllemon8 #mentalhealth