Self Care....The Smile Coach says.....just do it!

 Self Care.....The Smile Coach says...just do it!

You have to look after yourself……..the rest will follow along behind.

Hi Everyone,

Another blog, only a couple of weeks after the last, I’m getting back into the flow, but without making it “have” to happen…life is busy for us all, let’s just do what we can!

So self care….this has been on my mind lately, so it’s time to write it out, remove it from my brain, and share it with you….hopefully it resonates with you and will keep the conversation going that if you look after yourself, you can then look after everyone else, but you must make yourself number 1…..not the one at the back of the queue, that only gets the scraps, if there’s anything left.

As lovely as it would be to book ourselves into Champneys for an luxurious 5 star Spa break every weekend, I’m not talking about the big things. For me it’s all about the small things, the everyday things that you can do to add a little sparkle to your day.

One day last week, I had 30 mins in between the school run and starting work, so I got home, made a coffee ( I love a proper expresso in the morning), grabbed my book and walked to my 6 minute bench…why 6 minutes? During Lockdown I worked out that I could get to the bench in 6 mins, so I could time my lunch breaks around a little time out, to breath and take in the views of beautiful Hastings Old Town. If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you’ll see most of my posts involve pictures of the Old Town, it really is one of my happy places, again nothing big, just seeing views that I love can just reset your brain enough to deal with the rest of that day/week/month.

Bliss....

...with the best view!

Back to my coffee, I did feel a bit of a wally walking with my little expresso cup, but sod it, sometimes you just have to do it, and it was a talking point for anyone that returned my greeting of “morning” as I passed people walking to my bench. I’ve written in previous blogs about how I greet most people I pass; a smile can go far and it’s lovely when you get one back too!

Limited time, a coffee and reading a bit more of my book, set me up for the day, which was a busy one, but when I looked back over the day, I had done something for me, in amongst the many things done for others throughout the day and evening.

Get outside feel the sunshine on your back, ground yourself, dance in the rain, whatever works for you.

Meet up with a friend, put the world to rights! Running gives, me that and now I love sea swimming too, I get into the sea, and it feels like you really do leave any emotional baggage on the beach. A good chat as you swim up and down completely replenishes your mind, body, and soul and hopefully does some toning up as you go to!

A view from a self care swim

Tonight, as I type, I’ve had something that became very rare during the pandemic…. a night to myself with the freedom of the remote! Before the pandemic, we were always in and out during the week, but as with us all, life became very “together” during Covid, and remote control freedom wasn’t quite so free! The only problem being that sometimes I get bored flicking through, trying to find something that I will enjoy on my own. The best bit about these evenings, is just sitting down and relaxing, some chocolate may have also jumped into my palm tonight, but that’s all good, just what we’re talking about, doing what’s good for you at that moment in time.

You may have a completely different list of self-care things that you like to do, that’s ok, it’s all about doing what works for you, what you can fit in.

I do have long term thoughts on what I can do to look after myself, I love meditation, I love anything spiritual and one day I’d love to dedicate time to the practice of Yoga. I’ve done classes over the years, but I’d like to learn more about the spiritual side of it too. I’d love to study it I guess, but not to teach it, just to understand more about how it combines, exercise with the intricate systems within the body and gives you time to just stop and breathe.

Breathing is another form of self-care, that I love to do, there doesn’t have to be a way to do it, just go to a favourite place and breathe! Simple! When you feel stressed, just stop and breathe, deep breaths can just allow you time to find another perspective on something, stop you striving and keep you in the moment. Mindfulness is the practice of learning to listen to your body by bringing it back to the breath, I love it because you can do it anywhere, for any length of time, but it will always work, no matter how you do it.

Lastly…. book yourself a treat, small or large it’s up to you, but do it! You’d do it for everyone else, so why not for yourself? Maybe it’s an eyebrow wax, or a manicure or maybe a haircut, a little bit of time out, just do it.

Whatever you do, the smile that you will gain from taking that little bit of time will be worth it. If you think of yourself as a phone, low on charge, what would you do? You’d plug it in to charge it up, that’s what self-care is, rebuilding your power and energy to maintain your resilience and grow your confidence and contribute to yours and everyone else’s lives around you, there’s no shame in that!

Stay strong, keep smiling and maybe Reiki could be part of that self-care routine!

Lots of Love

Emma

The Smile Coach 😊