Self-care is Selfish
Myth: Self-care is selfish
Fact: You can only give quality care if you yourself are full
My sister is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. In other words, she is really good at telling me to practice self-care. I use to think self-care was not needed and that perhaps it was even a little selfish. I am in the profession of giving after all.
I have found that giving can be exhausting, especially when you really really really care about people. I can’t give half my heart to a client. I can’t even give a quarter of my heart to a client. I wish I could. I just can’t.
I realized through my studies that my fatigue comes from the constant act of being present with my clients in order to give them the best results. Maybe you have felt this way too? According to Dr. Steven Dayan, an aesthetic medical practitioner, performing a aesthetic procedure aims to “achieve two outcomes that cannot be easily attained: perfection; and/or the ill-defined notion of patient satisfaction…this is a moving target which requires fluidity in our decisions of when to stop.” He goes on to say that when we are acutely present our minds grow, new neurons sprout and relationships enrich.
It sounds exhausting—Yet, the most fulfilling experience each and every day.
My client’s faces are literally in my hands. I have to be fully present with my clients, and take each procedure seriously. If I don’t, they could be botched and leave trying to hide their faces. The reality is—you can’t hide your face! There have been times I have made mistakes, and learned greatly from them. There have been times my clients were frustrated with me when their vision of beauty was completely different than what I envisioned. There were and are still many times that I feel my clients’ heartache and go through life’s struggles right there along side them. I love it all. Some days I get a glimpse of just how much caregiving can produce fatigue, so I am writing this blog for you caregivers out there! We must take care of each other beauties.
My sister (you know the one who hounds me about self-care?) keeps telling me to practice self-care, because ongoing caring and constant present moment awareness can be overwhelming. Here are some things I do to take care of myself after a long day, and you know what—they work!
Go to the gym and then take a long sauna. I did a lot of research on in-home saunas when we built our house this past year and here this is the one we decided to get.
Take a bath with my favorite Epsom salts infused with Essential Oils
Snuggle with my husband and eat popcorn cooked with coconut oil and sprinkled with nutritional yeast. Try it! It’s great!
Masking. I love masks! My current favorite is the Charcoal + Love by One Love Organics.
Retail therapy for new skincare products.
Bouncing ideas off of good friends over a glass of wine…of course.
Spa days for facials. You can never get enough facials! My favorite facial is the Hydrafacial.
Having coffee in bed researching skincare and cosmetic procedures. I am a coffee addict and have been making my coffee every morning with my Jura. Found here. Once you own one you'll never go back.
Traveling to warm places to soak up that Vitamin D, which is so crucial to our well-being. I am currently heading to sunny Scottsdale as I am writing this to soak up some Vitamin D.
Lying on my Bed of Nails acupressure mat to relieve back pain
What’s your Self-Care 10 List?
Take care of yourself! Our future clients depend on it.
Shine on beauties.
Shine on.
