One of the 52s I’ve got is to schedule 1hr of self care each week.
At first I didn’t know what that was. I was like am I meant to just like do yoga or something? Go to bed earlier? Read a book? What is self care anyway?
Turns out it’s all of those things. It’s basically setting aside an hour a week to just get back to feeling good.
Self-care refers to activities undertaken with the intention of enhancing energy, restoring health and reducing stress. There are many ways to do this and self-care is something that can be personalised for every individual.
Everymind.org.au
For the last few weeks it’s been stuff like applying self tan, because I thought “self care” meant something that made me feel pretty. And it does, to some extent.
Tonight, I’m wearing a face mask. I’m about to wash it off, but my skin needed it. It’s only 15mins, but I have more time scheduled in for myself tomorrow.
Truth is, the more I thought about it the more I realised that I haven’t really been setting time aside to treat my body well in a long time. Shaving is an after thought, and typically only when my leg hair starts curling and it’s truly embarrassing for me to reveal my legs to my husband, let alone wear shorts in public. I don’t remember the last time I got a bikini wax (it’s been shaving, and that just plain out sucks), or an eyebrow wax.
It’s fair to say I’ve sucked at the upkeep.
I wonder if some of my body image issues stem from not actually appreciating my body in this way? Side note – I never thought I had body image issues, just thought I was overweight, until I realised just how much I hated looking in the mirror if it was anything other than my face.
The more I start to think about my body “maintenance” the more I realise how neglected my body is. Maybe if I start to take pride in the basics, the food I eat will naturally turn to healthier choices as I learn to nourish my body on the inside too? And maybe I’ll feel a bit sexier, which no doubt my husband will enjoy.
With regards to maintenance, I’m not talking anything complex, just stuff like:
- Paint my nails again (I haven’t done this in a long time)
- Buy an epilator and start using a more longer-term hair removal method that reduces the frequency
- Regular face masks (see: tonight)
- Weekly fake tan (I always feel better when I am less translucent)
- Straightening my hair
- Eyebrow shaping
- Lash tints (I used to treat myself to this on the odd occasion and I always thought it looked nice)
Stuff that is probably very basic, common tasks for people, but stuff that I have been neglecting.
On that note – do any of my friends use an epilator? I know of one, and I’m curious to try it. I can handle a brazillian wax, but just haven’t made the time to keep up appointments, but waxing my legs I tried once in grade 11 and never again.
Anyways, maybe this isn’t revolutionary for anyone. Maybe neglect like this is common after you have kids, or maybe it’s just me. But it’s time I started to take a bit more pride in my appearance again.