Self Care or Community Care?

What comes to mind when someone suggests that you need more self care? I know I sometimes feel

some reluctance or dread. I might think “Oh great, another thing for me to do!”. I know I am not alone

in this reaction.

Often, this sort of reaction indicates that someone has probably been feeling overwhelmed and stressed

for too long. While something like a bubble bath may help, it likely is not going to create the long term

change they are craving. When we notice ourselves in this pattern of thinking, we might need to get

creative and curious about what kinds of care are going to help us find actual peace and ease in our daily

lives.

Self care might mean finding rhythms and routines that help to avoid overwhelm in the first place. This

can look like automating some routine tasks, like bill payments and grocery shopping. It could even

mean doing something kind of stressful that will pay off in the long run; like perhaps changing your

child’s day care to a location that is more convenient or affordable.

Self care also might mean building simple ways to destress into regular day-to-day life. It might look like

taking 5-minute stretch break at work, or planning for a 10 minute walk after supper. While we may

want to set more intense fitness goals like spending an hour a day at the gym, there are times when that

is just not realistic or doable, so giving ourselves permission to set a small fitness goal is also a form of

self-care!

Self care might also require us to get creative. Taking 10-20 minutes for something creative might be just

what we need. Creative expression is not just for skilled artists! This might look like doodling, scrapbook

or junk journaling, colouring, reading a poem, or just dancing around your living room.

Finally, while all these individual activities and approaches can help, we still know that many stresses

and challenges of life can not be handled completely on our own. No amount of personal effort is going

to take away the monumental stresses most of us carry every day. Often, we need to go further than

individual self care and find community support. And, we should acknowledge that for many of us, that

might feel difficult, even impossible to find.

One of our goals at InnerWorks is to help people find community care. We have several groups, both

free and paid, that may offer the community care you are looking for.

Link: https://innerworkslondon.com/groups