A catalyst for well being
The concept of Self-care gained momentum during the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 -2022. It had already been on the radar within the wellness community for sometime, and now part of the zeitgeist and ubiquitous overused phrase. Self-care is about making time for care of your being both spirit and soul, it’s being proactive, not reactive. The issue is that we often only pay attention to our bodies when we fall ill. There's a simple practice you can use to understand what your body and mind needs to find its equilibrium.
We are more than just physical beings
Over time we’ve become disconnected from listening to bodies, often missing the subtle tells that signal an imbalance? As a result, we wait till the elastic snaps before we respond to the symptom rather than the root cause. Because, most physical illnesses stem from imbalances that take root much, much earlier. By understanding these four levels of being it becomes a four-dimensional way of mapping your inner and outer landscape, identifying acute needs, and the restorative solution. Learning to nurture yourself on all levels by factoring practices that nourish all of them. Often when we hit a physical rock bottom we don’t have the inner resilience to process our inner needs, so we need to strengthen our core before we focus on the others.
Understanding self-care is empowering. What exactly are its fundamental principles?
There are four fundamental areas to take into account : your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual self. Try turning into yourself and gauging how each feels, it will help you understand where you need most support. They're in truth inseparable but one of them is often more acute and needs more attention initially. However, a nurturing ‘Self Care’ regime in parallel will support and restore equilibrium to all.
How does it work?
To begin with, spirit level may seem counterintuitive, especially when your back is hurting, but remember your spirit is the essence of who you are, your vision, and your source of inspiration. So,it's not surprising that when you lose your purpose, your zest for life disappears,this not only affects your thinking and feelings. This affects your mental outlook, making you more judgmental, controlled, and stressed, eventually affecting your emotional state such as anxiety, irritability, and volatility. This potent mixture can trigger feelings of inadequacy, sadness, and anger. If this stress continues, it can manifest physically, for example, a sudden cold or the reemergence of a latent virus often emerges when you're mentally overloading yourself. These superficial issues become more severe if left unaddressed, affecting both your physical and mental well-being.
Your body is a mirror
Your physical body is a unique reflection of the source of an imbalance. For instance, digestive issues are about processing and releasing emotional worries and anxieties, adrenal stress causes us to process things too quickly, this results in diarrhoea whilst retentive thinking might manifest as constipation or withheld anger IBS . Lower back pain often reflects fears around support relating to finacial or emotional security and stability. Liver issues may relate to frustration and anger related to not expressing your passion or feeling impotent. Chest issues can highlight suppressed self-expression or grief, this is not always due to the loss of a loved one, but of a job, home, or sense of self. This is not a new phenomenon for me, it's how I’ve worked and practised for over thirty years. It’s what I see as a holistic way of Being Well.