You need a different, deeper form of self-care...

What is "self-care"? In the wellness world, this word gets thrown around quite a bit. At its core, self-care is the practice of protecting your well-being, peace, and happiness, particularly during stressful seasons of life. It's about being intentional to balance your physical and emotional health by knowing what is important to you and knowing when it is time to set some boundaries in place. For many people, self-care looks something like drinking a glass of wine, listening to calming music, lighting a candle, or taking a bubble bath.

I want to suggest a theme to help you take your self-care a step further, in a direction that can offer you something deeper than a temporary break. Life is difficult. Life challenges us and stretches us in ways we can't always anticipate, and I think we innately know that it takes more than a Starbucks Frappuccino and a scented candle to support us during seasons of stress and pressure.

What if you were to view your body, your mind, and soul through the lens of those words? In this blog post, we're going to tackle what it means to care for yourself with purpose and intentionality.

Nourish Your Body

Your body has value. You are worth 100% of the work it takes to bring your body to a place where it feels safe and vibrant. Think of what you do with your body as an act of self-care and nourishment. A nutrient-dense Bone Broth Hot Chocolate is delicious, but it's also healing your gut health and supporting your body as you live life. Natural skincare balms and oils can help you achieve your aesthetic goals, but they also work to repair damage and make your face vibrant and healthy. When you exercise and move your body in a way that makes you happy and strong, you're placing the value on how your body feels above how it looks. This is so important because nourishment is about achieving a lifetime goal of wellness. Nourishment is more than just skin-deep.

Nourish Your Mind

What does your thought life look like? Is your mind full of feelings of negativity towards yourself and others? Have you been feeding your mind messages of fear, anger, and discouragement through the news and social media? One of the best ways we can nourish our minds is through being intentional with what we put into it. If you watch a show or read a post that makes you feel inadequate, scared, or anxious, those thoughts are going to be difficult to remove. It's easier to avoid those thoughts than to try to remove them. If you find yourself in a place where your negative thoughts are out of control, sometimes a social media detox can be helpful - remember that 90% of news is negative. One way we can carefully curate what we put into our minds is by prioritizing books, articles, conversations, and people that encourage our minds to think beautiful, inspired thoughts. Just like our bodies, our minds are greatly affected by what we consume.

Nourish Your Soul

This is the part of you that feels. Are you stressed, overwhelmed, and anxious? How can you nourish your soul? By taking in what is beautiful and life-giving and throwing out what is not helping you. This looks like doing things you love. Read your favorite book, watch the sunrise, or light a beeswax candle; whatever wakens your soul to the acknowledgment that there is goodness when you search it out. Sometimes prioritizing the good requires that we get rid of the bad. Maybe there's someone you need to ask forgiveness of, or you need to forgive. Bitterness and anger are the enemies of a healthy, thriving soul. Most of us make some attempt to get the right nutrition for our bodies, but how many of us do the work to foster health in our souls? Just like our bodies need a well-balanced diet, exercise, rest, and at times extra support to stay well, our souls need regular care too.

Conclusion

My goal has not been to diminish the value of self-care, but to add depth. More than just addressing surface-level concerns, nourishing your body is the act of realizing that all things are connected. Yes, take a bubble bath and make yourself a latte; but also give your body the food and rest it needs, help your mind heal from negative thought patterns and give it something beautiful to ponder, and address the feelings your soul is struggling with.

Here at Noelle's Naturals, we truly believe in a holistic approach to life and our health and well-being. To find balance within ourselves, we must nourish these three parts that make up our whole being: mind, body, and soul. 

~Stay crunchy