What is Self Care and Why is it Important in a Recession?

The World Health Organization defines self-care as “the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a health worker.”

For me, self care is anything that you do to support your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being. Self care is a way to proactively take good care of yourself, build resiliency, and create a strong foundation to be better equipped to handle life’s stressors, for example, a health challenge, a natural disaster, a situation at work, a relationship issue, or a recession.

Everyday Health offers additional insight into why self care is important and the long-term benefits.

Making an investment in your physical health, mental and emotional well-being, and feeling aligned with your life’s purpose pays untold dividends.

When you’re at your best, this benefits everyone around you. For example, you’ll be resilient enough to support a loved one who might be struggling, you’ll be able to tackle a challenging project and work with greater clarity and creativity, or your immune system will be strong and able to fight off getting that cold or flu.

The Effects of Stress

I think we tend to discount how important addressing stress can be. According to the American Institute of Stress, 43% of adults suffer adverse health effects due to stress, and 75% to 90% of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related complaints or disorders.

In addition, I remember one of my Reiki teachers years ago saying it was better to deal with an issue now, even if it’s something uncomfortable or extra-challenging, than waiting to deal with it in 10 years’ time.

If you’ve ever ignored a health condition, you know firsthand that waiting to address a chronic issue only makes it worse. Not to mention that the treatment time is usually much longer than when you’re addressing an acute issue.

Getting regular wellness sessions helps you be proactive in your self care by reducing stress, and this also can help you save time and money over the long term.

Relaxation Response

Wellness sessions such as Distance Reiki, Tao Hands or Hypnotherapy help shift the body out of a fight-or-flight, sympathetic nervous system response, into a rest-and-digest, parasympathetic nervous system state.

When you feel stressed or overwhelmed, you’re in fight-or-flight mode, and that’s not going to help you effectively deal with whatever you need to address over the long term.

Parasympathetic mode is also called the Relaxation Response; this is the state that you need to cultivate so your body and mind can heal and rejuvenate. Rest-and-digest (how many of us have digestive issues that are exacerbated by stress?) is the state the body needs to be in to optimally repair, restore, and balance itself.

Frequently getting into this restorative state is key to longevity, boosts immunity, and helps you feel better able to cope with whatever life throws your way. (This is why we need to sleep every night!)

A body that’s highly stressed almost forgets how to shift into the relaxation, rest-and-digest state on its own.

Wellness sessions, such as my virtual one-on-one Soul-Powered Breakthrough Program, can assist in resetting and balancing your body (as well as your heart and mind—they are all interconnected). Wellness sessions jumpstart your body’s own self-healing response–assisting the body in aiding detoxification, balancing mental and emotional states, and releasing deep-seated tensions.

In addition to wellness sessions, there are so many ways you can take care of yourself. Self care can take many forms and is personal to your own needs and preferences.

I’ll offer you more specific self care ideas below. And while there is much overlap, some examples include:

Physical Self Care: getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, eating healthy foods like fruits and vegetables

Mental Self Care: taking a break from the news or social media, journaling, having a gratitude practice

Emotional Self Care: spending time with good friends or your pet, soaking in the bath, volunteering

Spiritual Self Care: meditating, going to church, getting a wellness session, going for a hike in nature

When you’re feeling anxious or worried, it can take up a lot of your focus and attention. Shifting and resetting your focus is like relaxing a fist that’s been clenched for years.

The body holds negative emotions and chronic anxiety as tension in the mind and body, and this is released during my Soul-Powered Breakthrough Program. After each meeting, I suggest clients notice any little or bigger changes as their mind and body continue to rebalance over the next few days.

I send follow up support after each session with creative ideas to keep the energy flowing so that you can integrate and maximize the positive benefits from our work together.

Changes you might notice after this kind of work include:

• Physical shifts: such as sleeping better or feeling lighter in the body
• Mental/emotional shifts: such as feeling calmer in stressful situations or finding it easier to focus
• Spiritual shifts: such as feeling more intuitive or connected to your best self

Self Care You Can Do Right Now to Alleviate Anxiety:

What’s everything you can focus on that’s not the problem? Make a list!

Other ideas for self care for anxiety include going on a one-day news fast, making a list of 10 things you’re grateful for, mindfully breathing long and deep for 3 minutes, or taking a walk in a park or nature.

Here’s more detail on how to make the most of your soul healing wellness sessions, with specific things to do and notice, and 32+ ways to keep the energy flowing.

Bonus: Integrate some of these 32+ ways, whether you get wellness sessions or not, most of them are free!

Since the pandemic, so many people have suffered from insomnia and other sleep issues. Maybe you find it hard to switch off even when you’re not working or when it’s time to go to sleep?

Many people report feeling calmer and more peaceful, and noticing an improvement in sleep is one of the most common benefits clients notice after receiving sessions.

Did you know I have a special Hypnotherapy protocol to help you get to sleep?

I’ll show you easy self-Hypnosis techniques you can use if you have trouble falling asleep or getting back to sleep, and I personalize it for each person based on your particular sleep issues.

Self Care You Can Do Right Now to Alleviate Insomnia:

You can read more about how my Soul-Powered Breakthrough Program helps you sleep, learn how to do the Movie Technique to get to sleep, discover specific flower essences for insomnia, and learn about free apps and podcasts you can try.

Maybe when you try to make a decision you feel like anxiety or worry is interfering, or you feel overly influenced by others’ opinions.

Reiki, Tao Hands, and Hypnosis are all wonderful at helping you connect to your own inner wisdom. Wellness sessions can help you feel more centered, calm, and clear, and this clarity can help optimize your decision making. Gaining more clarity is one of the common responses I hear from clients after their sessions.

(This clarity is one of my personal favorite benefits to getting wellness sessions regularly—I need to practice what I preach, right?)

Self Care You Can Do Right Now to Alleviate Indecisiveness:

Here’s a key question from Hypnosis Master trainer John Overdurf. You can ask yourself this to help bring you into the present moment and alleviate indecisiveness:

What’s the next smallest step I need to take? 

(I ask myself this question every day—it’s a game changer.)

Here’s more on how my Soul-Powered Breakthrough Program can help you make better decisions, as well as why this question is so powerful and how it works, the best flower essences for decision making, and a simple process you can use to guide you to make the best decisions.

Are you having trouble moving forward? Some people feel stuck in their body (for example, they feel a tightness or pressure in their chest or stomach), while others notice it in the mind (obsessing, ruminating, or overanalyzing).

Just like the circulation in the physical body, your energy (or qi / ki in Chinese and Japanese respectively) is meant to flow smoothly. Tao Hands, Hypnosis, and Distance Reiki are each excellent at softening and releasing blocked or stuck feelings.

Self Care You Can Do Right Now to Alleviate Feeling Stuck:

With gentle fists tap the upper chest, down the sides of the legs, the bottoms of the feet (this is especially good to help you feel grounded), the middle back/kidneys, and the lower abdomen. This is taken from Qi Gong/Tai Chi and can help boost circulation so you can feel energized and refreshed. See what you notice when you do this the next time you’re feeling stuck.

So many people are dealing with major life changes—in their work, relationships, and/or health. We’re also collectively undergoing major changes in the world.

Adapting to what’s new and processing the release of what we’re leaving behind is key to building resiliency.

Setting aside time in your life for wellness sessions to relax and gently process these changes allows you to recover from accumulated physiological and psychological stress.

Many people ask how often should you have a session, as well as how many sessions are needed.

If you’re dealing with a specific issue or challenge, my Soul-Powered Breakthrough Program is designed to get you the fastest results in the most efficient use of your time.

Everyone changes differently, but as a rule, acute conditions tend to balance faster than chronic ones, and I’ll create a customized treatment plan for you.

Take care of yourself with these free wellness resources you can use right now. You can also use these in between wellness sessions to prolong the effects and maximize the benefits.

These self care ideas include a range of self-healing techniques like Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and Heart Breathing, as well as book and app recommendations, flower essences for emotional balance, and easy lifestyle changes.

My #1 Stress Relief Technique

Release Stress & Strengthen Intuition With Heart Breathing

Wellness Tips & Tools for Challenging Times

How to Stay Grounded: 25 Easy Techniques

35 Ways to Unplug from Too Much Screen Time

Wellness sessions aren’t a luxury; they’re a self care investment that pays dividends over time.  Cultivating resilience, boosting immunity, shifting into rest-and-digest and initiating the Relaxation Response are just a few ways you’ll  be better able to handle and deal with any stresses you encounter.

You can get started here if you need support (no matter where you live in the world!).