We have been taught from the get-go that being ‘hard-working’ and ‘productive’ is so noble an undertaking that we must prioritise it at the expense of everything else, including the very canvas that our life is painted upon: our body’s health.
We have been made to believe that the ‘right’ thing to do is to serve others before we serve ourselves. That we should always sacrifice ourselves first.
We repeatedly see this behaviour played out in everyday life and in the workplace. And society and employers reward and praise people for working really, really hard – going above and beyond – working extra hours – always saying yes to more demands – when all this comes at great cost to their health.
Why? Because when people are hard-working, productive and/or serving others first, above everything else, the economy will continue to grow, whilst the workforce is kept controlled and asleep, and too exhausted to rise up to fight for progression, freedom and higher consciousness.
I do not consent to being a cog in the big machine that prioritises relentless economic growth.
I do not consent to sacrificing my own body, health, and well-being to serve others.
I do not consent to giving away my power, my time, and my energy, so that there is nothing left for myself.
That is not why I am here on this planet.
My belief is that self-martyrdom is the old way. But, fortunately, the old way is crumbling.
I feel a wave of this rebellion and it fires me up. A rebellion that rewards and praises radical self-care instead.
Are you able to say “I practice radical self-care”?
I included the word ‘radical’ because I believe that – given the society that we live in – we need to be full blown activists in order to genuinely care for ourselves.
Okay, so the big question is what does ‘self-care’ even mean?
To me, self-care does not mean having a candle-lit rose bath and booking retreats that facilitate your soul’s growth (although count me in for those two things haha).
It is much deeper than that.
To me, self-care is a way of life.
It means respecting, honouring and listening to our earth bodies. It means creating enough spaciousness in our life to allow the memory to surface that our bodies ARE the earth, and that destroying our bodies/earth is not sustainable and not clever.
To me, self-care is having integrity in my actions – like not breaking my own word to myself, because I need to be able to trust myself.
To me, self-care is about micro daily practices to love and care for myself, such as planning ahead so I can eat fresh healthy wholesome food all week and prioritising sleep.
To me, self-care is about taking actions that I know will please my ‘future self’ – like leaving my kitchen clean so that I feel good next time I enter it.
To me, self-care is giving myself permission to feel the whole spectrum of feelings. To try my best to remain compassionate towards my humanness, messiness, brokenness.
To me, self-care means doing the life-long work to ‘know thyself’.
To me, self-care is choosing to spend my precious time with people that me feel alive and connected, not those that suck my precious life force out of me (like Harry Potter’s dementors).
To me, self-care is feeling, loving and respecting the seasons in my body.
To me, self-care means spending my time doing things that light me up (e.g. movement is my medicine, so I must move).
To me, self-care means experiencing the pleasure of the world, like stopping in my tracks to listen to the hooting owl, or noticing how the gentle breeze loves to caress my hair, or whispering thank you to the ocean as I float in her, or feeling the golden sun sink his warm rays into my blood and bones as I love him back, or holding a yellow rose petal between my finger and thumb and noticing how it feels like a gentle intimate kiss. It’s about being in a responsive conversation with our animal, plant and tree friends.
What does ‘self-care’ mean to you?
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