By: Dr. Darby
Self-care is essential to the soul! Self-care can be activities that one engages in that they enjoy and can lead to stress relief. Self-care has countless benefits for your body in all ways, mentally, physically, emotionally, etc. This topic came up for me this week because I was able to engage in self-care myself. I pride myself on self-care because the direct impact on my life is immeasurable. My thoughts are more precise, my mood is improved, and I feel better overall.
Part of myself last week included a 90-minute deep tissue massage and a 60-minute reflexology foot massage. I know not everyone loves getting massages, but for me, it is a time to unplug. No phone, no talking, although some massage therapists want to talk lol, I advise my therapist that I am not a talker; heck as a counselor I talk enough lol. I often fall asleep on the table because it is that relaxing for me. I enjoy medium pressure, as well. The therapist last week had deep pressure, and I had to advise her to adjust, which she did, or else it wouldn’t have been that pleasurable for me. Now that foot massage was terrific. If you’ve never had one, I encourage you to do it!!
I was then invited to take a short trip with some of my sorority sisters. We traveled to Geneva-on-the-Lake and rented a small cottage with a lake view. After spraying the
entire cottage with disinfectant, we are still in a pandemic people, and we were able to settle in. We had some time together watching TV, sitting in rocking chairs on the porch
sitting outside in front of the fire pit eating ice cream, and we also took a walk around the lake. We also ventured out to two wineries. We went to one the day we arrived, and
each did a flight of 8 one oz tastes of different wine.
If you think that doesn’t sound like a
lot of wine, tuh. I am here to tell you that it was a considerable amount and one that left us all feeling pretty relaxed lol. The next day, we had a great breakfast at a “mom and pop” local restaurant. On our way home, we stopped at another winery, which, due to COVID-19, had limited options. We were able to have a glass of wine and relax for a while. It was a great time away and definitely what I needed even though it was less than 24 hours.
We all need to take some time to take care of ourselves. You have to figure out what self-care looks like for you. Self-care is very different from person to person. It doesn’t have to cost money either. You can take a bike ride, write in a journal,
take a hot bath, meditate, etc. It may take some time to discover what feels right for you, trust me, it is so worth it!!
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