SELF CARE

Hi, My name is Sindhu Sathya Narayanan. I am from India. After taking up the training on "Self Care" in World Pulse, I am here to share my self care journey.

Firstly, most importantly I understood what is self care? Self care is a process of showing ourselves kindness and care, just we would show another person. As so I started treating myself as my best friend and took care of myself.

Different style of self care works for different type of people. I practised and understood what style of self care suits me, how I protected myself from chaotic, challenging and perhaps difficult situation.

Physical Relaxation: For physical relaxation and live the present I follow the grounding technique.

Grounding ( 5-4-3-2-1) technique: Using this technique, I observe the details of my surroundings using each of my senses to calm down.

1. Five things I see. Eg: Pattern on ceiling, the picture on the wall, or an object I never noticed.

2. Four things I feel. Eg: Sensation of clothing on my body, the sun on my skin, or the feeling of chair I am sitting or I pick up now object and examine its weight, texture and other physical qualities.

3. Three things I can hear. I pay attention to the sounds such as ticking clock, distant traffic, of trees blowing in the wind.

4. Two things I can smell. I try to notice smells in the air around me, like an air freshener or freshly mowed grass.

5. One thing I taste. I carry gum, candy or small snacks for this step. I pop one in my mouth and focus my attention closely on the flavor.

Mental Relaxation: For mental relaxation, I read good books, listen to music, meditation and writing.

Sometimes when the situation was really tough I prioritised self care, an intense self care and finally I built self care as a routine after many trials.

Next is Burnout:

How I handled burnout?

Me and my family shifted to new location, handling two kids, setting the home and new atmosphere, I was completely burnout. And the burnout accompained with cluster headache, low intense body pain and nausea. It was more challenging. Then I learnt to handle burnout by stepping back from hectic priorities by breaking them into small goals and taking break. Then indulging in self care activity and finally I reached the certified therapist for better handling myself.

Conclusion:

By taking up the training on self care in world pulse, I understood what is self care, when do I need it, what is the best form of self care for me, how do I prioritise self care, and setting self care routine.

Hope you find this article useful.

Thank you.

Yours

Sindhu Sathya Narayanan.