I was on a podcast this week with Royal Homecare in Dublin on the topic of Caregiver Burnout, and I was asked an interesting question about what self care is (you can listen to it here if you like, though please excuse the poor audio quality – said mic has a funeral this week, and will be replaced).
It got me thinking – there’s a common misconception about what self care actually is. It’s often sold to us as yoga, or green juice, or facemasks and bubble baths. In other words, self care has become equated with wellness, and more specifically, with the wellness industry. 
This isn’t self care though.
Not to say yoga and green juice aren’t great or good for you, but real self care is the act of meeting of our physical, emotional and spiritual needs.
Real self care isn’t always pretty or comfortable. It might be having that long held-off conversation with our partner, because we’re scared of the outcome. It might be saying no to that project that we really want to do, because we don’t have energy right now. It might be going dancing or hiking instead of to the protest because we need something that nourishes us, even though the cause is important.
Self care also isn’t selfish – in fact, real self care should be a driver to community care.
You see, the more we practice care for ourselves, the more we are provided with the resources and energy to care for others.
We can’t pour from an empty cup – self care allows us instead to fill our cup so much that we can spill over and pour into others.
So the questions I want to leave you with this week are, what would an act of self care be for you right now? What emotional, spiritual or physical needs are asking to be met?
And can you allow yourself the space to practice real, genuine care for yourself, knowing in the end, it’s not for you alone, but providing you the resources to go out and care for the world?
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