Today, Self-Care Looks Like an EKG
And an Echo…and sending in a heart monitor
Self-care is a whole racket nowadays. It supposedly looks like girls’ and guys’ nights out, pedicures, naps, baths, walks in the park, hot tea, and relaxing music. Sounds awesome. Sign me up!
Self-care is vitally important for our nervous systems. The barrage of information we have to manage each day at work, at school, on social media (we choose this one), and even at home is too much. It’s just too much.
I didn’t grow up with any concept of self-care. As a farmgirl in the ’80s, oldest daughter in a large family, and a musician, my life was already over-full. It was a good life. It was just not conducive to time off, relaxation, nor long baths and walks in the park. It was not conducive to time alone, period.
Years later, I chose to turn off the news (for the most part) after 9/11. I was having panic attacks on the regular, and my body was saying NO in a big way. Social media does the same thing to me these days. I am on for a total of 30 minutes a day if that. I like to see what my friends around the world are up to and share their lives with them in a small way. That is all.
To deal with the stresses of life when I was young, I baked, went on bike rides and runs (when I could get a little time alone), and read…
