Redefining Self-Care: What My Body Taught Me (Again)

Our self care place: 🌊

This week, I was reminded (again) that self-care isn’t just something to do when I have time.

It’s something I have to protect, because when I don’t, my body will remind me in louder and louder ways.

I spent the week in low energy, not because I didn’t care or wasn’t motivated, but because I wasn’t resourced. Not enough water. Poor sleep. No space for stillness. And instead of recognizing it for what it was, the old thoughts came rushing in:

“You’re lazy.” “Why can’t you just push through?” “Others manage. Why not you?”

But I’ve been doing the work. And something inside of me — finally — pushed back and said:

“No. You’re not lazy. You’re just empty. And it’s time to fill up again.”

🌿 I started simple.

• Real food. Lots of vegetables. Whole meals, not snacks.

• Long, slow walks with Rose early and late in the day — when it’s quiet, and the heat hasn’t swallowed everything.

• Drinking water — not just because I should, but because I needed to.

• Music to fall asleep to. Breathing deeply in bed. Giving myself permission to just be.

And I stopped seeing self-care as “nice to have.” I started seeing it as essential.

🌀 I realized self-care isn’t just one thing. It’s a system.

These are the dimensions I’m learning to pay attention to:

• Physical – nourishment, movement, hydration, rest

• Emotional – allowing myself to feel, to name, to not perform

• Social – reaching out when I want to isolate (a text to my best friend this week helped so much)

• Financial – tending to the “boring” tasks (like taxes), so they don’t become stress later

• Spiritual – space for stillness, music, breathing, trusting

• Mental/Clarity – this one surprised me: but knowing where I’m going, naming what’s holding me back — that’s self-care too. When I have clarity, I have peace.

✨ And I want to say this to you:

If you’re reading this and something in you feels off — tired, disconnected, overwhelmed — please don’t push it away.

That feeling is not weakness. It’s a message. Your body is asking to be heard.

And it’s okay if you don’t have the perfect self-care routine, or if you’re not sure where to begin.

Just start with curiosity:

What might I need today? What might my body be trying to tell me?

You don’t need to fix it all at once.

But you deserve to feel supported — even by yourself.

🌊 It’s still a work in progress.

But every time I pause, reflect, and redefine what care means for me, I move closer to living in alignment — not in exhaustion.

Self-care is not selfish.

It’s the foundation.

And it’s time we treat it that way.

Find Your Wave,

Sarah 🌊