CARE For YourSELF!

Taking Parks and Rec's "Treat yo self" to the next level. Is that even possible?

For those of us who are Parks and Recreation fans, we are likely quite fond of the infamous Donna Meagle who coined the phrase, “treat yo self.” Essentially, the character, Donna Meagle, played by Retta, created a day to splurge on herself, indulge in the things that bring her joy and escape the stressors of every day life to experience pure bliss. Aziz Ansari's character Tom Haverford learns of this, loves the idea and adopts the annual holiday, in which they both bond, spurlge and indulge.

While I absolutely love this idea and I am all for taking time of out of our regular schedule to treat ourselves, there is a concept I love even more, that proves more effective in sustaining mental, emotional and physical health along with creating resilience – self care.

I could cite the definition of self care according to the World Health Organization's website (which

I still encourage you to check out https://www.who.int/health-topics/self-care#tab=tab_1, however, I want to share the definitions of self and care respectively.

According to Google's English dictionary provided by Oxford Languages, the defintions are as follows:

Self is “a person's essential being that distinguishes them from others, especially considered as the object of introspection or reflexive action.”

Care is “the provision of what is necessary for the health, welfare, maintenance, and protection of someone or something.”

When these words are defined independent of one another, I believe it is powerful and the importance, gravity, distinctiveness and necessity of self care becomes more apparent. In the definition of self and care respectively, we learn that self care is actually defined for you and by you, depending on your individual needs and what makes you distinctively you. In addition, in the definition of care the word necessary is integral. Many of us may view self care as a luxury; however, self care is an essential part of our lives. I notice that many of us overlook this key component to our lives maybe because we are too busy, maybe we don't believe we are worthy of it, or some may even have a misconception of what self care actually is.

Thanks to Donna Meagle, treating yourself is incredibly well known in popular culture, but intentionally and consistently choosing to dedicate time and effort to take care of one's physical, mental, emotional and spirtual well being is self care. And that is what is going to help you make the most delicious lemonade when life starts unexpectedly chucking an endless supply of lemons at you.

There are two important distinctions about self care that I made earlier - self care is intentional and self care is consistent. Intentionality and consistency are absolutely necessary when thinking about what your own self care may look like. As I mentioned self care is made up of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellness. Consider what helps your mind, body and soul feel in synchrony, and what you can implement on a consistent basis. This will be different for everyone as we identified above, your self care is individualized based upon your distinct needs. There are key elements, most of us in the mental health field will agree, that are integral parts of a strong foundation in self care:

• Sense of belonging

• Balanced nutrition

• Daily movement/exercise

• Create a sleep routine

• Practice good hygiene

• Implement professional and personal boundaries

• Engage in self reflection, meditation, spiritual exploration

• Do something you enjoy, hobbies, reading, activities, art, music etc.

These are general concepts to help you begin to think about your own self care; you may also need to consider prioritizing these components at various times of your life. Since intentionality and consistency are so important when it comes to self care, consider what will fit into your life that you can continuously do, and what is most important to your overall wellness, health and longevity. Caring for one's self by engaging in a healthy, balanced, nurturing lifestyle with rewarding relationships, interests and introspection is Mind Over Matter’s version of Donna Meagle’s "treating yo self."

So, take some time, grab a pen and paper (I always suggest writing things down to my clients as there are many benefits to actually taking a pen to paper when engaging in self reflection), and reflect on the components listed above. Think about the areas of your life that may need a bit more attention to help you create a healthy and balanced mind body connection, and develop a deliberate and consistent way of nurturing yourself every, single day.