Thank you to our Summer Intern, Anna for sharing her hard earned wisdom on practicing self care in recovery today. ~ Becky
How Do I Fit Self Care into My Schedule? – by Intern Anna
I’ve been on a journey to implement more self care into my life. It isn’t easyl. Who knew that making time for yourself could be so hard?
I’m in recovery from my eating disorder and one of the most important things I’ve learned is that I need to prioritize self care in order to keep myself healthy. I am a crazy busy person though, so self care is hard to fit in.
When I first began my journey of trying to find more downtime for myself, I asked myself, “what types of activities do I simply enjoy doing?” At first it was hard to come up with activities I liked just because I had gotten so used to being caught up in work and school. I remembered that climbing was one of my favorite pastimes and one that made me feel very present in the moment. I noted that climbing would be a good activity to add to my schedule.
One of the most difficult things about self care is finding time to do it. As a busy college student, life is about as crazy as it gets. I had to be very intentional about how I spend my time. One of the ways I was able to incorporate self care into my day was pairing it with daily routine activities I already do.
For example, I wanted to incorporate more mindfulness into my day. I usually go for a walk during the day and I decided to weave mindfulness into that. I would focus on my breathing and my steps as I walked. This was a good way to slow down my nervous system and focus on being present.
Another thing that helped me was utilizing sticky notes. I would post reminders on sticky notes throughout my house and room to help jog my memory. When I would see the reminders on my mirror, it helped me to stay accountable and do them.
One activity that I wanted to add into my day was daily devotions. I paired this with eating breakfast because I always make time to eat breakfast. It was easy to do my devotion while eating breakfast and I was accomplishing two tasks in one sitting.
At the end of the day I have to remind myself that I have the power to add self care into my life. It is up to me to be able to make the decision to find time for it. Finding time for self care has helped me keep recovery in the forefront of my mind. I find when I have a busier week, and neglect self care, the ED thoughts are louder. Self care is like the extra bubble wrap in a package. It helps keep the package safe and provides an extra layer of comfort around it. Self care has the power to keep our mind and bodies extra safe too.
Taking the time for yourself will always be worth it. Remember we all need to be able to recharge at one point or another.