Self Care: More Than Just Bath Bombs (But Also Bath Bombs)

We have all heard about self care – especially during the last year and a half!  What comes to mind when we think of self care?  Bubble baths (or bath bombs) and face masks and candles (oh my!).  Of course, these are definitely important components of self care for some of us (definitely for me!) - but the opposite of self care for others!  By this point in time, we all know that bath time is not the be all-end all of self care.  I have clients who have told me that bath time is the opposite of self care – stressful and time consuming and awful.

So what exactly is self care if it’s not about baths? (We’ll come back to why I love bath time, and how to do it right)

Self care is a complex issue comprised of many different aspects of our lives – from social, to emotional, to physical, to spiritual, to financial, to environmental, to occupational, to intellectual. Each and every one of these areas are important to our life balance – and so, when we are balanced in all areas but one, we will start to feel stunted – as if a spoke on the wheel is missing.  Imagine a wheel with a large gap in one area – it will roll for a period of time, and then get stuck.  That’s what happens to you, too!  Sometimes, we’re getting stuck in more than one area of life.  Sometimes we’re getting stuck in them all.  Over the next two months, we will focus on each area of wellness, identifying benefits of balance and drawbacks of imbalance, red flags of imbalance, and tips for improving balance in each area of the wheel (anyone know a synonym for balance?).  

Below you can find a graphic of the wellness wheel.  Color in each segment of the wheel according to how fulfilled you feel in each area.  What do you notice?  Are you balanced?  Are you full in each spoke of the wheel?  Where are the areas of need?  Perhaps take the time to journal about what feels out of whack – we will come back to that in the coming weeks!