SELF-CARE
When life gets busy, rather than let your self-care slide, ring-fence the rituals that fuel you, writes Yasmina Floyer
For as long as I can remember, I have exercised – as much for my mental health as for my physical wellness. But when my time was squeezed last year, it was exercise and sleep that I traded in for work and family duties, among other things. Why would I spend precious time working out when I could be doing my job and being ‘productive’?
Today’s hustle culture often leaves us feeling guilty if we’re not meticulously multitasking, to make use of every spare minute. It tells us that life ought to be on the fastest speed setting, otherwise, we’re wasting time. I fell into this trap, and willingly relinquished days out and time spent reading a good book in favour of work and other commitments. I was super productive. And super miserable.
In my mind, I was prioritising the elements within my life I believed to be essential. How could I get it so wrong? I soon realised that I needed to reframe what I considered to be essential. Time on my yoga mat connecting breath to movement is exactly the reset I need some days, especially given that yoga is known to trigger our parasympathetic ner vous system, which is key to soothing an anxious body and mind. Putting exercise back on the menu, I realised the role it played in helping me to maintain good mental health, which in turn had a positive effect on all other areas of my life – including work. It lead me to wonder: what are the things that I need to give myself in order to thrive and work in a sustainable way? Productivity aside, what activities enrich my life? And what are the things that drain me? Once I had identified a few core elements, they became my ‘non-negotiables’: protected aspects within my life that I ensure I get to have (as much as is possible).
So, how do we go about figuring out what our non-negotiables are? ‘Understanding what factors support your mental health and wellbeing, and which factors are detrimenta
