The 3 R’s of personal care

As you move toward a place of healing and harmony, there are three main self-care principles to always remember that I call the “3 R’s.” Yes, this R triad exists for school (reading, (writing) and (a)rhythm) and for the environment (reduce, reuse, recycle) and I have one for personal care!

1. RID: For starters, you want to completely rid your life of the things and patterns that don’t work for you. Make a list of what you feel is causing tension, stress, and discomfort in your life. Get rid of what you can. This can be very easy, like getting rid of a pillow that hurts your neck. Or it could be more challenging but doable, like quitting smoking. This will probably be your smallest category. Why? Because completely removing or changing is the most challenging aspect of how you interact with your patterns. Your job may be causing you stress, but you probably can’t stop going to work.
2. REFORM: Once you’ve identified what you can get rid of, look at those activities that you can’t get rid of but are still causing some problems. Modify or alter those patterns that you can’t completely get rid of, but make them work better for you. This could be switching from a purse to a fanny pack to lessen the strain on your shoulders or learning to sit better in a chair so your back doesn’t hurt. This is going to be a huge category. There are many activities and habits you do in life that you either can’t (chairs are hard to avoid but you can use them more effectively) or don’t want to get rid of completely but want to reduce the amount of impact you have. get from the activity.
3. RESOURCE: This last step is for those things that you can’t change or modify or for residual stress that you get despite your best efforts. This is what you use to treat your remaining symptoms and tension. Maybe a super yogi can live without creating or feeling any tension, but I guess even they benefit from the occasional massage and stretch! For the rest of you, living life without aches, pains, discomfort, or tension buildups is next to none. This is where you use specific stretches to resolve neck or shoulder strains. This is going to get body work or get a chi boost from your acupuncturist. These are the tools you use to relieve pain and treat symptoms that are there.

Do something for yourself every day and avoid stress overload. Pay attention to how you are using your body in activities, and use that attention to create less stress. Then fill your self-care toolkit with activities that work most effectively for your unique needs and fit your personality.

Finding time to support yourself is critical to your mental and physical health. You need to acknowledge and acknowledge that taking care of yourself is important and has value. Doing something every day for yourself will keep you feeling nurtured and nurtured and will allow you to not only continue the more mundane aspects of your life, but also support your journey towards healing and harmony.