I want to take a moment to explore the N-nurture your own well-being. That sounds good, but I ask, do you really take the time and make the effort for self-care, regularly. How many people set some New Years goals that involve health and well-being and have already slipped? I wonder if, like me, you have compartmentalized well-being into a small box that only includes a few things like mindfulness, exercise or eating healthily?  

Over the holidays our family chatted about scroll time. There’s so much conversation out there about when, and how much time, we spend on our phones, i.e., at the wrong times and too much! One busy mom said, when the kids are in bed and all the daily work is done it’s time for her. Despite all the messaging about “do not scroll at bedtime”, it’s the only time of the day where she can do something just for herself, something she enjoys that brings her happy feelings. That’s her self-care. 

While sitting down to put this material together I saw a video where the person said he makes time to binge watch some entertainment, he doesn’t heavily schedule his weekends, so he has windows of time to do something unexpected, and he walks, no actually he strolls, for 30 minutes instead of power work outs. There was more but honestly, I got stuck on the binge-watching idea. I had always seen this as a sure trip to feeling guilty for wasting time, not a way to practice self-care. But maybe I need to reframe this. What brings me peace? It’s not like I find myself in front of the screen everyday but on those days…it sure feels good to tune out the world and immerse in another world for a bit. So why not turn this upside down, and consider all the different ways to “nurture my well-being and lose the guilt? 

One of the resources you can find in the Bell toolkit is the Self-care Activity Chart. Here the idea is to promote one’s positive mental health and well-being with activities that bring enjoyment and give a sense of calm. 

The activity chart includes ideas like, discover a new podcast, draw/paint, make a to-do list, connect with your community, cuddle a pet/look at a cute pet photo online, among many more activities. Here’s where I paused again….make a to-do list….sure, I always feel good when I create a plan to get things done but I never considered it to be self-care. But why not? It fits with the goal, so; I am going to stretch out the sides of the box and allow myself to reassign the meaning of self-care to include all the ways that bring a sense of peace and boost my mental well-being. By paying attention to the all the ways I “fill my cup” I will be more likely to take care of my personal well-being. 

What will you do to nurture your well-being? 

See the resources at Bell Let's Talk Tools and Resources