The fundamentals of self-care are fairly basic. Sometimes they are grouped into four or five categories, but there is general agreement that the following areas need to be included:
- Physical Self-Care
- Emotional Self-Care
- Spiritual Self-Care
- Intellectual Self-Care
That is how I break it down in my book, “Be Your Own North Star”. I put the Physical first because, although our self-care is never perfect, if we let it go too far it will come back to bite us. This is especially true of the Physical because if we severely neglect this area, it will undermine all of the others.
Within the Physical realm there are also some basic areas that are also viewed with general agreement. Physical self-care must include:
- Healthy nutrition
- Reasonable exercise
- Proper sleep
In my coaching work sleep is not one of the first areas I ask about when starting to work with a client. At some point, however, I do come around to asking about self-care and specifically “how is the client’s sleep routine?” Over the years I have been continually amazed at how many people suffer from poor sleep. Many do not bring it up to me at first because they have come to accept it as normal. Three, four, five hours of sleep nightly! Sleep interruptions and not being able to get back to sleep! Difficulty getting to sleep and then feeling exhausted in the morning! This all takes a toll on the body. It accelerates aging. It brings down our mood and energy levels – and — It Is Not Necessary!
In my new book coming out this month I offer a Do-It-Yourself guide to the simplest sleep meditation. Before trying medications, supplements or artificial methods, isn’t it best to endeavor to improve one’s sleep by using the most natural of all possible approaches? Your mind! With a little time and patience anyone can become a self-taught master at this practice.
Watch for news of it in this space in the days to come; you may make it a holiday gift to yourself or someone you love:
“The Simple Sleep Meditation: An Instructional Guide” by Michael Callahan
(Coming in December, 2021)
