Taking care of yourself is the fundament for a balanced daily routine and inner harmony. Ranja Weis tells us why it is important to listen to yourself and your body and how selfcare works in a particularly simple way - especially in those cold and dark fall months.
Tip 1: Take care of your body
In autumn, when the days get shorter, we spend less time in the sun and fresh air. Then, a sensible caring for one’s self becomes more important again. For example, when it gets colder and we get less and less energy from outside, we should increase our intake of cooked, warm food. And keep our body healthy with regular exercise and sauna visits to detoxify. The quality of our drinking water is also crucial: pure, untreated spring water from glass bottles (no plastic to preserve the crystalline structure of the water) dilutes our blood and makes it thinner. This allows our blood to flow faster, more effectively oxygenate our body and provide nutrients to the organs. As a general rule: per kilogram of body weight your intake should be about 40 ml of pure water per day, that would be, at a weight of 60 kg, 2.4 liters.
For me, this is the basis of an excellent physical self-caring and a preventive measure to stay healthy. This has proven itself during the last 10 years for I was hardly ill, whereas in my youth, I was a regular guest at our family doctor’s.
Tip 2: Take time for yourself
But self-caring also means creating, in the midst of the often hectic everyday life full of challenges with work and family, several small inner breaks during the day. Specifically, this means for me: once a day, taking 10 minutes time to recline in the butterfly position or another Yin Yoga posture and to breathe consciously. To slow down, to come to myself. When rushing through our daily lives, we lose being in tune with ourselves and are no longer able to distinguish between what actually is good for us and what not.
Tip 3: Accept your bad feelings
In addition, there is also our emotional self-caring. This means that I always take time to devote myself to the more complicated emotions that have taken hold of me. I let them be there, without pushing them away, and accept them. I imagine that these feelings (anger, grief, shame ...) are like children to be hugged so they can calm down and relax. Yin yoga is also very helpful for me here.
Tip 4: Say no
Another often underestimated but important fact of self-caring is: to express our wishes and needs clearly and openly, and to draw limits. For example, to say "no" when something does not suit us, even if we may offend a loved one with it. Thus, our "yes" gains in value and we strengthen our self-esteem. Recently, I read the following words of the respected family therapist and best-selling author, Jesper Juul: "No is the most loving of all possible answers." Perhaps because saying "no" means taking on personal responsibility. And genuine self-caring does not function without self-responsibility.
