Tag: Fatima

Looking after myself for me is something I’m still not great at but I feel the difference when I do. It’s not something I was taught to do growing up and it’s not something that I think sits comfortably culturally. It can still be misunderstood as self indulgent and even selfish somehow. Caring for others and being there for others was more the message and in itself it’s a good message but through years I understood that first I should take care of myself and then the rest will follow.

I take care of myself by making myself unavailable to others when I’m overloaded. I create time to be by myself to reflect (and not just watch Netflix!) I book treatments for me that make me feel happy like a pedicure. Love a good pedicure! I travel when possible as I love the feeling of feeling free and the reminder of how big the world is and for me it helps put things in perspective. I pray.

I hadn’t really thought about how I take care of myself until I got asked ‘how do you look after yourself?’ at a recent meeting to which I had given, a not so well thought out answer. But after some thought and reflection, there are three things that help keep my mind and heart at peace.

First of all walking anywhere, but especially walking in parks and in woodland areas is a breath of fresh air to my mind. In my opinion, there’s nothing better than starting your day with an early morning stroll that refreshes your mind.

The second self care tip that really improves my mental health is the act of balancing my time between spending time with my dearest ones, studying, working and helping Mum and Dad with the running of the house. Although this is something I’m really bad at, it definitely is something I’m still working on.

Lastly and quite recently I’ve found out that self care for your mind also involves understanding how you work. But it also involves being gentle with yourself, whilst you come to terms with the fact that, there are parts to you that are dark and that need working on.