Nedra Tawwab’s self-care practices fit easily into your everyday…
September is Self-Care Awareness Month.
(I guess I’ve been too busy adhering to my new self-care practices -- meaning, minimizing my “on-screen time” -- to have shared this on September 1st. But I digress…)
But, as there are still a few days left to officially celebrate and initiate self-care, we’ve brought on board a most lovely, insightful, and fun mentor -- Nedra Glover Tawwab, a licensed therapist and sought-after relationship expert. (Have you seen her IG account? Don’t miss her #nedranuggets!) She has practiced relationship therapy for 13 years and is the founder and owner of the group therapy practice, Kaleidoscope Counseling. She specializes in working with people who are managing unhealthy or stressful relationships.
I look to Nedra for her guidance on boundary development and, as a result, embracing self-care as unselfish. One of the most significant issues many of us are faced with when practicing self-care is finding the time to actually do it. So here, Nedra shares five easy ways to roll self-care into what you are already doing.
Tip #1 -- Hydrate.
(I guess I’ve been too busy adhering to my new self-care practices -- meaning, minimizing my “on-screen time” -- to have shared this on September 1st. But I digress…)
But, as there are still a few days left to officially celebrate and initiate self-care, we’ve brought on board a most lovely, insightful, and fun mentor -- Nedra Glover Tawwab, a licensed therapist and sought-after relationship expert. (Have you seen her IG account? Don’t miss her #nedranuggets!) She has practiced relationship therapy for 13 years and is the founder and owner of the group therapy practice, Kaleidoscope Counseling. She specializes in working with people who are managing unhealthy or stressful relationships.
I look to Nedra for her guidance on boundary development and, as a result, embracing self-care as unselfish. One of the most significant issues many of us are faced with when practicing self-care is finding the time to actually do it. So here, Nedra shares five easy ways to roll self-care into what you are already doing.
Tip #1 -- Hydrate.
- When you wake up in the morning, grab a glass of water, and drink up.
- Make sure you are keeping track of how much you're drinking. On your phone or a sheet of paper, write down your hydration goal.
- As you interact with people, watch something online or on TV, make sure you know when your energy begins to drop.
- *Things to pay attention to your feeling.* Are you getting sad? Are you becoming frustrated? Do you feel angry?
- *How to respond:* If you are watching something that is triggering negative emotions, turn the channel. If you have a draining conversation, try to figure out a way to excuse yourself or shift the dialogue.
- So often, we think the biggest issue is our phone, and it is us. It is us not managing what we are doing with our phones.
- *Ways to monitor the way you are using your phone:*
- Feel free to turn your ringer off.
- Put “do not disturb” on your phone.
- Turn off notifications.
- Turn on the notifications that fill you up.
- Sometimes we are spending time on things that we don't want to do and not spending time on things we need.
- Be aware of how long it takes to do certain things and plan what you want to do with your time. Be intentional with your time.
- Intentionally say "yes" to doing more, and "no" when you can't or aren't willing.
- *What do I write down?* You could use the notes app on your phone and write down how you feel, something you're grateful for, what happened during the day.
- Guided journals might give you some ideas on what to write about.