Self-Care has become a bit of a buzzword over the past few years, and really saw a spike in its use during the pandemic. Many have come out in support of this to the point of commercialization, Black Friday sales promoting the latest safe-care items when really the process and approach is so much simpler.

Consider this analogy: In our modernized society most people travel by way of a personal vehicle and each vehicle handles the road conditions differently. Some have winter tires to handle snowy/icy conditions, some might be a little worse for wear and struggle in less-than-ideal conditions, but beyond that they all need fuel to get from point A to point B. However, much fuel is in the tank can depend on a lot of things, but more importantly the tank can’t fill itself up. Only the driver can really know if the tank needs to be filled up and would be primarily responsible for filling it up.

Self-Care is how we fill our own personal tanks up, but just like each vehicle might need different things for fuel (gas, diesel, electric) or different things to maintain it (oil changes, checking the tire pressure, etc…) we too need things that can help us fill up our tank that might be similar or completely different to others.

Sometimes self-care is acknowledging the simple fact that you woke up today and your tank was on E, and just figuring out how you can get through your day without running yourself into the ground. That could be the five to ten minutes you prioritize spending getting your coffee for the morning or having a quiet commute home to still your mind and just breathe.

Self-care is meant to be simple, easy and accessible. The holiday season gives even more reason for that to be true. Between the chaos, stress, anxiety and everything else that may go on for you in your experiencing of the holidays, having a simple, easy and accessible outlet for what you’re feeling may be just enough to help you get through a little saner and a little healthier.