How do you practice self-care?
Very badly…
But…
It can involve…
- Lie-ins on a weekend
It is such a priviledge and a pleasure to be able to sleep without a deadline. During the weekdays it feels like I am unwillingly practicising time restricted sleeping. I get up at 5am on the days I have to commute into work which are getting increasingly frequent. I get home usually after 7pm and try to get into bed by 10pm but that often does not happen for various reasons. Things do at home, dinner to eat and sometimes prepare (but most time to be fair Ignacio will cook something for the two of us). Getting ready for work the next day – sometimes reading the notes for the clinic, if I know it will be new or complex patient. Or, me just wanting to wind down doing something I want to do, so that I can be me for a few hours, which means that before I know it, it’s after 11pm and I am panicking about the new day that is rapidly approaching. It’s a much easier ask if on the days I am working from home. As there is no commute, I can lie-in for a little longer and that feels just glorious.
- Starting the day with a good breakfast
As you can imagine, on the days that I get up at 5 am, I am in no mood for and my stomach is not interesting in eating. So I make myself a flask of black coffee or tea without sugar before leaving the house. I sip this flask slowly through my journey, there are plenty of slow points at junctions and traffic lights where I can safely take a few mouthfuls. When I get to work, just after 7 am, I will make myself a bowl of porridge, with semi-skimmed milk and chop a banana into it. I’ll eat it at my desk while I go through my tasks on SystmOne and my email.s This is not my idea of a good breakfast! At the moment I cannot make it any better. I could perhaps make a move to eat my breakfast in the empty departmental kitchen and eating area. But at 7.30 am, I think that would feel quite depressing and lonely. It just seems to be something that I have gotta used to.
A good breakfast does not even quite stretch to the breakfast that I eat on the days that I work from home. That is either some toast hurridly eaten with a cup of black coffee while I l anxiously log on to start my days work.
A good breakfast is one that I lovingly take my time to make from scratch on the weekend. I get up when I like, and I’ve ususally spent the time driving home on Friday evening joyfully planning my first meal for the next day. One of my favourites is any form of eggy bread or french toast or avocado on toast and egg in any form. Just wonderful. So relaxing and a great start to the weekend. I might have a tea, coffee, juice or smoothie depending on what I am feeling that day. And the best part, if the whether is good and it is warm enough, sitting outside in my garden. My garden is one of the things that I just love about my new house and I feel lucky that I get to spent time in it at the weekend.
- Enjoying a cup of black coffee or tea in the morning
I discovered coffee, like many other thigs, quite late in life. I think now I would find it quite difficult to live without. I am not an addict by any means. I can cut it out for a short while quite easily. However there is nothing quite like that first sip of coffee, first thing in the morning. It’s just wonderful. It is much better when I am sitting in my conservatory, dining table or outside in the garden but even sitting in car at 6.30 am the traffic lights is not so bad.
- Reading a real book – one I can hold in my hand turn, feel and smell the pages
I have been a reader, since I could read! I love books. The shelves in the home I grew up are filled with – books. I come from a home and family where books and knowledge were highly valued and considered precious. When I was school child I read all the time, everywhere. At the dinner table, when I was meant to be doing homework. In the car with my parents. At school, in the library. Before I went to sleep. When I work up. Since going to medical school and starting a full-time medical career, that has looked very different. I was reading medical books and I still do. I was less able to read fiction books but I still do when I get the chance. I have a Kindle but nothing is as good a real book that I can hold in my hands, smell and feel.
- A shower before bed with a fancy shower gel and body cream.
Just the most wonderful way to end the day. In the mornings when I shower, I’m often in a hurry. I am worried about work. I going over the clinic list and any problems that might come up in the day. It’s not necessarily a relaxing event. But I am clean and fresh smelling and won’t offend the public with my odours! I’ll use my standard bodywashes – Dove and now Original source. In the evenings however, I am little more relaxed. And if there there is a day that my shower timings are reversed and I find myself showering after the sun has set, I revel in it. I rummage around in the bathroom cupboard and look for the treats that I have saved for myself. My guilty pleasures are anything from Jo Malone, L’Occitane, Rituals and the Body shop. It is so nice to wash with these gels and because I am more relaxed in the evening it is quite the sensory pleasure. The same occurs when I leave the shower and I have to put bodylotion on. My skin can get quite dry so this is something that has to be done carefully and throughly. In the mornings at 6am when I am getting ready for work, it is something that is more hurrided than it should be. But in the evening, what a joy. Just slow and thoughtful and really sets me up for a goodnights sleep. Wonderful.
So there we have it. I try. I can do better. But I am glad that I have at least the means to be able to do these things when I can.
