Is Self-Care a Habit that you Embrace?
I has been awhile since I have taken the time to write a short piece for this blog. I am reflecting this month on the 25th anniversary of starting my career as a massage therapist and how grateful I am for finding this path. It has been very rewarding and enjoyable. I started working in the Town of Vienna back in the fall of 1997. It was not until the year 2000 that a massage therapist could work in their own business in Fairfax County. Thankfully, things have changed and we now find shopping centers with massage businesses and spa vacations are common place.
I made a career shift and chose massage as my new profession because I wanted to help people reduce their stress and to be able to assist in their recovery from pain, injury and sports training.
As I look back, I wonder if we are successfully combatting stress with the prevalence of massage, yoga, meditation and other ways to decrease stress or is there more stress in 2022 to combat? I don’t know if I have the answer to that question but it is a good one to consider. Maybe there is an achievable balance in today’s hectic lifestyle through the act of unplugging from devices and taking more time for ourselves?
Since 1997 when I started in this profession, I wonder if the management of pain has improved? There are certainly more tools, apps, wearable devices and videos that instruct us how to decrease pain and stress. I suppose we are more educated and have more options to choose from. I don’t know if people are in less pain – there still seems to be a lot of people in pain. One could attribute some of this to the many conveniences that we have in 2022. Sadly, we do not need to move our bodies as much and that lack of movement is not ideal for our overall health and wellbeing.
Today the concept of self-care is in the forefront of the health and wellness field. This is the habit of taking care of ourselves – mentally, physically, emotionally. Are you taking time to get out and exercise or be in nature, to do some focused breathing or schedule an appointment and show up for that massage? There are so many ways to take a break from the things that constantly grab our attention and to reconnect with our authentic selves.
What are you doing today to address stress and manage pain? What have you put into your daily routine to promote a lifestyle of feeling well and happy? I am re-committing myself to this old habit and I hope to make another 25 year anniversary (at least on a part-time basis)! Let’s make self-care a priority. We all need a break to recharge ourselves.