Wellness is a huge industry. I mean that quite literally. It is minting money. According to the Global Wellness Institute, the global value of the wellness industry has risen to $4.5 trillion, out of which $828.2 billion is from the “physical activity economy”. That’s an insanely large amount of money.
From detox spas to dietary supplements, from new kinds of workouts to Korean face masks, the wellness industry promotes the idea of self care. There is no dearth of treatments available to help you care for yourself. Women have gone from caring for everyone else to also now actively caring for themselves.
While it is great that women are finally encouraged to look after themselves without guilt, self care in its present form comes with a lot of pressure. People feel left out when they’re not trying the latest fad, from cauliflower rice to Vipassana. But what we don’t realise is that all these things require time.
Considering millennials are known to be the “burnout generation” because we barely have time to do anything beyond work, it is important to look at how we can still practice self care while being insanely busy. What does self care really look like when you barely have enough time to eat and sleep?
Sleep if you must
Image Credit: iDiva
First things first, sometimes, all the self care you need can come from a simple good night’s sleep. If you’re already overworked and tired, pushing yourself to work out or put on a mud mask is not going to help. You’ll just be stressing yourself out further.
So, if you’re dead tired, give yourself a break and just go to sleep. They don’t call it “beauty sleep” for nothing. Without proper sleep, investing in other self care techniques is going to be pointless.
Switch off
Switching off will apply to both your devices and yourself. Constantly checking social media or your email is a big stressor. We don’t realise just how much of a toll it takes on us when we’re always “on”.
Image Credit: iDiva
Your mind needs rest as much as your body does. So when you’re feeling overwhelmed, do yourself a favour and switch off. Meditate, read a book, watch a movie… it doesn’t matter what you do so long as you concentrate completely. Give your mind the space to just be, without worrying about work or how many likes your latest Instagram post has gotten.
You don’t need the extra stress of going through elaborate self-care rituals if you’re genuinely strapped for time. Self care isn’t complicated. It just means finding out what works for you and your mental health. Choose what is good for you; don’t just follow the latest trend.
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