This video segment is from Restoring Hope, a TV series hosted on WHMB40 and serving the Indianapolis area. Crosswinds Counseling offers counseling services throughout Indiana.
Danna Hamilton, LMHCA
Hi, my name is Danna Hamilton, LMHCA. I’m a therapist for Crosswinds. Today, I wanted to talk about self-care and reframing it. Society tells us that self-care is typically these grand gestures, like a spa day or little vacations that are great every once in a while, but not realistic regularly. Self-care, instead can be looked at as small steps we take to create the life that we really want to live. This looks like creating routines for your morning and evening such as adding exercise (doesn’t have to be going to the gym), eating well, and praying, and taking some silent time to just collect your thoughts.
One thing that we should definitely be prioritizing is hygiene, things like showering regularly, brushing your teeth, washing your face. And our mental hygiene: going to therapy if you need it, taking time to feel your feelings and cry if you need to, and looking at your screen time. This could be taking less time on social media. It could also mean just looking at your feed and getting rid of any negativity on there, making sure you follow people that bring you joy.
If you’re at a place where you have no energy to do even the basic things. Turn it down a little bit. If you can’t take a full shower, get a baby wipe. If you can’t brush your teeth twice a day, just brush once a day. Any small changes can make a big difference in the end. And give yourself grace while you’re trying to figure out what your change is going to look like. You can change some, and start small. One little thing at a time. Eventually create the life that you want to live.
So overall self-care doesn’t have to be big or expensive or time consuming. It’s just the idea of taking the time to really take care of yourself in a loving way.