What Is Self-Care? By Breck Costin
SELF-CARE - Breck's Definition:
The actions you take that provide the catalyst to less “Noise” and greater well-being.
SELF-CARE is specific to the individual but essential for all of us. Knowing what you need and then providing it for yourself takes some time and a good deal of personal inventory.
Because of our own issues, many of us might think we don't deserve to take care of ourselves, but taking care of ourselves takes care of others.
SELF-CARE is very much your own prescription, your own curriculum.
Using the definition at the top as the criteria for self-care will be the right optics in understanding what you need.
Years ago when I was first dating Jen, my wife, I noticed after many months that there would be an abrupt shadow that would come over her in - an otherwise very joyous spirit. It’s not that someone’s moods don’t change, this just seemed radical. I realized, and so did she, she needed to eat. Her well-being depended on it. It didn’t dawn on me because my mood doesn’t change whether I eat or not, so of course, it didn’t occur to me that was the issue. It’s not that eating isn’t important, it’s that for some, their well-being isn’t as affected as others.
Some need more sleep for their well-being, for others, their mood is not affected by how much sleep they get.
None of what I am saying discounts the value of sleep or food - or exercise - we are talking about the amount of “Noise” that is released if, in fact, your self-care is bypassed.
Some people need to exercise every day, for others, their self-expression is not affected if they don’t work out for a couple of weeks. Some need to be productive every day. Others need to be charitable. Some can live in chaos while others need order. Some people need to be surrounded by nature while others need to be surrounded by ambient noise.
Some need kindness while others need appreciation. Some need to travel, others need massages.
Understanding your sensitivity is a major aspect of self-care - some people can be informed on what is current, and some people need to be less informed and follow a different current. There are so many slings and arrows that are coming at us each day - you have to have an understanding of what you can take in and what is upsetting.
We are all different in what gives less “Noise" and greater well-being. Again, none of this is determining what’s good or bad, it’s understanding YOU, and what has you move through life with a greater sense of ease, mobility, and joy.
We all have different needs, and getting those needs met is not a selfish act but a selfless one.
You cant take care of others if your tank is empty. Need to have a full tank.
-BC
This article was written and published by Breck Costin. Conscious Family does not claim to have any rights or authorship to this piece.
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Breck Costin is a private coach with over thirty years of experience in the field of progressive personal work, leading international workshops several thousand strong, to intimate five-person sessions. He has an innate talent for excavating the truth in a person’s life, flipping it like a pancake, then serving up radical shifts in perspective and life. His profound instinct has garnered him the status as L.A.’s most renowned private coach for an international clientele of discerning, high-performing individuals.
Breck’s work centers around alchemizing defects, original wounds, and blind spots into assets and advantages for a thriving, generative life. He calls it living in Freedom; that creative childlike, fresh-eyed state of enthusiasm for all aspects of life, and understanding how to use your skills, talents, and resources in the most effective ways.
His work is deeply rooted in his own experience; a wild and prominent upbringing with a side-serving of dysfunction. He currently has three children and has been married now for over twenty-five years to his wife, who is his muse and teacher. His personal mistakes, challenges, and losses serve as a portal allowing him direct insight and compassion into his client’s struggles and joys.