Self care - what does it mean to you? How do you factor it in to your life?

My self care is getting up early and I too either go in the garden with Tea or watch something on the TV, (if its raining, & I know my DH would hate)
At least x3 a week I'm at the gym by 08.15. As I have had both hips and a knee replaced so need to keep my joints supple. I also have a personal trainer.
I have a facial once a month, and a pedicure plus my hair done every 6 weeks.
I have done this for years, I don't think I could give it up now.
We all need our own space and time.

Skydancer

posset How do you find the time to do 10,000 steps per day?

Not difficult - just messing around the house and garden count for about 5ooo, and a 40 minute walk sees to the rest.

janeainsworth I think you must be right.

Of course, homeless people must have a struggle with hygiene and many people do not have access to a dentist.

Perhaps Warbler works or volunteers with such unfortunate people but seems to have little empathy or sympathy for their plight which is a pity.

Warbler I'm sorry to sound harsh but I genuinely think that as a nation we have become rather disgusting to ourselves and to each other

You must be speaking from your own experience.
Nobody I know is in the least bit disgusting and I doubt if anyone on Gransnet is either.

Generalising somewhat warbler. I think the vast majority of people, whatever their age, practise good personal hygiene.

Oops. but so much has gone wrong, I am struggling to see the point.

I don't really care about myself much. I've always done my best with what I've got but s

kittylester

In case anyone is worried - I did my exercises this morning.

Well done you 👏👏👏

kittylester

*warbler*, what an incredibly ageist and prejudiced post.

I reported it, kittylester.
It sounds like trolling

I suppose what I have always thought of as my selfish streak translates into self care. Widowed and living alone now, I do exactly what I want, but even when my husband had dementia and other health issues, I made sure I looked after myself.

I get bored with routine exercises, so regularly use a loop of my favourite pop music and dance around the sitting room.

In case anyone is worried - I did my exercises this morning.

warbler, what an incredibly ageist and prejudiced post.

I was very good at doing my knee exercises but, quite frankly, after over 12 months I'm rather fed up with them!

Warbler I don't think anyone on GN would fit your description of an older person.
It's really rather ageist.

kitty😊

Jane, you made me smile. I am very organised about cleaning my teeth!

I certainly do intend to do the exercises. And we have no more overnighting DGC to get in the way now.

Most people list exercise as number 1 self care. Well it is.....but one that is often overlooked as people get older is, keeping clean. Old things need more care else they start to go wrong. It's their teeth, (bad breath and rotting teeth) they don't look after their feet, have dirty fingernails (and I'm not talking of soil out of the garden type of dirt) , rotting toe nails., fungal infections....and then they cover imperfections up with false nails, bad skin with make up. Cold sores (and I have watched people tell you about their cold sores as they are touching them!)When you neglect cleanliness you are neglecting yourself. I'm sorry to sound harsh but I genuinely think that as a nation we have become rather disgusting to ourselves and to each other. Once illness takes hold, it's another matter and you maybe cannot do the simple things for yourself, but there are too many people who are sloppy in their personal hygiene and really just don't care. No pride.

Sorry kitty I didn’t see your latest post before I posted mine 😳 & am glad you’re going to start afresh.
However I’m reminded of one of my Grandma’s favourite sayings, ‘Don’t put off till tomorrow what can be done today.’
😁

I’m not sure exactly what ‘self-care’ covers kitty but personally if I had a knee problem & was given exercises to do, they’d be in the same category as brushing & flossing my teeth 😉 ie, non-negotiable.

How long do your exercises take? I had a neck problem last year & was given exercises to do. They took 5 minutes twice a day and I was cured in a couple of weeks.

Bluebelle, my op was really me thinking about that expression. I was wondering about whether my exercises come under 'self care' or whether that is something else entirely

I will do my exercises first thing in the morning as they are to be done on the bed. I intend to start on Monday as all childcare is done now.

And, that was another thought that prompted the op. My needs have a habit of being pushed down the list - I think it's a mum thing - ingrained now.

Self care is often a term used for pampering but whatever, it sounds like your exercises are very important if not crucial,and personally I would do them gc or no gc

I go to the gym a minimum of three times a week, if granny duties keep me away during the school holidays I do stretches at home and the GC keep me moving.

My self care which I prefer to call me time is going for bi weekly manicure and monthly pedicures along with facials and a massage every couple of months.

I appreciate that I am fortunate to be able to afford these, I do not take anything for granted as life can turn on a sixpence at any age, more so as we enter our prime (retirement)

I just do things that I enjoy, a bit of walking, a bit of tennis, some gardening… those watering cans count as weightlifting don’t they?
I do, as a few others have mentioned stand on alternate legs whilst cleaning my teeth and I take Vit.D tablets because I am low on that. Because of past history I have a bit of a problem with the sun.
I did used to do Pilates and keep thinking that I might do that again but haven’t got round to it yet, probably never will!

BlueBelle

Why do the ordinary things we like doing have to have a label … ‘self care’, what a load of tripe

😄 You're right! Basically it's just "looking after yourself" which has been around forever and means just that ... brush your hair, your teeth, eat properly, and do something active".

There's so much every day stuff that we seem to be reminded of nowadays and often with a new label.

I'm sometimes amazed at what comes out as "therapy speak" and think "Do people really need to be told that?!"

For my knees and muscle strength I don’t set aside specific time kitty but rather build things in during the day. Some stretches while the kettle boils, balance exercises while teeth cleaning, thigh muscle strengthening while watching tv. What I can while I’m waiting for a pan to come to the boil. That sort of thing.

If you’ve been asked to do specific exercises I’d consider each one in terms of how you can include them in your day. You probably won’t do them all, begin with a few and build up

Keeping moving with normal things is also exercise. For me it’s gardening (my calm, happy place), walking as much as I can manage (some days only ten minutes as that’s my fibro baseline), even cleaning and ironing all strengthen some part of me.

There’s something about reminding ourselves that we’re as important as anyone else. It can be hard to do if we’ve always been the looker-after in a family, I regularly remind myself if I don’t care for me I can’t care for others.

I’ve been doing 10K steps a day *Skydancer - in 2 outings with DD2’s Little Dog. It works out (for me) as 2 miles and takes half an hour each time. so not a big chunk of the day really.
I don’t do anything special and I’m a bit sceptical of the ‘self-care’ label too.