Giving Yourself Permission to Take Care of Yourself
As health workers, we enter the profession because we want to help others. Yet sometimes, we find it difficult to take the time to care for ourselves.
Those of us engaged in healthcare quickly discover that the needs massively outweigh the available resources and we can easily end up on a treadmill working harder and harder with limited resources. This can rapidly lead to stress, burnout, and maladaptive coping mechanisms, including addiction.
Because we feel our primary allegiance is to our patients, we continue to serve them at great cost to ourselves. But ‘you can’t pour from an empty cup,’ so unless we give ourselves permission to actively engage in self-care, we will no longer have the resources to give to others.
Empathy is a word we often hear mentioned in health care. It is best described as ‘feeling with’ or ‘walking in another person’s shoes.’ The beginning of self-care lies in developing our capacity for self-empathy. The mindfulness practices included in this programme will greatly facilitate your ability to get in touch with your body and mind and to ‘feel with’ yourself.
Compassion is another word we often hear. One definition of compassion is ‘feeling with and acting on behalf of.’ It is important to develop the capacity for self-empathy, but even more important to act wisely in the care of ourselves and others. As we allow ourselves to experience greater self-compassion, we are able to nurture ourselves and discover those things that bring us life and wholeness. And we are better able to care for our patients!
