The Working Parent Company founder Sharon Charlton Thomson was interviewed for a podcast by The Parent Practice on the subject of Radical Self Care for the Real World We Live In.
In this episode with Sharon if you want to learn:
- What self-care really means, given that the term is so overused
- Why self-care is so often neglected and how that is a reflection of the busyness and productivity that we value and reward in our society
- How radical self-care is so different and such a controversial idea for parents who are used to self-sacrifice, being programmed to be a nurturer or provider
- Why our relationship with ourselves is so critical and how self-exploration is at its core
- How this reflective capacity can be encouraged through mindfulness
- About the six steps of self-care:
- Knowing that caring for myself fundamentally impacts how I treat others, so self-care is in service of something bigger
- Looking inwards –what do I think about self-care right now? This is examining our beliefs about this –is it self-indulgent? What stops me from making a larger commitment to myself?
- Checking that our basic physical needs are being fulfilled rather than stuffing more into our day
- Think about what tires and what inspires your soul – sometimes it’s ourselves, our inner critics, that tire us
- Practice compassion toward yourself
- Make self-care a habit to reinforce an identity of who you want to become; focusing on that long term outcome helps form the first steps to forming habits
- How to be guided by a belief that self-care is a good thing rather than being guided by your inner critic, acknowledging your inner critic rather than trying to get rid of it (which you can’t do)
- How important it is to reinforce good self-care habits in our children and not placing too much value on busyness
