Self-Care is Energizing (Not Numbing)

Have you ever had a “vacation” where all you did was run around from one activity to the next? When you get back home, you need a vacation from your vacation.

Or did you hang out with a group of friends, thinking it would be a refreshing time, but come back feeling depleted?

Oftentimes, our “self-care” activities can deplete us, leaving us needing more rest. But true self-care gives us the energy we need to face our daily lives. 

When does our “self-care” deplete us? 

When we use self-care to numb our pain so we don’t feel it anymore, it depletes us. For instance, overactivity can be a numbing behavior—we become too busy to feel pain or negativity.

Watching too much Netflix, being overly social, or overexercising can be a way we try to numb pain. But in the end, we just feel more tired.

When we try to numb our pain, we ignore our needs.