Hello Lovely Humans,

You may have wondered what happened to me over the past week, or maybe not, but I had finals week at university. That means I went into full student mode and basically just studied for 5 days straight. It was slightly awful, but I’m happy to be finished.

If you are also a student, you probably have experienced finals week and may also be just finishing up. Coming out of finals week, or really any busy week, you may feel drained. Perhaps, mentally and physically. This is a good time to focus on yourself. I think too often we feel guilty for focusing on ourselves. You can do this without being selfish.

I’ve been learning this concept through my yoga practice. We too often feel guilty for taking time for ourselves. Example, last week I did not blog because I needed to focus on school. At first, I felt guilty about it but I realized it was not me being selfish. Focusing on my exams was important to me and important for my future. When I attend a yoga class over going to dinner with friends, it’s not selfish, it’s me focusing on my mental health. When you take time to do things that are good for you, and healthy for your life, then you should not feel guilty.

Being selfish means you continuously act upon actions that only benefit you. You do not care about how others feel. Self-care is taking actions that allow you to put others first, in a healthy manner. If you neglect yourself, you will never be able to handle constantly putting others before yourself. At the end of the day, you are your first priority. In order to be a super mom or a girlboss, you need to be alive, healthy and happy/positive.

Not taking time for yourself will cause you to burnout. Your soul will become tired. Trust me, I’ve been there. When you fill your life with stressful responsibilities and negative people, you will burnout. In my opinion, Self-care is the action of cultivating your life in such a way that you are living intentionally each and everyday. You do not waste time on television, small minds or things that no longer suite you. Self-care can also be attending a yoga class, getting a massage or taking time to journal. Self-care is whatever you want it to be, it’s what makes your life intentional.

This is why you should never feel guilty for taking care of yourself. Self-love + self-care is sometimes interpreted as selfish actions. Although the words both include “self”, they do not entail selfish actions. They are necessary actions to living a healthy and happy life.

Since Self-Care is so important to me, and the Pretty, Young & Motivated message, I am going to be starting a new series called “The Self-Care Series”. This series will feature guest bloggers, influencers and health experts who will give their perspective on a number of different topics. I am bringing in outside perspectives because I think it will diversify the information on PYM for you. As always, I want PYM to be a place you can refer to for all self-love, confidence and life stuff. Adding this series will bring another perspective and more value for my reader. Stay tuned!

Happy Monday! 

xo, Lyss