6 Signs You Need Spiritual Self-Care

Making time to look after yourself is transformative!

Are you always rushing around, looking after everybody else's needs? Perhaps you have to care for children, elderly relatives or a spouse, as well as keeping a clean and tidy house? Then, just when you're really feeling drained, it's off to work! Life can seem like a never-ending list of tasks you have to navigate through. So it's little wonder that you often feel exhausted.

While it's not possible to magically make all your responsibilities disappear, you can shift focus so life feels more manageable. You can do this by changing your outlook from stressed to supercharged by using spiritual self-care tips.

Self-care means looking after your own needs: spiritual, emotional and physical. After all, if you are permanently tired and stressed, you won't be able to help anyone else! Making time for spiritual self-care will rid you of damaging thought patterns, replacing them with optimistic, positive ideas and fresh energy. So, instead of facing every busy new day already feeling drained, you will wake up feeling mentally refreshed and ready for action. Read on to discover the signs that you are in need of spiritual self-care.

1) You ignore your intuition

It's easy to become weighed down by routine. So you become so used to doing things in a set way that when a better idea pops into your head, you ignore it! Your intuition is the inner voice that can guide you towards better ideas - if you listen. Taking notice of your intuition is your first step to spiritual self-care. Pause for just 30 seconds, five times throughout your day. Use this pause to ask yourself: am I acting in the best way for me? Is this best for those around me? Listen to your inner voice answering you. You will feel or know the answer. Use inspiration from your intuition to change your routine for the better.

2) You are stuck in the past

Bad experiences happen. But it's how you deal with them that defines your future. To move forward positively, you learn from bad experiences, then release them. This means not perpetually beating yourself up or feeling stupid about mistakes you have made. If you hold on to negative experiences you are holding on to negative energy. Being stuck in the past is a sign you are in need of spiritual self-care! To help release negative experiences, try writing them down on a piece of paper, then burning the paper (on a heat-proof surface, outdoors). Visualise your past dissolving and floating away as you watch the paper turn to ash and blow away.

3) You always sacrifice your needs

Putting others first is good. But not if it means neglecting yourself. If you are forever neglecting your own needs you will stop evolving and start stagnating. You'll feel weighed down with sluggish energy, eventually you'll be unable to help anybody else! So do at least one thing everyday (preferably two or three!) just for you. For example, read a book, go to an exercise class, enrol on a course, craft, draw, listen to a podcast. Any activity that's positive and which you are interested in. This little bit of spiritual self-care will help you cope much better with the other demands of your day.

4) You don't look after yourself

Spiritual-self care applies to your physical self, too. Because you are a finely-balanced whole of mind, body and spirit. So each part of you needs self-care to function at its best. So make time to pamper your body by taking a bath with essential oils, making love with your partner, getting a haircut, dressing smartly, exercising - or anything positive which makes you feel physically good.

5) You under-value yourself

You are an important person. Yes you are! Because you have unique skills and abilities that can enrich your life and those around you. Spiritual self-care is about using these talents because by using your gifts you are fulfilling your purpose in this life. Discover your talents by thinking about what you enjoy doing most. Write down your five favourite activities. Find a way to turn at least one of them into a regular hobby. Perhaps, eventually, your hobby could become a career?

6) You're a worrier

Worrying saps your energy and pulls negative energy into your life. In most situations, worrying achieves nothing. Don't be afraid of what might happen. Focus on what is happening now, and how you can make the present even better.