00:00My name is Gerilyn. My self-care practice is volunteer work. I decided to volunteer
00:07for PALS because I really like animals. I love cats, but cats don't need to be
00:13walked or anything, so I dog walk. Animals, they make me happy, and for service
00:21animals in particular to help them get some free time outside of working,
00:26because they have to work for these seniors or disabled people. You know, they
00:31need a chance to kind of decompress, get outside, have fun. I know when it's time
00:36for me to practice self-care when I start feeling really stressed out, when all of
00:41a sudden my happy thoughts or my positive thoughts start kind of coming in as
00:49negative sound bites. You know, why isn't this project working out the way that I
00:53wanted to, and how am I supposed to fix this, or my apartment is disgusting, but
00:58I just stand in it and don't clean it. When I feel those feelings, I have to take a
01:03step back and I have to remember, okay, take a deep breath. Remember that you got
01:10to be gentle with yourself. Go slow. Really calm myself down. Then I say, you
01:15know what? It might be time for puppies, or it might be time for me to cuddle up
01:20with my cat, Sunshine Marie Jenkins. You know what I'm saying? When I'm walking
01:24him, it feels really good. I mean, like we're both getting exercise. We're both
01:28interacting with each other. That is gratifying because time is a precious
01:34commodity. So for me to be able to take a little bit of my time and give it back to
01:39someone in my community, just by walking their dog, that's really awesome to me. I
01:44think self-care is important for women because, you know, you put in the work
01:51all the time. Sometimes people don't even ask you, and you just start moving. You
01:56start doing. There's nobody in your corner saying, hey girl, take a break. I got you.
02:03I'll cover for you. We're inundated with images of what relaxation looks like. Some of
02:10us can't afford to go to a spa. Some of us can't afford to take a glorious
02:14vacation. Like, take a post-it note and put on your refrigerator and put, it's
02:19time for self-care on this particular day and on this particular weekend at this
02:25particular time. I need to take care of myself today, even if it's just for a
02:29moment. I need time for me. Like, lock yourself in the bathroom if you have to.
02:35We all, we all need help from time to time and I figured out, slowly but surely,
02:43that my, the best way to help myself is to help other people. This month we're
02:50talking self-care beyond hair. If you want to see how other Naturally Curly
02:55editors practice self-care, click here. Let us know how you practice self-care and
03:01make sure to like the video, share it, and subscribe.
Comments