Taking Care of Oneself Isn’t Selfish

Have you ever wanted to go on a yoga retreat? To take some time you just care for yourself in your everyday life? At the end of the day, taking care of yourself and prioritising your health can be challenging. You’ve finished the to-do lists, and you don’t have the energy for anything else. Making time in your day and life for self-care is important. It is an essential part of living a healthy life and even caring for others – your family, your colleagues or those around you. Here are three reasons to make time for a yoga retreat! Here is to your health!

Immune Boost

Your immune system is continuously working to keep you healthy and able to run around. It is definitely in need of some time to recharge and work more effectively. By exercising, practicing yoga, eating healthy, taking the right supplements, or even just taking 30 minutes to read a book or take a relaxing bath, you activate your parasympathetic nervous system. This system tells your body to rest and restore itself. Your act of self-care tells your body it’s OK and it can rest too. Your immune system is always working for you and self-care is a great way to return the favor! For an overall body balancing, immune boosting retreat we suggest:

Increase Compassion

Along with being beneficial to others, experiencing more compassion benefits your own psychological and physical health. When you’ve been running around focusing on work, tasks and checklists, you often don’t have the time to reflect or feel compassion. More likely than not, you feel tired and overwhelmed and focus on daily routine.

It is difficult for us to naturally feel compassionate for ourselves or others when we are constantly in that state. By taking a small amount of time out of your day to meditate or practice yoga, you can reopen yourself to compassion. Being compassionate increases our own happiness and the happiness of those around us, so getting time to yourself to meditate and practice yoga is extremely important.

“A selfish reason to exercise compassion is that it makes you feel good. When you respond to your own or someone else’s distress, you automatically go into caring mode, which promotes the release of opiates and oxytocin, the bonding hormone, in your brain. Great friendships and relationships are the result of the exchange of these hormones, which create trust, rapport and closeness. Your heart rate goes down, as does your blood pressure and cortisol, leaving you much healthier.” – from How to be Human: The Manual

The perfect opportunity to practice self care and connect with other like minded people is with us on our 10 year anniversary and yoga festival – join us for an incredible lineup featuring the wonderful David Sye of YogaBeats to raise funds for his amazing work in conflict areas.

Productivity

Do you have never-ending to-do lists? Is your brain foggy when you’re trying to work? Is there always something that doesn’t get done? Believe it or not, self-care can help. Carving out that morning yoga practice or evening tea time can help you refocus and identify the most important things on your list. With your mind at ease and focus-centered, your productivity will increase. The to-do lists may continue to go on and on, but you can be focused on what’s important. A clear and focused mind is the fastest way to productivity.

Taking care of yourself is never a selfish act. It is an act that serves all those that are connected or will be connected to you. Through practicing self-care, you can better equip yourself to care for others. You can gain productivity and a clearer more focused mind, to support all that you need to do. If you’ve wanted to go on a yoga retreat, don’t hesitate – the long term benefits are well worth it. Contact us for special offers if you are on a budget. If you have wanted to add yoga to your routine, now is the time. Self-care is selfless.

Learn more about our retreats and classes on our website.