What season of self-care are you in?

As in many parts of Canada recently, we received some early snow last week in Manitoba.

*Cue frantically searching through our basket of winter accessories from last year to find my son’s mitts and toque 2 minutes before leaving for school.*

Despite the sudden drop in temperatures, I will admit the first snowfall created a beautiful winter landscape. And it was fun to see my son and his classmates sticking out their tongues to catch snowflakes. A great reminder of the joy that can be present at any time if we can be present for it.

The snow also served as a reminder that just as the seasons change and we need to change our outdoor gear, allow a bit more time for getting from place to place, and adjust to the change in daylight hours, we also can use this shift in the weather to re-evaluate our self-care practices.

Maybe because of less daylight hours, walking after work becomes walking at lunch. Or maybe it’s an opportunity to shift our hours of work a bit. Or maybe it’s time to renegotiate the division of tasks at home.

Sometimes it’s tempting to see self-care as a ‘one and done’, this thing that we can cross off our to-do list and not have to think about anymore. But of course that’s not how it works. Instead, so much benefit can arise if we can shift to seeing self-care as something fluid that actually NEEDS to be re-evaluated every few months, just as we would re-evaluate what type of footwear is appropriate for the new season we are in.

Even if the weather hasn’t changed where you are, we hope you will pause to ask yourself:

What season of self-care are you in?

Is there anything you put away last season that would be beneficial to bring back out now? And, anything that would actually be helpful to put away for this season? What self-care practices will help you to feel best prepared and supported for this season?