Mar 26, 20233 min read

Caring for me and my health after DV

Planning self-care is not about the latest trend or fad in self-care, like the facial rollers, fitness mirrors and weighted robes of 2022 or getting on board with the new trends for 2023 such as taping my mouth shut to sleep.

What do you need?

Your self-care needs to benefit you. What do you think you need for your health?

I do like the sound of micro workouts that are growing in popularity, but if I am looking for cardio-respiratory fitness then the research evidence suggests that 6-minute micro workouts sadly won’t cut it!

How to work out your plan

During Broken to Brilliant’s self-care planning session, we received a self-care worksheet to help us identify what we needed from a self-care plan.

We answered questions such as:

What do I need to stop doing? My stress response is eating sugary treats.
What do I value the most? Mindless time out with no phone calls or interruptions – like when I am watching a movie in the cinema.
What stopped me from self-care? Too many other commitments – time, cost and subscription fees.
What areas of my life do I need to consider? Mind, body, spirit, relationships, emotions? As I work through my self-care plan my thoughts are around what is going to keep me healthy, free from disease and living a long, happy and healthy life.

My BEST Body self-care plan

In my plan, I need to look at getting the BEST Body results for me.

This is not about having a ‘beach body’. It is about a brain and body that is going to keep me going as there is so much to do in life.

BRAIN TIME: Time to think – my brain needs time to process information – so some time out, instead of always listening to the latest podcast or audiobook while walking. I am going to walk and not plan to think of anything, just let my thoughts process.

EXERCISE: 30-50 minutes of High-intensity exercise as this will help

me to improve my fitness, reduce blood pressure, and help me get more.

SLEEP: Getting enough sleep means ensuring sufficient duration of sleep and sleep quality.

TONE: Building core and muscle strength as it is really important to stay strong. It will help me to stay young, fit and active and doing all the things I like to do. There is a lot of research into this.

My BEST life

My BEST Body self-care plan will help me to live my BEST life.

When I am being my BEST self – mind and body strong and fit – then I will have the energy, endurance and vitality to live a full life and give to others.

That is why self-care is important: to be able to give the BEST you to yourself and others.

Blogging STARS program

This Blog is a part of the Broken to Brilliant Blogging STARS self-care program, which supports domestic violence survivors to practise the self-care strategies of Sleep, Tapping, Activity, Regulation and Support, (STARS). As they practise the strategies, they blog about it. You can read their survivor STARS Blogs: