Self-indulgence is not self-care – Tammana Pasha

Afra Sait | NT

Bengaluru: A large number of individuals tend to get confused with self-care as self-indulgence or pampering.

The best self-care indulges are massages at a spa or at the salon, according to Bengaluru-based Health Advocate, Tamanna Pasha. Pasha says that selfcare practices include your mind and body.

So, exercise, meditate following a healthy diet. Even brushing your teeth in the morning and night is selfcare.

“It is so because you need to do that to maintain a certain optimum level of health and fitness “, she adds.

So, what self-care practices does Pasha follow?

“It includes eating healthy, no packaged foods, meditating daily and few minutes for a small fitness routine, even if it is walking or doing stretches”.

Interestingly she adds, “I am definitely not talking about pampering here; you can have zero time to pamper yourself (such as going to beauty parlours). But self-care is not optional. Both are different. I do this in my practice as a coach as well.”

Pasha has another interesting analogy to share. She says, “I get the client to think of themselves as their own child. The advice that I give is, if you can take care of your own being like your own child then you are always making the right decision.”

She cites an example. “You may have seen many people with diabetes really take good care of themselves and even manage to reverse their diabetes, versus people who have diabetes but don’t work out. The reason is, such people do not have the self-concept. There is a fear among them to establish a connection with themselves.”

So how should youngsters establish a connection with themselves?

“The teenagers who feel the sense of hesitation to connect them themselves, should write down their fears, jot down their thoughts, emotions and weaknesses. I will say they should start with generally noting down their thoughts even if they are random. They can also use digital crashing bursts to jot down the notes and lock them so no one sees them. Most importantly, they don’t have to preserve those notes/jottings once their fear is gone.”

She suggests that for 10-15 minutes daily teens/ youth should spend time with themselves – talk with themselves and develop a relationship with their minds. These 10-15 minutes can take care of the whole week. The idea of meditation, she says is not to calm the mind, but to be the observer of the mind.

“When you are meditating look at your mind as an organ, that’s playing itself. So you are developing a relationship with that mind. The mind is not human. But it learns its own survival.”

She adds. “Self Care is a reflection of your self-worth. if you think you are worthy of being taken care of, then love yourself. The way you look at yourself, also affects your relationship to the world around you, ” S h e concludes.