It is said that ‘guilt is a wasted emotion’ and I must agree, when it comes to spending time on the things that give us pleasure. Why do we feel so guilty when we spend time on ourselves, doing what we enjoy, especially when we know it’s essential to our mental health and wellbeing? Guilty Pleasures are Essential to ones Wellness.
Surely taking time to improve or maintain our wellbeing should be a matter of course. Something to be proud of, boast about, rather than it being an overwhelming feeling of guilt.
Even the word ‘guilty’ stirs something inside me and others I have asked. It’s a word that resonates within, yet we find it so hard to shift from our mind when spending time on ourselves.
Yes, others may instigate the feeling but ultimately, we accept the emotion and often manifest it. Guilty for taking time for simple pleasures that we all know restore our body, mind and soul.
According to Ashley Eder, LPC, a psychotherapist “We are surrounded by overt and covert messages that encourage us to minimize our own needs and feel guilty when we engage in self-care.”
It’s also considered that taking time for yourself, leaves less time for others. However, regular selfcare is a necessity if you are going to have the energy to care for others, along with work commitments and all the other duties we have to fulfil in life.
One theory from Ashley Eder, is to “Think of selfcare as a finite resource, like money in the bank.” “You can’t give more than you have without bankrupting yourself.” This basically means, if we don’t spend time on restoring ourselves, we burnout and we can all relate to this. Coming back from burnout is harder and more detrimental on our mind and body than maintaining ourselves.’
Basically, if you change your mind set by telling yourself and others ‘I do this for me, so that I can do better for myself and others.’ Be committed to self-care as essential and non-negotiable because It’s not the same as being spoilt, pampered or self-indulgent. It’s a necessity to restore our energy bank account.
Another way to flip the guilt feelings, is to realise that you deserve the time for selfcare. You earn it and it’s essential for your wellbeing.
Staff care rewards with wellness activities is fast becoming the most popular way of rewarding employees for doing a great job, reaching targets or goals. The flip-side to this is with the research that shows employees who spend time on selfcare are more productive with work than those who don’t practice selfcare activities.
Companies are now spending on rewarding their staff with gym, yoga and pilates memberships, gift vouchers for Day Spas and activities such as surf or kayak lessons.
It’s an investment in their employee’s mental, physical, and emotional health offering better outcomes for the employees and business. It also supports local wellness businesses who provide the services and in turn they support the companies by caring for their employees.
Workplace wellness also projects a positive message that ‘wellness time’ is a priority and not indulgent pampering and an accepted way of managing work life balance and therefore a mind-set shift that will soon become the new norm, rather than a guilty pleasure.
Turn your guilt into pleasurable selfcare.
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