And by “human plant”, I’m obviously talking about me, myself, and I… 100% self professed crazy plant lady.
So let’s break down the parallels of plant care and self care because I care and, perhaps, you care too.
1) PLANT CARE: Properly identify the plant. Without proper i.d., you risk adopting an incorrect plan for care and growth. SELF CARE: Identify who/where you currently are in life and who/where you want to be in the future. Create a plan for care based on the reality of your circumstances and the resources you have access to.
2) PLANT CARE: Pick your tools based on plant i.d. What’s the correct soil to use? Planter pot? What are you going to use to plant and cultivate the seeds for growth? SELF CARE: Decide on the tools you need to protect the foundational essence of who you are and cultivate the characteristics and goals you seek to develop and accomplish. Do you have the right habits, humans and environment in place to support what you need to succeed in your self care? If not, what do you need to change or acquire in order to succeed??
3) PLANT CARE: Water consistently and choose a planter pot that allows drainage. Without drainage, plants are susceptible to root rot. SELF CARE: Consistently “water” your mind and body with knowledge and food that makes you feel good, both mentally and physically. This also applies to sweating out your body’s toxins on the daily and having regular bowl movements… Because what comes OUT of your body is just as important as what you put in.
4) PLANT CARE: Some plants need bright lights, other plants need low light so make sure place your plant proximity to light based off its needs. SELF CARE: Some people recharge by hanging out with people and some people charge by being by themselves. Take time to understand what your capacity for human interaction is and be intentional about the social situations you choose to partake in. Do these situations recharge you or drain you? Depending on your answer, be intentional with how you situate yourself in society based on your restorative needs.
5) PLANT CARE: Don’t underestimate the essential component of darkness to growth. Did you know that plants grow more at night because they have an entire day’s worth of energy stored up and ready to metabolize. New seeds will only germinate and grow when they can sense darkness and moisture. SELF CARE: Don’t underestimate the power of Rest. A minimum 7 hours of sleep is recommended to properly recharge for each day. Let’s all replace the quote “work hard, play hard” with “work hard, sleep hard” because all the waking hours you put into your self-care mean nothing if you’re exhausted.
7) PLANT CARE: Establish a routine for care and stick with it. If you water your plants every Sunday, be consistent because (over time) plants will start to expect getting watered every Sunday. So when you break routine, they freak out, go limp, fry out, or turn yellow/brown. Don’t be too hard on yourself tho if you break routine. Just get back to it when you’re able to and watch your plants go back to green in no time. SELF CARE: Once you establish your routine/habit for care, stick with it. Approach your new and improved routine as a “forever”, not “temporary” lifestyle change. It takes time create a new habit so don’t be too hard on yourself if you miss a day or two of your routine. Just pick yourself back up and get back to it when you’re able to.
8) PLANT CARE: Be open to repotting if your plant if it needs new soil or outgrows its pot. SELF CARE: Overtime, circumstances change. Be open to evaluating whether your methods for care are working or not. If not, be open to alternative methods. Be open to establishing new or different boundaries, with yourself or other people. In general, just be open to the idea of change in the name of your self-care. Change is an inevitable aspect of life. A constant factor when it comes to growth.
I’ve realized that in moments when I fall off my self care routine, the smallest thing, like watering my plants, can feel like too much to handle. As a result, my plants have sometimes gone two or three weeks without water during my low energy moments. And I feel so bad watching them turn limp or brown, knowing its my fault. Seeing them go bad motivates me to get back on my game and take care of myself so I have more capacity to give to others, i.e. my plants.
As a result, my plants have become an external, visual barometer for how I’m doing with my self-care because when I don’t take care of myself, I essentially don’t take care of my plants. But when I am on top of my game, my plants are thriving right along with me.
So for 2020, my human plant (self-care) goals are to:
Sleep: Get an alarm clock for my bedside table and start charging my phone in the living room. Strive to be in bed by 10:30pm every night.
Eat: At least one vegetable based meal everyday for either lunch or dinner and get a bigger water bottle to stay at work so I increase how much water I drink from 9 to 5.
Call: More. Text Less.
Sweat: A minimum of 4 times a week via group fitness, dance classes or online yoga videos.
Decompress: During my commute to and from work on the metro. Break my habit of mindlessly scrolling through social media and start being intentionally restorative with the 30 minutes I have each way, even if that means just sitting with myself, breathing, looking out the window and/or people watching.
Say: “No” when I mean “no” and don’t feel the need to explain myself afterwards.
Let Go: Of control, especially in situations and conversations where I knowingly do not actually have control. No point in stressing out about things I can’t control.
What are your goals for self care this year?
xo, Setarra
P.S. In case you missed it, my last post on “Returning From A Year Of Rest That Was 2019” HERE
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