The Witch's Book of Self-Care: Magical Ways to Pamper, Soothe, and Care for Your Body and Spirit - Arin Murphy-Hiscock 2018

The Benefits of Unplugging
Mental and Emotional Self-Care

While reaching out to friends can be a welcome form of support, there are times when the flurry of information and keeping up with everyone and their news and postings can make you tired. Sometimes the easiest and smartest thing to do if you’re feeling overwhelmed is to unplug. Take a break from the phone, the news, social media, and electronic forms of entertainment. Explore a slower kind of relaxation.

If you plan on taking a break from phone calls, texts, or social media, be kind and let friends know so they don’t worry about you.

Unplugging helps you refocus on yourself instead of being pulled in a zillion different directions. Those directions may all be important, but you are just as important. Unplugging allows you to focus on being in the moment, here and now. It helps you step away from the emotional roller coaster that you ride reacting to a friend’s story, a news article, or outrage over worldwide events. Unplugging gives you the chance to remember who you are at your core. Here are some things you can try once you shut off the noise of the news cycle and social media:

♦ Listen to music. This is something that is often done as an accompaniment or background to other activities. Take time to actually listen to the depth and richness of your preferred music. You may notice things you’ve never noticed before.

♦ Read something for pleasure. A physical book or magazine is ideal, but you can use an e-reader or a reading app on your smartphone or tablet as long as you disconnect from the Internet while doing it. Don’t let notifications distract you, and don’t let an idle I’ll just look this one thing up derail your mindful activity time.

♦ Work with your hands for a bit. Draw, paint, garden, cook, bake, craft. Why not check out some of the magical and spiritual self-care activities in Chapter 4 to explore creativity, or some of the recipes in Chapter 3?

As passionate as you are about the causes you support and the freedoms you defend, sometimes trying to stay on top of the news and outreach can exhaust you. Sometimes it’s best for you to step back from it all and heal your stress in order to be in tip-top shape to get back into the fight.

But not everyone has the privilege of stepping away, you might say. “How can I take the option to step out of the ring when there are people dying, starving, being oppressed?” you ask. Comparing your personal state to someone else’s is a recipe for ducking out of self-care. Someone will always be worse off. That doesn’t mean you should avoid taking care of yourself right now. Live to fight another day. Take time off to recharge and regroup, and bring your best self back to support your cause.