Taking care of yourself to better take care of others is never selfish.

When was the last time you did something for yourself? That's a serious question. When did you last do something that bettered your mental, physical or emotional health? For many of you it has probably been awhile.

And it's probably because you feel selfish about doing it.

A recent survey by OnePoll revealed that 62 percent of Americans feel guilty about taking care of themselves. And don't think for a second that we are feeling guilty about the boogie things like massages and facials. The reality if that we feel guilty about doing things that our body needs, like exercise.

56 percent of people polled say that exercise is the biggest form of self-care and stress relief.

Other forms of self-care include napping/sleeping in (40 percent), time alone (38 percent), bath (38 percent), stretching/yoga (36 percent). These are the things that we believe lower our stress, boost our mental health and give us some much needed space. And yet, we feel guilty about them?

Let me just get on my soapbox for a moment and please know that I'm speaking to myself on this as well. Taking care of yourself is not selfish because it enables you to take better care of the people around you. If you are healthy mentally, physically, and emotionally think about how you will be showing up to work, family dinner, tough conversations, that big presentation you have, etc. We should be operating at our best in all of these situations and the best way to do that is to practice self-care.

And trust me, when you give yourself the freedom to take care of yourself, you enable those around you to do the same.

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