Self-care in endometriosis

Self-care plays a key role in the lives of people with endometriosis, but often you may feel like you're doing everything you can, but you're still not achieving the goals you set for yourself.

Self-care is a good way of really looking after ourselves, and doing activities or 'non-activities' that help us to stay healthy, both physically and mentally. In endometriosis, self-care is particularly important as it can help reduce symptoms, improve quality of life and support the effectiveness of treatment.

 

In most cases, when it comes to endo, the following 4 self-care options come to mind:

 

Nutrition: A healthy diet and proper nutrition are of paramount importance in endometriosis, and this can remain one of the most important areas of control for patients.

Stress management: Endometriosis is often associated with emotional distress and stress. As part of self-care, it is important to manage stress appropriately. This can be done using various techniques such as relaxation, meditation, self-segregation, seeking help from a psychologist.

Exercise: Regular exercise can help reduce symptoms and improve quality of life. Each person can choose the form of exercise that best suits them according to their ability, fitness level and preferences. It could be walking, cycling, swimming, Pilates or any other form of exercise you enjoy.

PRO TIP: don't let them take the joy of exercise away from you! No, there is not only one form of exercise that is the way to salvation, you can do anything you like, just do it and love it. Yes, if you like running, it can be running, if you like jumping then it can be jumping.

Alternative therapies: One form of self-care can be to try different alternative therapies. This could be acupuncture, the use of herbs, it would be too many to list all the possibilities. It is important that you only do these in conjunction with a trusted professional, because just because something is "natural" doesn't mean it can't be harmful if it is not done by a qualified practitioner.

 

 

Watch out, because this is a real danger in endometriosis:

If self-care has become a burden instead of a joy, or you feel it's turning into a chore, it's important to stop and think things through. If you've ever felt agonising guilt about eating a bite of something you 'shouldn't' have if you were doingIf you feel burnt out on the big healthy lifestyle and are full of non-existent body parts from it all, have no desire to walk in the fresh air for your mental health and find an evening yoga class a hassle, it's worth seeking help to avoid going from defiance and resistance to the opposite of healthy living.

 

Finally, keep in mind that everyone is unique and what works for me may not work for others. Self-care is about experimenting and finding the combination that works best for you in your daily life when managing endometriosis. Among other things, I also help you to design a personalised recovery programme for you in my health psychology consultations, because after 13 years of working as a professional psychologist, I can tell you that there really is no one-size-fits-all lifestyle recipe, but when we find what really works for you, there will be no more failures, no more broken plans, no more vows: self-care will never be a "hassle" or a "task" again.

 

Scroll through the beautiful Endometriosis Self-Care Diary, which opens up the possibilities of a loving way of caring for yourself!

Self-care can be as simple as that:

Join me on this journey of inner discovery, where you will discover what is truly joyful, what is truly your joy-time. Endometriosis Self-Care Diary can help!