“People always talk about balance, but it’s a really tricky thing to achieve,” notes Tara Cavanaugh, co-owner of Health Resonates, a boutique wellness spa in the West End. “For me, self-care is looking at myself as a whole and determining if I’m feeling overwhelmed or anxious, then figuring out what tools I can use to get back into my body so that I can show up as my best every day.”
Cavanaugh loves a good massage, skincare service, yoga session, or energy work to ground herself, but she acknowledges that self-care can be as simple as penciling in a five-minute break to breathe or meditate, reading before bed, or practicing gua-sha to stretch the muscles in your face and neck. “There’s a common misconception that you need a bath or you need to spend money on a service for it to qualify as self-care,” she explains. “Stepping away from that and just focusing on what your body, your mind, and your breath is a very easy starting point.”
“Sometimes we don’t realize that we’re a little out of whack until we’re feeling overwhelmed or burnt out,” Cavanaugh adds. “I like to ask myself, Am I hydrated enough? Am I eating regularly? Do I need to talk to someone? One thing that’s helped me and many of my loved ones is therapy,” she says. “At the end of the day, I think that’s a boundary that people are often scared to cross, but self-care is about getting to know yourself and being comfortable with who you are.”
Learn how to perform gua-sha on yourself and find out more about Health Resonates’ services at healthresonates.com.
