National Self Care Week 15th - 21st November 2021

I was delighted to be nominated as a Self Care Champion by Gaynor Leech of LWO Community in Summer 2021. Gaynor is such an inspirational lady in self care, so it was an honour to be included in her nominations. I have created, for Self Care Week, a series of short videos to help support others in their endeavours to see self care as a valuable practise for life.

>> Learn more about the amazing work of the Self Care Forum.

"The Self Care Forum is a national charity which aims to further the reach of self care and embed it into everyday life. Self care is the actions that individuals take for themselves, on behalf of and with others in order to develop, protect, maintain and improve their health, wellbeing or wellness."

There are many Self Care Champions who support the work of The Self Care Forum by providing their advice, expertise and skills and you can see them here. Perhaps you are a Champion for Self Care? Do you want to join the Self Care Movement? Email the Self Care Forum with a short sentence on why you support self care (50 words max) and 100 words telling them about you with a photo of you. You might also like to subscribe to their e-newsletter for updates, resources, ideas and news about the latest self care activities.

This is my Sister Julie Soroczyn's grand daughter Arabella Jackson, I mentioned to Julie about Aura, this is a fantastic app which has an endless library of resources to enhance well-being, taught by the world’s best coaches, therapists, and storytellers. I have used this for a year and there are children's stories too, Arabella absolutely loves it.

I really do hope you like my little videos and I hope that they remind you to take some time out for your own self care, if not today, then please book in with yourself very soon! The short video's focus on doing things that energise us to enhance our mental wellbeing and cope more easily with loss, inevitable life changes and the day-to -day stresses that come our way; I think a more proactive approach of nourishing our bodies and minds rather than trying to manage stress. After the videos, you will find information from the ladies I have personally nominated as Self Care Champions: Hannah Poulton, Nicky Snazell, Tess Sanderson; all of whom have impressed or impacted upon me with their self care advice (in my short 55 years!) and of course, my wonderful self care mentor Gaynor Leech of LWO Community

This is me! Mary Fickling, Co-Director of PhysioPod UK and PhysioEquipment UK

"I support self-care to ensure my energy reserves are kept at an optimum level, so I can support my partner, friends and my work and life projects. My days begin with an assessment of that energy, adding in and taking away the things I need in order to have a balance in my life.

I co-direct and manage a company called PhysioPod UK Ltd with my sister Julie. We specialise in the supply, training, aftercare and support of a patented therapy called DEEP OSCILLATION®, which is electrostatic lymphatic drainage massage and is applied through gloved hands or applicators, also enabling self-care. It is used in sports/ occupational injuries and post-surgery and in the NHS for the management of Lymphoedema and Lipoedema. PhysioPod brought deep oscillation into the UK in 2006. Self-care with a personal unit has enabled a better quality of life for those that live with these conditions, resulting in less pain, swelling and discomfort."

And this is the lady that first introduced me to Self Care:

"Motherhood collided with the terminal illness of my father and I learnt first hand the power of a regular self-care routine. My mantra: self-care isn't selfish!" Suzy Reading

Suzy is a Coaching Psychologist specialising in wellbeing, stress management and facilitation of healthy lifestyle change. She holds a B. Psychology (Hons) degree from the University of Sydney and a M. Psychology (Org) degree from the University of New South Wales, Australia, is a certified yoga teacher, and a qualified personal trainer. Her coaching is informed by Positive Psychology, the Mindfulness Tradition, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Suzy offers an integrated approach to wellbeing: nurturing head, heart and body, and is passionate about teaching tools of self-care to help people weather and recover from periods of stress, loss and change. For a description of her self-care framework see her ‘Vitality Wheel’ journal article (on page 22).

Dennis and Lyn Fickling, my wonderful in-laws - we lost both within a year of each other, self care has been essential in my grieving process

In December 2019, I took Suzy Reading's Self Care Revolution book on holiday with me. I read it cover to cover; her story of loss and new life entwined really struck a chord with me, and the way she learned to cope through filling up energy reserves rather than learning how to manage stress was truly valuable to me.

We had to return home early from that holiday, my beautiful and much-loved, Mother-In-Law, Lyn Fickling (above) was gravely ill and we lost her just four days later. We lost Dad Dennis a year later, too, a power influence and good friend in my life. I think we lost him mostly from a broken heart.

The Self Care Revolution book that I had just read gave me the strength to be able grieve in a way that was right for me, rather than rush about and carry on (as I have done my entire life when faced with stress and loss). I was just kind to myself. I gave myself permission to just be me, something that when I had lost both my parents in my early twenties, I did not do. I swept my thoughts and my own wellbeing aside and just carried on. This came back to bite me with avengance in later years.

So I also highly recommend the Self Care Revolution to everyone, it is a 'must read'.

And now for my videos..

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

MY SELF CARE CHAMPIONS

Gaynor Leech, Patient Advocate and Founder of LWO Community

Gaynor wrote for the Self Care Champion board:

"Self care became an important part of my journey, I can support and empower others to make lifestyle changes that improves the quality of their lives. By encouraging others to self-care, they too can become their own advocates.

I am the founder of L-W-O Community published September 2013. Having been diagnosed with secondary Lymphoedema in 2011, I believe passionately in raising awareness of Lymphoedema and therefore an advocate to share knowledge and support others. I do this through my website, blog and social media platforms across the UK and globally. I have been volunteering in one form or another for the last 40 years for various communities or groups. I am a great believer in the University of Life and that we never stop learning. This includes taking care of ourselves both physically and mentally."

"In this fast paced world, there is little time to stop and look after the one person who needs it the most. That's YOU.

This is especially true after you've had an accident, trauma or surgery. There seems to be this pattern of rushing through the recovery period, not taking time to reflect, relax, rest and breathe. There is more emphasis on reaching this “magic window” of 6-8 weeks recovery time and “everything should be fine.” But what happens if its not? What happens (as often the case) it takes much, much longer and how do we take care of those physical (and emotional) scars? Finding the right support, help and guidance in your recovery, is the key and healing well"

Hannah Poulton is the Clinical Director of HLP Therapy. She is also a Senior Physiotherapist, Scar Specialist, Acupuncturist and Women's Health Practitioner. She has over 20 years experience within health. Hannah is passionate about seeing individuals recover well after surgery, accident or trauma. With specialist clinical reasoning skills and combining a holistic approach, she ensures each client is listened too and a bespoke treatment and after care plan is delivered. Hannah's main specialities are postnatal recovery and c-section and breast scar recovery. Hannah has developed multiple training courses about scar therapy and has partnered with Macmillan in delivering and promoting scar therapy services.

"Never before has self care been more important than during this pandemic. Its madness that the media hasn’t given more advice on creating healthy habits to boost our immune system. Beyond face to face, hands on treatment, our patients have my 4 keys book and others, radio, weekly blogs and social media posts."

Nicky Snazell, author of the 4 keys to health and several other health books, is director and owner of Nicky Snazell’s wellness and physiotherapy in the UK. She is a consultant physiotherapist in pain and stills treats several days a week and teaches her team .She held clinics in Harley Street , Norwich, Harrogate and continues to work in her Staffordshire practice. She embraces a holistic approach and having presented internationally, has recently, during the pandemic talked on 40 USA radio shows to promote awareness of the opiate crisis and healthy habits to boost the immune system. After 30 years of treating, including 14k patients at her current practice she has delighted in successfully tackling chronic pain. For more information go to her website.

Nicky was kind enough to add the following:

"Never has there been a more important time for sharing self care ideas. Together as a caring community this is essential to help a struggling illness industry. Mary is a key advocate for this and deep oscillation is a great touch and technology combination"

"Helping others find their best self care is my passion"

In 2012, after 30 years, I was diagnosed with Lipoedema; this painful adipose fat disorder doesn’t respond to diet and exercise. I have osteoarthritis, fibroids, endometriosis, some permanent injuries to my shoulder and back and residual labyrinthitis. On reaching rock bottom and unable to do weight bearing exercise, I came across Laughter Yoga. It complimented my other skills and my background in Development & Training. I use it to help with my pain and my mental health – and realised I could use it to help others find the same relief and improve their quality of life. Since 2017 I have been an Inclusive Wellness Coach, and I also help at Lipoedema UK, with Social Media, design, articles and administration; I am a founder member of our Members Health & Wellbeing Community. I am a Connect Health Pain Champion. Helping others to find their own best self-care is my passion. Get in touch with Tess on Facebook